First of all I have been with PAM for nine months now and I am on time to 98% of my stops. I always cool down before I make a phone call. I am still just a number to this company. They either run your illeagaly or you'll be sitting for days. Then when you do get a run it's some cheesey run with three stops. You think your going to have a fat check for one week only to sit around for the last three days of the pay period. You'll want to take some time off at the house but can't afford to. PAM wants to keep you hungry so you'll take any bone they through on your plate while their favorites get all the steak. As soon as I fufill my contract I'm out. For instance, I unloaded and sat for 7 hours only to get a load that another driver didn't want to drop off the next morning. So he got all the miles getting the load across country and I got to take it the last 100 miles and sit a two different stops waiting to get unloaded. Meanwhile the other driver gets a sweet load back to where ever. There is no consistancey in there load planning. With there system they know where your going to be two or three days in advance, depending on the load. Why then does it take five hours to a couple of days to " Find a load"? They say there isn't enough loads right now. They why are they still hiring more drivers? The answer is they don't care about you or your family. The only thing they care about is there bottom line. It doesn't cost them anything to have you sit and wait. As long as they have five trucks waiting for three loads means they still have two trucks for what ever may come up at the last minuet. If I had a house pament there is now way I could make it. Sorry for the rant but I have nothing better to do right now. Sitting at the pilot waiting again.

Efire....I totally feel for your situation. PAM was the first company my husband drove for straight out of cdl school so he was struck with them for a year. He had the same story with them. He never had a service failure was polite to his DM, gave good ETA's and polite to the shippers and receivers and still the miles sucked. He would be given loads of 500 miles that had a delivery date of 3 days. We had a load to Detroit, Michigan to be delivered at 2pm we were getting there early told the DM and gave him an ETA of 12 noon. We still sat till Monday afternoon. There were always delays between loads. I don't think they know how to preplan a driver. We are a family of five and at the time of PAM the 3 children were young. Believe me when I tell you time with PAM was rough. Good luck. Email me if you want to know who he drives for now.

Hello, everyone!
I've been with PAM since August of 2006. Just upgraded to a trainer in March 07. Wasn't getting the miles i needed, 2000 per week or less. Figured I'd upgrade to a trainer and hopefully I could finally make enough money to support my family of four. Took them two months to finally find me a student which I am currently training. BTW, we've been sitting here in Laredo for two days which is about normal for PAM in Laredo...LOL! Sucks! Anyways, I've got 10 more weeks left of my contract with PAM and I will be moving on to better things, I hope. I will more than likely go with Maverick. I haven't heard anything bad about them yet.

I will tell you, if you choose PAM and you have a family to support, you're in for some troubled times for the next year. If you're single, PAM is a good starter company and you can survive through the year. Finish your year contract and move on to a company that will give you the miles and that will pay you what you're worth.

Whoever said, "You've got to start somewhere", is exactly right. But if you have a family to support, PAM is not the place to start! JMHO

I see nothing has changed since my husband was with them.

I am a newbie here and really appreciate the info I am finding on this and other threads. Just wondered how this one's training went at PAM? I am really confused at this point trying to decide what company is good, bad or ugly to start a career in trucking. It sounds like the first year or two could be very ugly if you make the wrong move. QUESTION: Is it best (if affordable) to go to an independent school instead of a company school and then pick the best company who is hiring rookies? It sounds like most of the company schools are better on the pocketbook but then you get treated kind of bad for a year.....or 2 in some cases.

Thanks for all the help and hope everyone has a good week ahead.

RB

[quote=Riversideblues;QUESTION: Is it best (if affordable) to go to an independent school instead of a company school and then pick the best company who is hiring rookies?
RB[/quote]

I would say yes, when I went to school it was a work six months thing to pay off tuition. Now some companies want you for two years. Pay the money and find a good company on your own. Do your research though, so you wont get screwed.

I started with them fresh out the gate knowing nothing about trucking or the industry. Everything I have seen posted is true. I trained for them also, for the same reasons many drivers did. I needed better miles, it's not pretty it's the truth. I had good DM's, and bad ones. I have spent many a weekend on a 300-500 mile run, stuck in Laredo and El Paso, or broke down sleeping in a chair at the freight liner dealership. It was and still is by all these accounts a starter company for drivers.

Now here is the good, I met a ton of really nice people driving for PAM. I have fond memories of riding up and down the road with those guys and gals. People who would bend over backwards to help out another driver. Those are memories I will always cherish. You have to start somewhere is right, and you also have to pay your dues one way or the other.

New drivers keep this in mind. It's YOUR CDL, YOUR driving record, and YOUR life don't mess around with them. Don't let ANY company push you into doing something illegal or dangerous.

Thanks Hill-a-billy for the kind words of advice. After posting my questions, I was a little embarassed upon further research......found a jillion posts on the subject. However, at this point in time, I cannot have too much info. I want to do as much research as possible before jumping into the lake. The way I look at it - best to know how deep (or shallow) the water is first. I know that I'll have to pay my dues for a year or so just like everybody else. I just want to make sure I get good quality training and as good a quality company as possible. I have a family to support and know that it will involve sacrafice of a lot of time away from home for a while. After a year or perhaps a little longer, I would hope to go to work for someone where I could be home more or at least make regional runs of shorter length. Maybe all of that is pure daydreaming, I don't know at this point.....part of the reason I need to do as much research as I can and get all the advice I can get before making final decision.

I live in the Memphis, TN area. My mom is from east Tennesee. Your avatar pic of the mountains reminds me so much of her childhood farm home near the foothills of the Smokies. We used to go there every summer......long, long time ago now......miss those days and 'them thar hills".

Last time CNK posted I believe they were satisfied with PAM. I don't know if that still holds true. I can tell you that when my husband decided to go into trucking in1999 he went to C-1 in Beebe, Ark. and contracted with PAM for a year. We are a family of five and the kids were and 8 years ago my oldes was 14 years old. At the time they started newbies fresh out of school at 22 cents a mile and the miles stayed around 1800 a week. That's 396.00 a week before taxes. He was very rarely preplanned which meant he would sit for hours if not days waiting for a load. Home time was like pulling teeth. He was pleasant with his DM gave good ETA's and was pleasant to the customers and it still resulted in us almost going broke and on food stamps.
I am in the process of going to school through Roehl and am gladly contracting a years service to them. My husband has been with them for over a year and we are very happy with them.
If you can I would go through a school without having to tie yourself to a company however if that's the only way you can go then be careful with who you contract with. Many companies look at these students as forced labor because you either stick out the contract or pay for the school out of pocket. Good Luck

Well you seem to have a great plan, and you live in a good freight area. I hope you find what your looking for. Best of luck in all you choose to do.