Looking to see which of these 3 company's to go with. Training then working OTR for them. Any input on any/all would be much appreciated. Main issue for me would be if they keep you continually running after you drop a load. How quick can you get a new one and is work continuous with them? Pay look like it's good with all 3 and I'm not too worried about home time for the first year or two. I know they want you to be on the road and you're not making any money when you're not. Plus, the experience I need won't rack up while sitting on my butt at home

Any input would be great!

Thanks guyz and galz!

Crete and Shaffer are the same company, the only difference is Shaffer is the Reefer side of the house. They are slowing merging the two into one company under the Crete name, Shaffer will become Crete Refridgerated.

If I had to choose, just based on reputation and what-not I'd go Crete. Schneider has a habit of running folks off.

Crete doesn't have a sterling reputation either, but in this industry you have to take the best you can get because in the end just about every large trucking company is crap at one point or another.

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TexasMike
No place like Texas ...

i currently work for schneider and went through there training, its great training suposedly the best in the industry but that could be disputed. as far as running for them i run a dedicated run. from talking to the otr drivers the miles are steady and with a good dispatcher you can run out of hours in 5 days if you want to. ive heard good things about crete to but every company has its problems. schneider has an 18 month contract currently if cretes is shorter id go with crete for the sheer fact its a shorter indentured servent time period. if you can plunk down cash or get a grant to get your cdl do it then flip a coin heads schneider tails crete (or the other way around if you prefer)

if you look at the shaffer trucks its "Shaffer a divission of crete carriers" though with the refers you will have them kicking on and off at all times of the night. crete also runs flat bed under the name hunt transportation.

EDIT: Crete also pays practical route vs house hold movers guide or "short route" a plus as you get paid for more of the miles you actualy run.

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Pumpkin Driver - we got problems but so does every one else
Army Driver
"Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal." tupac

Crete and Shaffer are the same company, the only difference is Shaffer is the Reefer side of the house. They are slowing merging the two into one company under the Crete name, Shaffer will become Crete Refridgerated.

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That's what I thought when I was researching the companies. Looks like they're sharing webspace for all 3 of their company's and I wasn't sure.

What company do you work for Tex?

The closest CDL school from me is an hour and a half away and costs $7200. It's one thing to go into the industry owing a company that paid for your training and gave you a job right away. It's another thing to pay the $7k and go into the industry in immense debt from a school that's been reported to the Federal Trade Commision for promising their students the world after graduation and not delievering. They chose to just pay the $11k to try and make it go away instead of changing their recruiting paperwork.

I'm glad I did my homework on them before giving them my money! And as it turns out, currently there are no Comm. Colleges near me that offer CDL so I kind of have to take a company's training program. Just trying to figure out who to go with. Have you had any problems with Schneider or anything with your dedicated run or are you enjoying it?

im loving my dedicated run, i get 3000 miles a week and am home every weekend i run from st. louis to winchester va (i81 and i66) twice a week. i did run system (schneiders name for 48 + canada) for a little while but once my daughter was born i moved to the dedicated. now the dedicated run i have does come at a "cost" i make less per mile but i have those 3000 no matter what so there is that added bennifit but each account varies. my dbl (sni's name for dispatcher) is great and training was exelecent [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. is a thread where alot of questions were asked by me and answered all answers are correct from my experience as well. im happy at schneider and will stay on for at least my 18 month contract maby longer. in the trucking industry you need to be at your first company at least a year (also most of the good jobs require 1-2 years exp.) so staying 18 months is not that bad as i am planning on staying to my 2 year mark then starting the hunt if i dont like it. best of luck and i would not go into debt with out a guarenteed job once you finished training sni currently runs $4500 for training but if you stay with them the 18 months you only pay $900 of that with a $1000 longetivity bonus at 2 years (currently, could change in the future.) just keep reaserching and if the closest cdl school is an hour and a half away you will prolly have to go else where which in my opinion is not bad as it takes away alot of distractions which is a good thing when your doing 14 hour days for 2 weeks to learn every thing you need to know to start driving a truck.

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Pumpkin Driver - we got problems but so does every one else
Army Driver
"Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal." tupac

Thanks for the info. I was thinking the same thing that once I'm at a company, I'll be there for a while or until I know what the heck I'm doing. That'll probably be about 12-18 months anyways so I don't think it's too bad to have the job security for that long before looking somewhere else better or maybe closer to home after the experience sets in.

Best of luck to you there. They seem to be one of the better big company's and seems that they're treating you well. Keep on keepin' on brotha and congrats on newborn!

capnhector - Wow, a dedicated running 3k, thats a nice deal I bet! How long did it take before you got hold of that?

I must admit fella's, hooking up with Schneider for 18 mo's sounds pretty scary, but if a guy gets a dedicated, especially running thru the house, that would make life much better!

I think the industry itself, with the high turnover rate and the fact that soo many drivers on the road have only been in a year or two, and the $/hr translation make this a huge decision. My sticking point is the fact I have 3 little kids at home. A dedicated would be great if they didn't gut the pay.

If you don't mind (nosey), what is your dedicated rate?

Wonder how many people get hooked up with a dedicated form sni?