Been thinking about getting my Class A for awhile now. Need info. Any help is greatly appreciated!

@chrismcallister34 --

All the above is indeed good info, but I would also submit to you the following....

When I got into the CDL world, my driving record was spotless--but I had a shakey employment history, as well.

Thus, to distinguish myself from the rest of the herd of beginner applicants, I knew I needed to add some "bling" to my applications.

I would strongly suggest--that you do the same.

What do I mean by that?

Before you contact any of the above--go ahead, and get your CDL (I take it from the above info you don't have one, yet).

Also--get ALL of the available CDL endorsements--hazmat, tanker, and also doubles/triples.

While you are getting the endorsements--go ahead, and also get a TWIC card.

Thus--later when you do talk/apply to your list of possible carriers--you will appear much more attractive to them, because you will have all these credentials--plus a CDL, already in hand.

All that up-front effort shows them you're serious--and obviously you mean business.

Thus--all those endorsements with the CDL will make you significantly more appealing to just about any starter carrier.

And given your situation--you really need that.

You'll need all those endorsements, anyway--because later on, that's (most of the time) where the real money is.

The above strategy will indeed cost you more time up-front--but I would wager that the payoff in the long run will be HUGE.

And now....for the REST of the story....

In my case--Knight Transportation shot me down--but (mainly because of all those endorsements, and the TWIC) Schneider hired me.

Fast forward to the present--I do hazmat tanker duty, hauling fuel....in south GA and north FL (but NOT with Schneider).

Think about it.....

--Lual

 

Rank them as Covenant, Western Express, PAM, CRST and CR England.
Covenant is ok, at best. Don't base a decision on the google reviews of their hotel, as its likely folks who got cut during orientation. Western Express will run you as hard as you can handle, but their equipment can be suspect and the pay is low. PAM will force you to team with another rookie of their choosing (not your woman, unless something has changed) for the first 40,000 miles and the pay is low. CRST might not be too low on your list if they allow you to team with your woman right after training, but not recommended for a solo operator at all due to low pay and lots of layovers. Ready-made teams might be OK there for a year. CR England is the worst of the worst. They will sit you and starve you as they know you are under contract. They will try to convince you to run one of their Dollar store accounts which has a lot of manual labor and really tight lots. And finally, they will do everything in their power to coerce you into signing a lease (fleece) agreement, where you will find a lot of weeks with, in Army terms, a "No Pay Due."

Granted, I'm not a team driver. Never liked putting my life in someone else's hands in a truck, and never looked further at team operations. This ranking might change a bit for someone coming on-board with a ready-made team.

 

I already posted the other day that Western Express doesn't have a cdl school.
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Also, the best way to get this new career started is to apply to all those already posted.
In your situation, you can't afford to be picky.
Only takes a couple of minutes to apply online. Forget the phone calls, just apply online and if the company is interested, you'll be contacted.

 

The T endorsement comes about in different ways, not necessarily traditional doubles. Say you want to go back local and a wrecker outfit has an opening for a heavy wrecker operator. That requires the "T" because you wouldn't otherwise be able to pull a tractor/trailer combination down the highway behind the wrecker (counts as two towed units). In the oil field, we had something called "double bottom" systems, where it was essentially a straight tanker truck with a pup trailer. Notice I didn't say a pup semitrailer... this has an additional point of articulation and also required the "T."

Its just one written test and you have it for life. You never know, that perfect LTL job might come up in the future and you are passed over because it requires the "T."

 

@chrismcallister34 --

My response to your above query would be...

The more bling you bring to the fling, the better the sling.

For 2 reasons:

1. At this point in the game, the more endorsements, the better;
2. Later.....you COULD change your mind, and decide to try another type of freight.

If you do later change your mind--you already have what you will need.

Besides....the tests for the endorsements are actually fairly easy.

Your other "roadmap" to future CDL success--in the meantime, especially while you work on all the above--

1. Don't have any traffic accidents/incidents;
2. Don't get any traffic citations--not even a warning;
3. Don't get married (being a new CDL driver is incredibly tough on a marriage--especially OTR);
4. Don't have any children (whether you intended to--or not);
5. If you don't already have a house--don't buy one. No offense intended to current homeowners, but if you aspire to OTR duty, it's later much less to worry/see about;
6. Don't get/start a criminal history...i.e., don't do anything stupid.
7. If you already have another job--do your very best to keep it.

As you are already seeing and experiencing, first-hand...it's a "reap what you sow" world that we live in.....and you do indeed reap what you sow--be it good, or bad.

--Lual

 

Go in, take picture, pay money. That's all they want, your money... and you only pay once for the endorsements, they are a part of your renewal fees.

Then only endorsement that differs is H, as it requires a new background check and fees for each renewal.