My adventure with Carolina Cargo

It has been a long time coming. Much research, applying for jobs, and hoping for an opportunity. I graduated from Charlotte Truck Driver Training School here in Charlotte, NC on April 10th of this year. So here we are 2 months later having orientation with this company tomorrow at 9am. I have heard and read of horrible experiences with Carolina Cargo thus my expectations are not high. I don't have anyone to blame but myself for not protecting my mvr and background which is why I have to start my trucking career with this company. Although there were some threads on Carolina Cargo, the content of the posters' experiences seemed incomplete and composed mostly of complaints rather than information. I will update this thread as often as possible and hopefully get enough experience with this company to move on to something better asap.

 

Orientation Day 1
With all the horror stories that I've heard about this company, I was very surprised today. I knew coming in that I would have an open mind and just do what I have to do to get experience. This company is not nearly as bad as they are made out to be and I'm thankful to the company for giving me an opportunity. We started out with 2 thick packets of paperwork, a urine drug test, and meeting the administrative staff. Our driver manager then came in and went over elogs, paper logs, trip planning, fuel routes, bonuses, safety, etc. Although the pay is .20 cpm to the truck split, the miles are there (teams average 5500 per trip) and there are bonuses in place to get extra money. Of course I am not a fan of per diem but that is non-negotiable within pay. Continental breakfast is provided at a motel 6 nearby and they provide lunch during orientation.

 

Orientation Day 2
Today we went into more detail about pay, bonuses, direct deposit, benefits, home-time, etc. We went outside and did pretrips on tractor and trailer the Carolina Cargo way. We also did some coupling, uncoupling, backing and it was hot/humid outside. Carolina Cargo has automatic and manual transmissions. We had Wendys for lunch. Still looking forward to getting this experience hopefully I'll be hitting the road tomorrow.

 

You'll have to call and ask Carolina Cargo about that scenario

 

Orientation Day 3
The owner Jim came in and talked to us about why he started the company and why he is so willing to give felons, bad mvr's, etc a second chance. A driver that has been here for 2 years came in and talked to us about his experience with the company. This is a very close knit company and very family oriented.We were provided pizza for lunch again and they put my trainer and I back in the hotel for the night. Today was supposed to be the day that I go out with my trainer but our truck isn't ready so we'll leave out tomorrow at 9am. Important information about the company:

• This is a team operation
• There is NO tuition reimbursement
• Training program consists of 3 trips to the west coast and back (each trip takes approximately 6-8 days)
• There is forced dispatch with fuel routes
• You get paid by the trip, not by the week and you start out 1 check in the hole. After your first trip out you do get a $300 "sign on" bonus
• No vacation pay
• No paid holidays
• No sick leave
• After 90 days you are eligible for health insurance
• You are eligible for life insurance, critical sickness insurance, and accident insurance from day 1
• There is 100% no-touch cargo

Alright guys I'm about to watch this finals game. Hopefully the Spurs pull this out so that I can rest good before my first trip