You might want to look into Schneider. I started with them back when they were still training. You'll not get top pay there, but they won't lie to you, they won't push you to do anything stupid or unsafe, if you need more training they'll provide it, if your truck needs repairs they'll take care of it, they have nice terminals and overall it's a good place to get some experience. I put in a year and a half with them then went to work for a flatbed company where I make decent money and I'm home on weekends. My personal opinion is that there's more money in flatbed or tanker work, but you should probably get some experience pulling a dry box first. That's not etched in stone, but that's what I did and I think it would make your life easier.

Another thing, I think you were talking about getting a bike rack in one of your earlier posts. You might want to look into Montague bikes. They make real nice folding bikes. I own one and I can fit into my cab when it's folded up. They aren't cheap - start around 500 bucks - but I love mine.

Originally Posted by drag'nfly

You might want to look into Schneider. I started with them back when they were still training. You'll not get top pay there, but they won't lie to you, they won't push you to do anything stupid or unsafe, if you need more training they'll provide it, if your truck needs repairs they'll take care of it, they have nice terminals and overall it's a good place to get some experience. I put in a year and a half with them then went to work for a flatbed company where I make decent money and I'm home on weekends. My personal opinion is that there's more money in flatbed or tanker work, but you should probably get some experience pulling a dry box first. That's not etched in stone, but that's what I did and I think it would make your life easier.

Another thing, I think you were talking about getting a bike rack in one of your earlier posts. You might want to look into Montague bikes. They make real nice folding bikes. I own one and I can fit into my cab when it's folded up. They aren't cheap - start around 500 bucks - but I love mine.

Thanks for the tip on the Montague . . . there's a tanker company that will hire me. They pay a higher mileage rate, plus load/unload, but I don't know that I'd get that many miles . . . I know there's a lot of sitting in general, but is there an unusual amount of down time in tankers?

Another question, speaking of downtime . . . reefer/dry/tanker/flatbed, who's gonna get the most miles typically? and during downtime, which ones are most going to be in rural areas vs metro areas??

Thanks everyone!

Originally Posted by almostthere

I've got to agree with the above post about looking at Schneider. I had Roehl all picked out to start with and for some reason never gave a thought to Schneider until I was almost finished with school. Roehl seemed like a really good fit but for me Schneider had just what I was looking for. They have a huge freight base and lots of different fleet options. Where ever you end up, good luck to you.

I talked to Schneider, I didn't have a negative reaction, but their payscale was really low compared to everyone else . . . $.27 cpm compared to $.31. Also, any idea what kind quality of equipment I can expect? Getting newer equipment is a big deal to me . . .

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone can get home for a good visit.

Shrug,You might look into usexpress,they have really nice late model trucks whereas the pumpkin seems to run alot of older rigs as does jbhunt.I would start with a dryvan co. first because you tend to run alot more miles vs.reefer,flat bed and tanker.You mostly drop and hook at decent times of the day.With reefers you show up at grocery warehouses at all times of the night,and early(1-2am) dels and sit with 50 other trucks to get unloaded and never get paid detention like they tell you.Reefer usually pays about the same as dry van so why hassle with all the b.s. involved.I personally am not interested in flatbed because of all the work with tarping loads.You spend alot of time tarping,till you get good at it,in all kinds of weather not to mention getting filthy dirty wrestling with a tarp in 30mph winds,rain,snow and heat(no thanks).I understand why o/o's do it ,because of the money,as a co. drver,no way for me.Tankers are ok,but Ive also heard they sit alot or do local runs mostly,plus the time getting washed out every ld(no miles).As far as the money youre just going to have to get out there and gain exp. before youre really an asset to a quality carrier.Its true that all the mega carriers just want steering wheel holders.The turnover rate for the big carriers is around 125%/yr its really unbelivable.But you sound like me when i started,no overhead(cell phone,storage,computer=300/mo)So find a co.that has good equipment and go for it,time goes by pretty fast out here on the rd and you can just keep moving up if you take care of yourself and enjoy it rather than listening to other people rag about every thing.Let us know how youre doing.

Originally Posted by pete3871

Shrug,You might look into usexpress,they have really nice late model trucks whereas the pumpkin seems to run alot of older rigs as does jbhunt.I would start with a dryvan co. first because you tend to run alot more miles vs.reefer,flat bed and tanker.You mostly drop and hook at decent times of the day.With reefers you show up at grocery warehouses at all times of the night,and early(1-2am) dels and sit with 50 other trucks to get unloaded and never get paid detention like they tell you.Reefer usually pays about the same as dry van so why hassle with all the b.s. involved.I personally am not interested in flatbed because of all the work with tarping loads.You spend alot of time tarping,till you get good at it,in all kinds of weather not to mention getting filthy dirty wrestling with a tarp in 30mph winds,rain,snow and heat(no thanks).I understand why o/o's do it ,because of the money,as a co. drver,no way for me.Tankers are ok,but Ive also heard they sit alot or do local runs mostly,plus the time getting washed out every ld(no miles).As far as the money youre just going to have to get out there and gain exp. before youre really an asset to a quality carrier.Its true that all the mega carriers just want steering wheel holders.The turnover rate for the big carriers is around 125%/yr its really unbelivable.But you sound like me when i started,no overhead(cell phone,storage,computer=300/mo)So find a co.that has good equipment and go for it,time goes by pretty fast out here on the rd and you can just keep moving up if you take care of yourself and enjoy it rather than listening to other people rag about every thing.Let us know how youre doing.

Posted by USX driver's wife .

Originally Posted by brokewifeoftruckdriver

The recruiter told my husband who is a new driver that he would be home 2 -3 days per week and would be making around $1,000 per week. Once he went through all of the training and started working he was told that things have changed and that he will need to work 6 days per week. His highest paycheck has been $387 in a weeks time. He is told that he has a load ready and he drives out to the distribution center and sits there all day with no work which means no money. I would not recommend that anyone works for this company.