i do not beleive that millis runs teams but you can always take her on the road when i was they had a husband and wife that made the truck there home she didn't drive tho but you can call millis transfer or check out there web site millis transfer the trucks are great have not seen any companys that have refridgerator in the trucks like millis has i had a good time there they haul lots of beer and paper mostly east of the mississippi river they do have a few female trainers if thats a concern of yours one i met was a real hot ticket any questions you can email me a t hope this helps they do require you sign a 1 year contract but for the low cost of the $500 and the great accomodations in germantown wi i feel it is the way to go

just started Millis' training in Richfield, WI yesterday. So far the instructors know their stuff. (Chris is no longer an instructor). Everyone at the training site (terminal) is very friendly, the drivers will talk to you, etc. One nice thing versus other company training is that there are only 6 students, MAX! Lots of drive time, plenty of personal attention.

hi i am in a ruck drivin school here in the mass ct area called nettts i am paying $ 7000 for 20 weeks. i am in my 4th week so far so good very intense training larning all about the dreded log books. So i was told that going through a private school you will not have any contracts with companies since you have paid the tuition yourslf or with federal student loans and we just had a swift recruiter come in last week and i saw everyone in the room get starried eyed over the great brocure he handed out i had the advantage that most people don't have i went to a company paid training school for 3 weeks what a disappointment the instructor was awesome but you learn squat in 3 weeks but if nu way gaurentees you a cdl no matter how long it takes go that route because when you get your cdl you can pick the company you want to work for. I was told by any instructor at nettts they can't recomend a tucking company by LAW BUT as the greatest instructor i have ever met said any company that offers a newbie a job is a good company ALSO remember that if you get your cdl independently you can pick and choose what company you want to work for like if you work for swift and don't like it after a few months you can wash your hands and go work for werner or whom ever and no you have no contracts to hold you there ALSO !!!!!!!!!!!! everyone here is a nay sayer no one says anything good about any company if they all s##ed that bad there would be no trucks on the road and lastly no one is saying that if you work for any of the so called bad companies that you need to retire from them just stick it out a year and have no accidents and most trucking companies will hire you I ALSO AM A newbie and that is what i am going to do put in a year somewhere and go back to millis transfer which is where i did my 3 weeks of taining great company but they either train you or you need a year experiance and if you can afford to be away from home for 3 weeks get your training at millis transfer you live in the right area for them they have great equiptment hope this helps sorry the reply is so long

see you on the highway

bigpete

do you know what happened to chris yes the 6 people is great i had a great time how do you like the hotel it's the bomb huh stick with them they are a great company i am looking forward to getting back with them once i get my year in otr hope you have fun who do you have as an instructor harold ?? ALSO DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR see if you can get NORM LIVINGOOD AS your trainer that man knows his stuff he was my trainer what a good person if you do get him tell him pete said hello

Chris decided to go back to OTR. Harold is still there teaching. I will ask if i can get him as my trainer! BTW thanx for the info!

thanks i new chris was talking about going back on the road when i finished school there are you in the super 8 in germantown i think that hotel rocks how is harold still stuttering bad

Good stuff in here, guys.

I too was looking at Nu-Way in Livonia.

Looks like I am going to see what a company school can offer me.

Thanks again.

I'm a newbie too, but I'm retired with some income and have the luxury of taking my time to do some research. I've learned a few things!

1. Nearly all companies that are hiring new CDL's will "reimburse" you for training one way or the other, which runs $1,500 to $6,000 depending on where you go and who you hire on with.

2. Payback requires a contract of from 8 months to 3 years with the company (depends on the company), during which time payroll deductions are made from your pay until the "loan" is paid off.

3. If you leave the company before the loan is paid (you can leave, but you have broken the contract), you will be liable for the maximum balance due plus highest possible interest. For instance, one school advertises that the three major companies they train for might pay for about $4,900 of your $6,000 training and front the rest, leaving you with about $1,100 to pay back through payroll deductions. But, you'll also need about $450 for lodging, so your payback is actually closer to $1,600. Furthermore, if you don't stay with the company for the duration of the contract which starts AFTER your company orientation training is complete, you will be liable for the entire $6,000 training bill plus accrued interest at 18% or higher APR!

4. The important thing is to get on the road making money ASAP. All companies have good and bad employees, policies, operating areas, etc., and some are better than others, but it also depends on YOUR individual needs, not the needs of the author of some post in an internet forum! Take what you read on the forums with a grain of salt. Read between the lines, and try to understand where the author is coming from. Disgruntled ex-employees and others with bad things to say about companies are much more likely to look for a place to speak their mind than those who are happy and have good things to say about that same company (they aren't likely to seek out a place to brag on-line about their company, anymore than you did when you were happy). Believe only what you can prove through your own research. Google companies, trucking terms, trucking jobs, trucker's pay, equipment, etc. (anything you can think of), and make a comparison list of good and bad points about each. It's too confusing if you're not organized, and impossible to get an accurate picture if you believe everything you read!

The lesson here is to get your CDL without company subsidy if you can! That leaves you with no financial strings if you do have to leave, but try to stick it out for at least a year! If you can't, there ARE OTR companies that will hire you with 6 months or less experience, but your options do dwindle with less than a year on the road. There are 1.4 million trucking companies (including O/O's) in the U.S., so somebody somewhere IS always hiring, regardless of experience. Finding one that suits your needs is the biggest problem!

Another lesson is that not all schools are subsidized the same, are not all are the same length or quality, nor do they cost the same if you pay up front. Community colleges often offer 4-6-8 week CDL courses at 1/3 or less what "professional" driving schools charge, and it's worth floating a loan to acquire this freedom from trucking companies! State agencies sometimes pay for that training through "workforce" grants and scholarships, but those are all usually gone early in the year around tax time (fill out your FAFSA request as soon as possible after January 1st.) If you have a recent honorable discharge from the military, or are still on active duty, take advantage of your Montgomery Bill rights to pay for the training (old timers like me can't use the old G.I. Bill, as most of our retraining rights have expired after 10 years).

Again, I'm just a newb like most everyone else here. I haven't driven an 18 wheeler in 35 years, and everything has changed, but I still remember the value of research!

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Sorry but any company that takes on alot of new recruits is going to have a bad rap. Its a two way street. Alot of people go into trucking expecting things that are just plain unrealistic based on the ads or so on, and the millasecond they get wind there might be a down side they freak out blame the company move on to the next company or quit all together.

Regardless of the way you get trained 99.9999% of the time you are going to HAVE to go to a 'bad rap' starter company to get the expierence to go to a 'better company'. Thats the way life works. You cannot skip the ratrace and be a CEO in most cases you need to either work your way up or go to school and then work your way up. Same thing.

Some of the biggest myths I see are:

I am going to get to see the country! - Well yes and no. You will see alot of roads in the country and industrial warehouses... but Yellowstone doesn't have truck parking and neither does most of the other 'see the country' sorta tourist spots. Granted you will see every state you can drive thru just about, but you won't be stopping at the Liberty Bell or going to see the White House.

All I have to do is drive! - Most of the time this is sorta true. But a lot of people in school don't realize the amount of work goes into trucking. Planning, getting weights right, sometimes unloading, hooking, unhooking is all work. If you are flatbed then you get to add tarping and strapping too. Its hard work, and it is not just driving.

I am going to make 60k a year! - Eventually yes, first year... probably not. Most companies pay like 28 cents a mile starting and most average solos can get around 2500-3000 miles IF the company is getting loads. Thats about the VERY best one can expect their first year in most cases.

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