My Best Advice:...get Everything In Writing! It's Not At All Like They Tell You It Is!
Too Much To Elaborate On.
You Can Make An Ok Living, But Not At The Level They Tell You.
Beware!

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SLP

Texas

No, I'm afraid "Too much to elaborate on" just doesn't cut it. We deal in specifics here, so if you wouldn't mind, let's have some.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

You won't make anywhere near the kind of money they say you will. You can make just as much locally, doing a lot less work and a lot less stress. You only need to purchase some of the tools from them and their tool bag will only last you a couple of weeks.
The ability to make money isn't with the way you manage your money, as is what they tell you. But there isn't any money in the loads they give you. By the time you pay for your hotels and fuel for someone else's truck, then the taxi's and tolls getting from place to place and the flights getting to the trucks, you're lucky if you clear $500/week.
They also tell you that they encourage you to negotiate the loads and that they prefer those who do. It tells them they're dealing with a professional. NOT TRUE AT ALL! The most negotiation you might get will be a third or half of the taxi's or transportation getting to the load. Some of the loads, not many at all, will provide you the airfare or transportation reimbursed.
The travel or pay miles are as much as 250 miles shy of the real miles. There is NO decking pay! You don't have an hour and a half time limit to decide on a load. If you do take that much time, then when you call back in the load is gone!
I'm telling you this because I happen to like the job, the travel, the creative thinking to try to make a living, but I have a second company at home that is definitely supporting my wife and me. I don't like working a local job either. The dispatchers here seem to be nice and respectful but sometimes it seems as if they're getting a piece of each load. I DO NOT know that for a fact.
They don't need to tell people these things that are untruths. They DO have a 98% turnover. The HINO loads are not as frequent as they make them sound. Basicallly, you DO have a choice of the loads, but it's not a great choice. You simply need to decide whether you want to make $200-$300 per load and how you can do as many of those in a week that you are able to do and get your paperwork in on time.
This is the absolute trurh as I have experienced it in the 7 weeks I have been here. Half of my class has already quit and gone elsewhere. Remember, I like my job and have the ability to EKE out a living here but I want people to really know, up front, what they're getting in to before it truly disrupts their lives, career and credit wise. I take that very seriously.

Oh yeah, one more thing, their sister company "Auto Truck Transport" has NO openings at present, I have never met an unhappy driver there, although I'm sure there are one or two, and the pay and benefits are UNBELIEVEABLE! Family men should consider them first!,

Good luck I hope this helps.

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SLP

Texas

Interesting! Auto Truck Transport is a union operation:

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

I know you like the driveaway operations but if anyone is into auto hauling check out United Road [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . They do take new grad drivers. Have a friend there and he really loves the operation. He has said it is the best thing he has found yet!

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Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge brings peace!

Do you mind if I copy this and post it on may site?

Yeah, Unimark is Union as well. Machinists Union. The only difference is that at Unimark, you're hired on as an Independent Contractor, which has its perks, but the money just IS NOT in the loads.

After you deduct your fuel, motels, taxis, airfare and bus rides, plus adding up all the travel and down time between loads, it gets very costly. By the time the check comes out, there's very little money to manage.

Like I said before, I'm EKING out a living here but i assure you it's only until my 90 days probation is up.

Oh yeah, if you don't stay 90 days after your training , you will be obligated to pay back $2000 for the training. You are also allowed to work for other companies while contracted to Unimark, and why not, they give you all the tools, permits and licenses you need, so if someone is really on the ball, they can build this into a pretty busy business.

But since my first input about this matter, I am now, the only one left that was in my class.

I'm working on a different angle now, using the tools I got during training. If that doesn't work, I'm outta here after my 90 days is up.

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SLP

Texas