Attention all rookies and wannabes: Local Jobs for New Drivers

With Covenent it's 6 freaking months.

 

I never spent a day OTR as well. When I got my Class A with my endorsements, a friend of mine told me you will never get a local job since everyone wants them. He said they wont even look at you without 6 months to a year OTR and he kept telling me to suck it up and just do it. Me being stubborn and hard headed as I am disagreed and wanted to prove him wrong

After about a month I got hired for con-way freight with no experience as an apprentice. He got kinda mad since he drove OTR for 9 years and cant get a local route(probly due to hes almost 500 pounds and wouldnt last 10 min in LTL) I worked at Con-WAy for 6 months and quit due to the terminal being corrupt(All 3 closest to me were just like it) Due to lack of experience it was hard finding a new job but decided to keep it up. I applied to ABF, Estes, YRC, and every craigslist ad I could find. I ended up for back to FDX ground as a package delivery driver for the time being. Estes did tell me they would see what they could do since I didnt have the 2 years exp. After that ABF called me for an interview and the terminal was about 50 min away which I knew most good jobs Id have to travel. But it was the same thing as Con-Way with the 6am call in to see if im working and could work days, nights dock whatever, so I declined the job. After xmas my contractor at fedex let me go due to only needing me seasonal. Then FedEx offered me a line-haul position since a contractor was looking for someone to drive his truck. NEver happened, then they promised me two more routes which never happened. Then they offered me to own my own trucks since someone was getting them taken away and that never happened.

After all this I asked a customer from a local bar I used to work in who owns a company pulling containers. His yard isnt too far from my house which was cool and I already had my TWIC. HE said he would like me to have more driving exp but said when the time came and had an opening hed give me a road test to see if he feels comfortable. But business for him isnt good and couldnt hire me.

After getting frustrated and ready to give up, YRC ended calling me for the city driver. I told them Im not a fan of the flex board and how Con-way would tell me at 6am theres no work, then call me back at 4pm to be in at 5 and maybe get a line-haul run, but 99% of the time I'd be sent home after 2-3 hours. I couldnt even work a 2nd job because con-way wanted u available to them 24/7 and would freak if u worked else where. The terminal manager told me that at his yard, there isnt road drivers due to it being small and that at 8am if theres no work you go home and dont come back till the next day, and once you clock in you get paid for 8 hours no matter what, even if they only got 4 hours worth of work for you. I actually liked that idea and went for an interview and road test. I didnt really have the 1 year in that they wanted but the guy told me who was giving me the road test that he wasnt concerned and as long as I show him Im able to handle a truck hes fine. I passed the test with flying colors and was shocked I didnt have much exp. I have worked every single day I've been there, always on time as well since if there isnt enough work and that if someone else is late I get there run. But since its a small terminal and kinda short on drivers everyone gets to work and they dont care about us getting overtime as long as we do everything and everyone is working and happy.

All in all I know i gave out my lifes story, but take it from someone who never had to driver OTR at all

PS all CWF drivers im not bashing on CWF, I know of a few great terminals that take care of their drivers and flex boards, mine just didnt

 

Six freaking months may seem like a long time when you are not wanting to do something. But the reality of it is that six months is tiny, compared to the rest of your working career. Sometimes a person just has to get their mind set right.

OTOH, I couldn't recommend Covenent, even for six freaking days.

 

Team driving just has absolutely no appeal to me, I'll have to do 3 weeks at Trans Am which isn't bad at all.

 

thanks for that info,harvey. i'm about to invest $ 3000.00 ,in private schooling for cdl's. I'm an unemployed construction worker for the last 3 years and hoping that this career change will get me back to work!!!!

 

thats what i dont understand there are some good hard working people out there how are we to get experience if no-one gives us a try

 

That's a good question, old man, and one I don't have an answer for. Shoot, I remember when I was just starting out in the work force. (Back in the dark ages of course. . .)

It seems that every employer wanted to hire someone in their early twenties, that had fifty years experience, and wanted to pay them below minimum wage. Which at that time, I believe was about 65 cents an hour. . .

You just have to keep knocking on doors and talking to people. Fill out those applications. Be honest, keep your fingers crossed, and hope the stars are in the right alignment for you. Sooner or later, a door will open. . .

 

So true. I keep running into places that don't have enough drivers, but they want all of us to have many years of recent experience.

 

There is no such thing as an air brake endorsement. How did you get a class A without taking the air brakes general knowlege test?

 

It's probably an air brake restriction. If you fail that portion or test in a vehicle that doesn't have air brakes you will have an air brake restriction.