Trying to make up my mind.

i havent seen many negative reviews of millis either. dont know if they go west. swift is on my list of 3 companies never to work for (cr england, crst and swift). they are now forcing drivers to log on duty at shippers/receivers, and log 30 minutes minimum for pretrip. in my eyes, since this is unpaid time, this is theft of services, plain and simple. means you will have significantly less time each week to derive, and thus will not have the earning capacity you would have at ANY OTHER COMPANY. not to mention the tennessee swift school that stole money from nearly 9000 truck drivers by issuing worthless cdls. drivers taking class there had licenses suspended, fbi raided swift school...was a big mess, and swift did nothing to compensate these drivers for their screw-up.

most places will allow for retesting if you fail the dot test. make sure you ask about this, and avoid any school that says they would not.

at post places, the workers will tell you what door to back into. either that, or they will tell you to "back into AN empty door" and then you have your choice of which is easiest.

most loads have way too much time to get there in my opinion. the company will normally figure out the time necessary based on something like 45 mph, and since you will be going 60-65 for the majority of the trip, you have lots of extra time. weather is of course a factor, if its bad enough it can make you late, but its rare, and most companies understand that it happens now and then. bad wrecks...if you mean when YOU get into one, its a job ender with most companies. and hard to get hired by another company with a wreck in your history. if you meant wrecks that slow you down...same as weather. usually will just add a couple hours max to your trip time, and not be a factor.

 

I was in your position recently as well awjones, and I finally decided to go for it, life is too short. I put everything I had into a local private school here, and am extremely happy I finally made the plunge. I am enjoying everything I am learning with more enthusiasm than I have had in a long time. Speaking for myself I truly believe the lifestyle will be a good fit for me. Millis would be one of the companies I would be interested in if they hired out of MN. but unfortunately they do not. I'm still completely at a loss as to which companies interest me most. I will be filling out pre-hire apps soon and see what comes back and make a decision then. The school I am attending currently has about 20 companies that hire directly, and thankfully they are not all mega carriers which gives us a few more options. If you don't try you will never know!

 

I started with swift and they were fine but I wouldn't suggest making a career with them since the top pay takes forever to get and even then it's pretty low in comparison to other companies. I would go to Millis.

 

I think that sums up the worries of all of us who are lurking on this board and haven't yet made the leap. Glad that I am not alone.

 

Personally i'm going into this not expecting to make much my first year. It's not that I won't try, but taking my time (being safe) and learning the ropes will be my priority. It seems that after a good safe year the opportunities begin to come available in this industry. I already have a nice local gig waiting for me should I want it once I get my experience. Time will tell.

 

Always a good idea to ask questions no matter how stupid you may think they are. I had narrowed it down to Swift and Millis as well. I based my decision on the fact that Millis mainly runs east of the Miss, from the info I got. Just like you, I wanted to run the 48. Therefor I went with Swift. Good luck to you.

 

ive HEARD of drivers making less. but in my opinion, they are either partially to blame or working for a really bad company. 1st year as a SOLO driver, you should be making a minimum of 2500 miles per week. anything less is an insult. of course there will be short weeks here and there, but im talking AVERAGE. i averaged around 2850 miles per week my first year as a solo, and earned about 38000 gross salary for that, not including tuition reimbursement of 100 per month. (average pay for that year was 28.5 cpm) 2nd year earned 32 cpm and grossed more like 42k). im guesstimating, based on 46 weeks worth of work, which accounts for short weeks due to home time.