"Bottom Feeders" is a term often used on this site (and others) to describe the worst companies......... these often include JB Hunt, Werner, CR England and a few others..........

A quick search of this site will show the term is used quite often.........

I have no idea how you took my response because I just made a comment that Schneider might actually be trying to do things "right" and you are talking about miles and pay???

How about I just explain what I meant?

The earlier posts on this thread were talking about Schneider "slowing down" on their recruitment/hiring...... it was implied that this meant that business in general was slowing down for the company....... All I was trying to do was give another possible perspective.........

Hiring fewer new drivers and trainees might just be Schneider's way of trying to "raise the bar" or "better" their company. By hiring more experienced drivers they have a chance to see the drivers performance record and can cultivate a higher quality driver pool........... just my opinion/thoughts....

In addition, what I also think may be happening (but did not mention) is that BECAUSE Schneider may be "raising the bar" they may be experiencing a decline in driver turnover......... if they are keeping drivers longer, and the drivers are doing a good job........ then logic follows that they would need to train less new drivers........... again, just my opinion/thoughts.......


As a final comment............. from the tone of your response I think you took me to be a Schneider critic........... that would be far from reality..... you are welcome to read my previous posts (just click on my name above) but I will get you started with one here...........

my comments on Schneider:
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The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein

Keep in mind with holidays, transportation of goods start very early; that is why you see Christmas commodities on the shelves in September.

With July 4th, (think of food items and fireworks), Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years,... think of all the commodities that will need to be hauled. Usually, Companies will have the items hauled very early to warehouses which are in their area, to be stored until they actually want them on the shelves. (I hope this helps).

The slowest time frame is Jan to Mar. Usually, everything has been hauled from Sept to Dec for Easter and usually food items keep truckers busy. From Apr to Jun it will start picking up due to the summer stock of clothing and such..... From Jul to Sept you can look at school items for the Back to School rush, but the biggest months are Sept to Dec....

LTL: "Less Than Truckload"
Estes,... Roadway,... can't think of them all at this time, but these companies usually only pick up or deliver 1 or 2 pallets of merchandise. They will have many pick up and deliveries to make up a FTL (Full Truck Load).... Most of the time you are home every night, or every other night,... not sure if you need experience first or not on this,...

Here is another option you can take,... A lot of other companies will offer to pay for your tuition if you go to a school to get your CDL. Give a few a call to find out. Example: Just go to Schneider to get your CDL, and drive for another company that will compensate you for driving for them.

Have you checked into Swift? This company has a bad reputation, but at least you can get the experience to move on after you get 1 year experience with them.

Hope this helps,...

Ya, this helps alot. One question on Swift. Would other companies look on the training from Swift as being lessor than if I got training at Schneider? And would if be benificial for me to go out of the way to get the better training from Schneider? I can't measure the importance, not being in the business. I'd like to spend my time the best way possiable.

Thanks a again.

My take on Schneider is that they can demand more; demand students agree to be team drivers, and they can expect to get experianced drivers, because of the slow down. How bad is this slow down? I'm not on the road so I can't tell. My purpose for this dicussion is to try and get a feel for weither or not it is practical to think about getting into driving right know. To me team driving is for the birds, this is only an indicator of the demands companies r having to put on drivers. How many other demands will companies put on drivers that will make the job more difficult than it already is. I just read that Crete will stop allowing drivers to take their pets with them and drivers are going to quit the company. This is another demand. (In this case it's good for me I might be able to get on with them in time). But it's also being said Crete is getting worse loads than they have and this is another demand.

Hey checkout Sage here at our local community college.

GOOGLE SAGE

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Subject: Dumbest Quote of the Century

'My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.'

- Barack Obama

I went to Sage about 6 mos ago they want people to get a loan. I'd like to get the company training that suggests that a driver has a job. Although in some cases it seems u may not get a job with the company u train with; which takes me to the subject of Swift. Some have said that people who train with Swift don't necessarily get a job with them, but they r still on the hook for the cost of the training. So this is something a new guy has to watch out for.

IGM have u looked into Swift. I called about 2 wks ago. The school was still taking on students but like I suggested the school could be turning into a scam for them to make extra money through the school. I have a friend who's friend works at Sage and he says there having a problem getting work for people.

Guaranteed jobs are never the best jobs.

The best jobs are always hard to get and require more than just showing up.

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The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein

[quote=mannmk7;432818]I went to Sage about 6 mos ago they want people to get a loan. I'd like to get the company training that suggests that a driver has a job. Although in some cases it seems u may not get a job with the company u train with; which takes me to the subject of Swift. Some have said that people who train with Swift don't necessarily get a job with them, but they r still on the hook for the cost of the training. So this is something a new guy has to watch out for.

IGM have u looked into Swift. I called about 2 wks ago. The school was still taking on students )

I have spoken with them several times but have not commited any thing to them as of yet.

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Subject: Dumbest Quote of the Century

'My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.'

- Barack Obama

A question for thestoryteller .................................

Based upon your previous research as well as current experience at your training school ... how does today's job market compare to 6 months or 12 months ago. Are there just as many recruiters visiting your training location today as in the past? I guess it would be very understandable if they choose not to share this information.

(I would have addressed this in a Private Message if that option were available to me)

I will watch for your reply , thanks.

Uhhhh... newbie here.... might need a little SHOCK treatment to get through this.........

I am going to defer to my elders for most of this one......
I personally think there are plenty of driving jobs available........ but let the experts give you stats on that..........

I will try a little though......now, this is just my opinion and my own words so be nice ya'll!

What I found, and what I learned was that this industry has created it's own little cycle that depends on a constant influx of "fresh meat"
(drivers=cheap hamburger here).

I also found a very strong similarity between trucking and teaching (my current profession).

Many of the truck companies have built a business model based around a high turnover rate...... similar to fast food restaurants. What I mean by that is that they train new drivers at a basic minimum level, work them as long and hard as they can, and then don't think twice about the fact that they leave within months....... there is always fresh meat on the way.

People keep getting upset and I constantly read posts about companies not caring about their drivers....... sorry, but this is the real world...... wake up........ NO, they don't care about you. You are a number. You are an employee. You are a means for them to make money.

What is the saying? Work to live........ don't live to work?

Now back to their wonderful business model...... this would be a chicken and egg question....... did the companies create this model with forethought...... or did the pattern of the drivers necessitate the change? I personally think the quality (or lack thereof) the drivers necessitated the change........ but that is just my opinion.....

Basically all the big carriers are set up to survive on inexperienced drivers.... what that means in the real world is that they will ALWAYS choose to give a load to someone who is newer and makes less money.... unless there is a motivating factor for them to go with experience (bad road/weather conditions, difficult load physically because of balance/weight, other "issues", things like that.......). That is their business model and I'm afraid that everyone complaining about it is not going to change it.

How to get around the situation? The answer is the same in any industry.... make yourself invaluable in some unique way...... if you read my posts you will see that I make more money teaching than 90%+ of my peers...... there are niche's in every business model...... find yours and be good at it..........

If you want to know if I would recommend to ANYONE to just go to a school, sign on with a carrier, go and do what they tell you to ..... and hope you make enough money to survive.......I would not. Actually I would spend a considerable amount of time talking them out of it if I cared about them.

I personally think everyone should do this "becoming a trucker" thing backwards (at least on paper)...... take some time to figure out where you ultimately want to be.... then find out what is required....... then find out what you have to do to get that....... work backwards until you get to where you are now......

Was that confusing?

Easy example:

• Tanker driver for GOOD company. Wants 3 years experience.
• Tanker driver for okay company (where you will work for 3 years) wants 1 year OTR experience.
• OTR Carrier (where you will work for 1 year) wants CDL and 2 months with their trainer/team
• School to get CDL wants $4,000

Soooo.... You need to save up $4000 to get started....

The good jobs are there...... you just have to find them and find out what you have to do to get them....... then you need to PLAN....

Like I said, I do not see that there is a problem with the market/industry itself......... I think the issue is with the individuals who don't know what they are getting into - and actually think driving around as a career is going to be a piece of cake........

But what do I know?
1. I am a newbie
2. I am from California
3. I am a

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The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein