Originally Posted by Doc Daniels

all these views and no advice? grr LOL

Its like "the weekend" Doc - ya know that part about "hometime?" Gotta let that turkey buzz wear off a little!

Originally Posted by Doc Daniels

Ok I appologize for the length so I try and K.I.S.S. this.

1. I owned a mobile DJ company for 8 years. I now need a new and better job. (please spare me the DJ job is easy stuff - thanks) I am 34 years old and want to get as much info and limit my mistakes.

Good so far...

School - Sage Indy

I am looking into possibly going to Sage in Indy (closest school to NW Indiana (Demotte) I can get grants and financial aid.

1. Is this school good?
2. They offer job placement, is this ok or shoudl I get the CDL and look onmy own?
3. Is a 4-5 week school nessesary?

(1) I went to the SAGE school in Henderson CO. Yeah, its a good school as driving schools go - don't have an opinion on how they vary from location-to-location. They give you about as much wheel time (that is one-on-one) as they can afford with the budget they have. Keep in mind that the objective in ANY driving school is to get you to the point that you have a CDL in your hand - that doesn't mean you're going to be a "truck driver" at the end of the process.

(3) Given the state of the industry, yeah it is necessary. Most of the places that you're going to be able to get that first job as an inexperienced driver look for the school completion as a prerequisite. The smaller the company, the more they are a slave to their insurance - they set the limits on who can drive - and most will require 2 or 3 years of experience before you can work for them. That puts you back into the "starter companies" - and they want that schooling. There is an alternative...

(2) "Placement" means getting "pre-hire" letters from carriers. That's not an offer of employment, or even worth much more than the paper it's written on. It is a guarantee that a carrier will look at you after you graduate. With that being said, yes it is important. Many of the "fly-by-night" schools will make all kinds of promises, but the carrier has to be willing to work with the school's product (you) in order for you to get on. Just because you get a pre-hire letter doesn't mean you'll go to orientation, or survive that process to end up in a seat. It does give you some assurance that you will have a future in trucking, because we do run across folks here who can't get hired anywhere. Keep in mind you have about six months of shelf-life on that CDL between graduation, and hiring - or you're not going to get in. Just the way it is...

Company - WHO to drive for?

I been reading boards for 3 days, I been talking to friends on facebook, and anyone who will chat.

1. I have gathered that swift use to be bad but is working on its issues.
2. CRST is pretty bad.
3. Maverick does mostly flatbed work
4. Schnider is a good stepping stool.
5. TMC I cant find any complaints
6. Prime, Star, jb hunt, No real conclusive info.

Do your research on the carriers up front. First you need to decide the segment of the industry to get into - flatbed, tanker, dry van or refridgerated. You're going to see good and bad pretty much on every carrier here - there is always someone who figures they got "screwed" - but there are also folks who are happy in these same places. I have my list of who to avoid, but I also see posts from drivers who are perfectly happy at the same company. Go figure. Maybe it goes back to expectations.

I drive for Prime - you will see posts from folks here who think it is a division of Satan Inc. I (and others who post here) think it is a pretty good outfit. That would be the refridgerated division. Don't have to tarp loads in snowstorms or 115-degrees-in-the-shade; during the recent economic butt-kicking, we did better than most, simply because you can put most dry van loads in a reefer, and people gotta eat.

There is an alternative to a school here - Prime does CDL training from permit through completion, and it is quite extensive. The training pay is very reasonable for the industry - almost never any waiting for a truck when you get on your own. If you stay with the company for a year after being solo-qualified, all tution expenses (except for the permit fee and initial DOT physical) are waived. In my opinion (and a lot of others) training is woefully neglected, and rushed. You will find companies who will put you in a truck with that CDL-mill license and a few days orientation - that should be illegal - and there will be a proposed rule on that in the future. Get as much training as you can!

Check through the "company DAC reports" folder for more on companies, as well as searching the "good" and "bad" companies folders too. Ask lots of questions.

Things I think I have learned

Companies will try to make you run more hours than legal.

Any company (or their agent - a dispatcher) who forces you into driving illegally is a company to avoid. With CSA 2010 being a fact soon, the kind of trouble that will get you will make you unemployable in the industry eventually, not to mention the liability you take on personally in the case of an accident. Don't expect that company to have your back if you get in trouble - they won't know you from Adam if the worst happens.

OTR is about the only way to get exp. fast.

Well, yeah. We get lots of miles, and the being away from home part tends to keep the employee churn-rate up. Its an industry fact that most new drivers don't last more than a year or two. Look at it this way: You have a goal, and there is a path to it. Getting a couple of years of clean driving experience pretty much lets you get to the point that you can go to where you want to be. OTR is one way of getting there. When it comes to carriers that will hire inexperienced drivers, you may come to hate the place you end up in - but you can change that with a couple of years of experience, and a clean driving history.

OTR drivers almost never get 4 days on the road 3 home.. they are lucky to get 1.5 days home.

OTR means "Over The Road" - not sitting on the couch at home with your family. That's the deal. Can't say what other companies offer, but the company driver at Prime accrues 1 home day per week which can be used 4-days at once. They prefer that you are out for 3 weeks between home visits. Every 125,000 dispatched miles you earn 5-days of paid vacation. I've never had a problem getting home, but there are carriers that will make getting home painful.

There are regional outfits who will manage to get you through the house on a weekly basis - that usually means pulling in late Friday or Saturday, and being dispatched around 34-hours later.

You should understand in this industry you are paid when the wheels are turning - not while you are at home. The amount of home-time you can afford will determine how much home time you can take.

If I dont mind driving every single nano second possible and do all i can the DM (Dispatch Managers can be really cool)

Being the new guy I get ###### runs and left sitting. ( can you bribe a DM? what if I give them thankyou gifts for getting me good runs? everyone like to feel appreciated?)

If you have to "bribe" a DM to get a decent "run" - you're working for the wrong outfit. And ya know - it happens. I think that a FM (we call them Fleet Managers) is first going to look at who is going to get the job done with the minimum of BS. Pickup and deliver on time - not a bunch of whiny calls about "how come this happened and why I can't deliver on time." Bottom line in this industry is all we have to sell is service. If you as a driver are constantly providing poor service, it reflects on the company and the FM. So who do you think is going to get the better loads? The driver who gets the job done efficiently with a minimum of management intervention, or the whiny BS artist who is constantly late?

Things I feel I should not budge on.

SAFTEY is number one to hell with a few mins. If I have to take a cat nap casue im tired DO IT.

Prime's approach is that you are "captain of the ship." If you say the conditions are unsafe, then they are unsafe and you shut down. There are also laws that forbid a carrier from coercing you into driving when you feel it is unsafe - we had a FM screw-up and tell a driver (subsequently fired) to drive in bad conditions, and she ended-up winning a lawsuit over that. I'd venture to say the FM doesn't work for Prime any longer too. So even at a good carrier (IMO Prime is one of them) s.h.i.t. happens.

There's a lot more to this story than just that - the woman was a lease operator who spent most of her time sitting around - and I'd venture to say she was probably frequently late at her shipper and receiver appointments. I'd also venture to say the FM did what he did out of frustration with her. He was wrong, and she should have refused to drive in unsafe conditions.

I wouldn't budge on that either. With CSA 2010 coming into effect soon, it'll hopefully weed-out the BS carriers who force drivers to run when the driver feels its unsafe. OTOH, most of the loads I run have some slack time built in... if you don't waste that, then there will be that slack time available to take that nap if you need it.

If I hit my limit of 70 hrs in a week. STOP tell the DM I can legally do it. (see rule #1) BUT how bad will this hurt me with the DM or is it a test to see if I take pride in my work?

Drive legally and safely - there is no other way to do it in this business. Driving a commercial vehicle is inherently dangerous - the way to mitigate that is to be conservative about how you approach it. Driving within the hours of service rules is one of them. They were put into place as a way to objectively manage driver fatigue.

Drivers who violate the rules and drive without common sense, are the ones who got us the HOS rules (and the constant clamping-down on available hours,) EOBRs/elogs, etc. Every time there is an accident that is traceable to a driver willfully violating the rules, there are new calls to clamp down on an "out-of-control" industry. Well that's pure BS, because most of us try to be safe professionals - and drive within the rules. Its the guys who push past the legal limits and get in trouble who tar the entire industry - and get screwed in the process. Lets say you violate that 70-hour limit, and end up killing someone. You have to live with that - the DM and company will probably not even feel any heat. Ever hear of "negligent homicide," or "vehicular homicide?" That's the worst case from your end. From the company's end (mostly) their worst case is needing a new driver.

If you face pressure to drive illegally, or are being compensated so poorly that you have to drive illegally to make a resonable weekly settlement, you are driving for the wrong company. Don't get me wrong here - there are ways to use the HOS to your advantage, and many drivers don't understand them well enough - leaving drivable hours on the table - and then violate the rules to get to the end of the road. So it's their fault as well.

BE AS LEGAL as possible. I dont think there is a Professional Driver who has not fudged the log a little .. BUT BE AS LEGAL AS POSSIBLE

Every time there is a horrific accident that has a smoking gun, there are pressure groups who (having never driven a truck) "KNOW" how to fix us. The latest is that idiot DOT secretary (LaHood) who has decided that every truck accident is traceable to some guy talking on a cell phone. There are ways of pushing the envelope a little - but at the end of the day, you need to be LEGAL PERIOD.

Things im not sure of...

How can I get in good with a DM I need miles.

Good performance when it comes to doing the job ontime. A good interpersonal relationship - the guys who figure hollerin' at a man over a phone is going to get him somewhere when he needs a favor need to go soak their heads for awhile.

What are ok fudges and sbsolute saftey no-no's

AM I on the right track here guys?

I am your clay.. mold the rookie into a good driver and not a Jackwagon!

Never drive when you are too tired. Don't accept equipment that won't pass the next roadside inspection. Don't accept a load that you know you can't deliver legally. When conditions warrant it, stop - its better to get some sleep and wait out a storm, than to continue and risk and accident and your life.

I won't respond to most of your questions because I am not yet a driver myself (and IP has covered everything I know and much much more) but I can suggest a company to look into, Con-Way Truckload.

I have been a passeneger on one of their trucks for about 2 years now (my boyfriend has been driving with them about 2 1/2 and drove for CRST for a while first) and have been pleasantly suprised with the company from what I've seen and my bf is happy with the pay, miles, DM's, equipment, etc..

Good luck, hope everything works out for you, keep us updated!


Katey

Originally Posted by ironpony

My impression with Conway is that you will be shleping freight on a dock for a couple of years before they will put you in a seat. Heard that from folks at the SAGE school I went to (experienced drivers/instructors) and the experience of a former Prime driver who eventually went there after all kinds of promises were made to him about driving. He said he spent more time with a broom and a pallet jack than actually driving.

That must have been with Con-Way Freight. With Truckload the freight is almost all no touch, you pickup the load (about 40 to 50% is drop and hook, rest live load), drive the load, bump the dock, and wait for them to unload it (or just drop the trailer and pick up an empty at some customers - prolly about 20 to 30% D/H on delivery end). Sometimes you can choose to load/unload yourself and get paid but most just hire lumpers as the company pays for them.