I've been offered positions with both companies, but am having trouble deciding which to join. Both have plenty of faults, and plenty of positives (that I see).
Covenant Pros:
- Pays liveable slave wages (starts at $0.14 with quick increases to $0.17+ -team miles)
- Offers additional $150/month tuition reimbursement and various other bonuses
- Can start immediately
- Have been set up with good/known trainers & team partners
- APUs being phased in
- Office girls have that awesome southern drawl
Covenant Cons:
- Already obvious company doesn't care about drivers (not calling when they said they would, not volunteering any info on how hiring process & orientation is going to work, acting like it is some incredible luxury to get a free ticket to ride 24hrs in a greyhound to orientation, etc)
- Team-only for my region
- Make drivers pay for things like chains
- Company has lost a lot of money this year & may not be on solid financial ground
- In my experience, overtly religious companies tend to be the least ethical
Schneider Pros:
- Seems to have better reputation on the forums
- They actually called when they said they would, went into detail about what to expect, etc -- wasn't treated like just another number
- Can drive solo!
- Have a hub within 2 hours' drive
Schneider Cons:
- Pay slave wages ($0.28 for entire 1st year, then $0.34 -solo miles)
- Can't do the oilfield tanker driving I wanted to do unless I officially changed residence to OK or TX
- No orientations available for ~3 weeks & I'm starting to hurt for $
- Want me to do another DOT physical and drug test before orientation, but don't have an approved Dr within 180 miles
- No APUs + no-idle policy
- Can't wear tennis shoes
I would have expected to jump at Schneider's offer - and might have even considered starting a career there - but was really surprised that they pay so little with not much hope for improvement. Most of the (numerous) covenant complaints seem to be a few years old, and the main complaint (teaming right away rather than "training") isn't a big deal for me since I'm ready to hit the ground running.
So basically it boils down to which company is the best place to stick it out for that year of OTR experience needed to start a career elsewhere...
Schneider or Covenant
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by double yellow, Oct 11, 2011.
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Dear Double Yellow, I think Schneider is a better company. However, it seems to me that you will pick Covenant because like you said, you are hurting for money and with Cov. you can start right away. However, there's no guarantee that you will start running lots of miles at Covenant.... Did you read Big Wheel's saga? And Red Coat's? They were counting on money at the beginning and were pretty disappointed...
Are you sure isn't there another company for you?
One other thing, this thing about a Christian company is all BS.
They are a big company just like any other. Their CEO is just a business man, preoccupied with stock market and doesn't give a &*# about drivers' well being.
This company is not well managed. There are many departments and each one thinks they know better than the other. Very little and defficient communication between them which causes a lot of chaos.
They just spent a lot money with a new computer system for the whole company and nobody, I really mean nobody likes it.
Solo drivers don't make good money in this company. Teaming will be a matter of finding the right person and that sometimes is a strugle and doesn't pay well either.mtnMoma Thanks this. -
Have you look or consider any other company than those two?
SNI would be your best chose also running as a team truck is not always peaches & cream..:
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CORRECT! And having to live with another dude or gal that you don't know....
slim shady Thanks this.
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