question for the old time drivers

Sorry to tell you this but the "smaller* companys will sh** on you the same as the big ones.Do some research over on the other posts,there is tons of info on here on just about every company out there.Good luck to you and welcome to the world of TRUCKING.

 

seems to me you had answered your own question??

 

Larger companies will have an established maintenance program, benefits package, safety department, and larger freight network.

Smaller carriers may have difficulty paying their drivers on time (or pay them as an independent contractor rather than an employee to save on taxes), offer a benefits plan, have an in house shop, or a safety department.

The important part to choosing a potential new employer is to talk to the current workers at the company you are looking into. Current drivers will be able to give you the inside details that a recruiter will not.

Best advice I can give you is to find a company that takes care of its equipment, pays you as an employee (meaning they with hold taxes + pay workers comp), and does not ask you to violate HOS regs.

 

Jlkklj777, my post is in no way aimed at you personally. I am playing devils advocate and taking the other side of the coin.

Yeah, a big company like Arrow. Now that's was a class act, no problems paying their drivers there huh...!

Said it before, Ill say it again. Big companies are NEVER the answer. They don't give a rats ### about you period.

Let me put it a different way. ANY company that tells you, you EARN one day off for every week you are on the road is ###### UP FULL OF #### AND STUPID. You "earn", a day off? Gracious me... LOL, you gotta be ####### kidding me. If that's what ya want, and you can seriously sit there and tell me you aint just a number. Well, you are exactly where you deserve to be.

There are some great small companies out there, somewhere there are probably a couple of decent big companies. Not sure who those big boys are, but...

 

Into every life a turd will fall on occasion, it really doesn't care where you are at the time.

 

No offense taken. I could cite numerous union outfits that were sold out and shut down. They had GREAT pay and benefits and their drivers were locked out anyway.

Smaller companies "may" have more a family type atmosphere but I have seen that smaller carriers do not "usually" offer discounted medical insurance for their driver or drivers family. Other items that may be missing are: workers comp, retirement benefits, paid holidays, sick days, detention, or breakdown pay.

There are many examples of smaller outfits that rotinely violate HOS regs in order to make more money as well.

I will say that private carriers hauling their own products or servicing a regular customer have better pay structures than the irregular route otr carriers.

 

I'm not an old time driver....I'm just old(er). And, I'm a wannabe who will soon (late Jun 2010) graduate into "newbiehood". In my time as a wannabe, about 6 months and counting, I've looked at a number of options with respect to where to start and with which carrier.

I have a healthy respect for regulations and safety. I don't necessary like all the regulations I see out there in my truck driving future, but they are there nonetheless, and, if I want to have a truck driving future, I'm pretty much locked into abiding by those regulations. What the hell has that got to do with big carrier/small carrier, Schneider/Maverick or the smaller carrier that you are looking at?

Schneider and Maverick both have excellent safety scores, i.e., for the most part, they follow the regulations. You didn't mention who the smaller carrier is....doesn't matter to me, but it might matter to you. Check them out thoroughly. Do they abide by the regulations? Do they have good safety scores? Are they likely to be a CSA 2010 target? If your carrier is a target, then, by association, so are you. There are drivers on this forum who would disagree with me. Wouldn't be the first time.

Save yourself some aggravation, go with safety and adherence to regulations as two of the qualifiers when you look at which one you want to drive for. Not the only two, mind you! It might not matter if you're "just a number" for a while, at least your number will be rolling.

Just my $0.01 cents worth! Good luck, I wish you the very best life and driving has to offer. Oldnew...

 

In many cases I would shoot for the smaller company, but most smaller company's will not take new drivers, the insurance will not allow it.
So that makes me worry about the small company you are talking too. They may be great, but check with drivers that work there first to find out.
Ask them about pay, hometime, equipment, hours they run and how well they are dispatched.

There are many other questions I would ask as well, depending on the answers to those went, but that is a start.

 

First, since you have a computer, go to safersys.org lookup company profile click it on, you will have to use the companies name if you dont know their carrier number or dot number, It will tell you just about everything you need to know about any company in the world, their safety rating, their insurance, when they got their authority, if it has ever been revoked, how many accidents they have had,if they are satifactory which is good or not satifactory which is conditional. It has all you will need but I would talk to some drivers also, Any online bond rating company can tell you what their bond rating is and if they have good or bad credit, Good Luck, its a learning journey, never stop learning or asking----OLD MAN OF THE ROAD