What's reasonable to expect fresh out of school?

1. 53' only go in to two NYC boroughs and its no worse than Atlanta and lower NJ
2. I you're clean looking you can get day cab out of school now days
3. Regional or OTR you're going to want guarantee-pay or layover pay or you're going to get plenty of layover
4. PTL is the only company that kind of has responsible training; unless they've changed; it use to be only 2+ year trainers and one month out. The rest are "puppy mill" that manufacture bad drivers using bad drivers

 

Problem is, teams get the long runs. Many times a solo driver will get dispatched on a long run, then after getting on the interstate and moving on, a message comes to meet a team somewhere and give the load to them. Solo drivers shouldn't expect any West coast runs and probably never see West of I-35. Maybe it wasn't that way when you started, but that's the way it is now. Same with Schneider.

 

So...by that standard....any/all carriers that run primarily east of I-35 are not good experience?

Really???

-- L

 

I didn't say that. Some drivers don't want to do coast to coast runs, so a carrier that doesn't send solo drivers to the West coast is a good fit for those that don't want to run West.

 

Currently -- teams seem to be taking over in A LOT of places -- not necessarily only in just those "long" runs.

Carriers are being squeezed from all sides by increased costs -- so to get the most $$$$$ they can from any rig -- they are (more & more) pushing teams.

Thus -- if a new driver can find a solo (not team) position with a starter carrier that has a decent reputation for training/grooming beginners -- (in the present job market) I say, "go for it."

-- L

 

I don't disagree with that, but if the new driver wants to run coast-to-coast, I recommend certain flatbed and reefer companies.

 

Agree, PTL is a good place to start for dry van.
Home | Paschall Truck Lines, Inc. | CDL-A Driving Job

 

Flatbedders run coast to coast. They will dispatch you east to west, then bounce off the west coast and head back. 1000 to 2000 mile runs are common.

Indiana to LA.
LA to Denver
Denver to SC
Then back west...

When I ran OTR reefer for a time, some weeks I saw great pay, but I averaged 400-500 mile runs. And we all know how sometimes unloads are slow.

Flatbed load/unload is never slow.

 

What I noticed(I was OTR up till the beginning of covid):

1. Megas had coast to coast solo loads up till covid; I did CA to MA and AZ to SC loads in 2019 at PTL and other companies before that
2. Towards the end of covid lock down I heard OTR drivers complaining about short haul for OTR drivers. 1200 miles tops
3. Teams and trainers have had priority shop and hot loads since forever; at orientations they've always been fast tracked into a truck
4. Solo OTR drivers where I'm at now get 450-1400 mile loads and teams do everything west of TX. I'm NC based

Coast to coast solo basically went away with 24 hour Walmarts. They were easy money if you ran nights

 

Which company are you with now?
PTL is doing West Coast runs now aren't they?