Highest paying company for regional/otr for RECENT GRADS???

jville, nc (camp lejeune) ?

 

It's just a broken record on how these new drivers go out and find work. The school tells them the mega carriers are the only place you'll work so get a recruiter and find a job. Or they go to one of these high turn over companies because they got a pre-hire letter before school. First lets have a bit of reality here. Recruiters do not work for you the driver. They make their living by feeing the companies drivers. They could care less if you got a great job. Sure you'll find some that look out for you but their contacts are limited. You do not have to work for a mega carrier. These companies may fit to your needs but they have a high turn-over rate and there's a reason for that. These school do their best to make you fell that you have no skills and you'd better grab whatever comes along. Also remember these schools are only there to get each student a CDL. They only teach what is required to pass the state tests. You'll never learn to drive a tuck there.

Reading a lot of these postings one can get a picture on how a new driver gets a job. They will start with those pre-hire letters. If you place all those pre-hire letters in stack you'd see they are all from the mega carriers. The same companies the school are saying you must go to. The same companies that will hire just about anyone that has completed school. I don't believe anyone has any advantage with a pre-hire letter. The only advantage you might get is priority to a job. That's if your record is spotless and you finished your school with no problems.

The next and last situation is a driver will only fill applications on-line or call a company for a job. The problems here are the companies only know who you are by what's written on paper. If I'm hiring to get my loads to point B and care less about the driver then that's fine. All I want to know is if the insurance is going to be ok and there's no problem from the past. If I received a phone call at the terminal asking about the job I would automatically say there's no openings and hang up. The management felt if you're too lazy to even come in then we don't want you.

I just can not understand how anyone would put so much to learn a new job then put forth a lazy approach to complete the task. Wouldn't you want to use all the available methods you could find to start your new career? I know I would. I know I'd be going down the road after I found a job and think "did I do all there was to do". Trucking has so many different fields that you could make a good living knowing which one has the best opportunities But it looks like most of the students in school just want to drive a truck and have no idea there's other fields out there. So they end up at the high turnover jobs moving freight for a company that could care less for them.

I know everyone is different and some will like wherever they go. That's fine if they want that. But there's so many different types of work and anyone that invest so much time and money should be aware or at least a general idea on what and where they'd like to do. The more you put into this industry the more you get out. I'm not going to go into finding a job so all I'd like to say is know what type of truck you want to drive and what it takes to get there. And I don't mean the make of a truck, I mean flatbed, tanker, heavy haul, specialized hauling, explosives, radioactive, and so many others.

 

May Trucking
$420/ week in training
$.30 a mile for your first 6 months, then up to $.36 a mile after a year.
$4,000 retention bonus after one year.

3000-3500 miles a week.

 

Yes, Jacksonville, NC

 

Gas Hauler, How did you get your start in trucking and are you still hauling the same thing as when you started 20 years ago?

You make it sound like these big outfits are a bad thing to the industry when there not, its simply an entry level position to drivers looking to get started!

 

When I started we didn't have computers to help us. I went door to door. I knew when I started that I wanted to haul gasoline with a major oil company. I also knew I needed a clean record and I kept it that way. I don't believe in a company when it takes a new driver with only 6 months experience and makes him or her a driver trainer. I also do not like a company that doesn't care for me. That's the way I feel about the big mega companies. I have not told any driver not to go to those companies. What I have said is know that there's other companies out there and know all your options. If those companies fit most of what the driver wants then by all means go for it. I realize that some can not afford to pay for school. If they find that going this route fits them then do it. But the way it looks most just take an easy way and use the computer to file an application then wait for an answer. Not knowing that there may be a great opportunity right next door. I have seen a well established company that just about all drivers wanted to go there give a job to a driver that walked in off the street. He was just out of school with no experience and they gave him a shot. And of course that company required experience. You never know unless you try.

How many companies do you think do not advertise for drivers? There's a lot. If a company is staffed and they keep drivers there's no need to. But drivers move on, it could be retirement or relocating. You don't know unless you get out there. You get out as much as you give in. If you want to sit back and let the companies come to you then that's your choice. But don't come in here complaining about the poor conditions of the job. If you want to make hauling freight at the minimum scale all you life then there's plenty of jobs out there. But's that wasn't me. I've also seen drivers on this board that could not afford a school and signed on to the mega's. They had no problem because they knew what they were like and they used them for school and experience. After their contract was completed they were gone to better work. They did the research and knew what they wanted. Everyone has to start somewhere. The higher you can get when you begin the better it will be. There's so much more to a job than pay and what type of truck they use. Do the schools teach that-noo. I could go on and on but the point is to do research and know what you want in your trucker life then go out and get it. If you can not find a job after you've expended all you can then settle for a lesser job. We have a lot of window time where we think about everything going down the road. I would hate to think I settled for a cheap outfit because I didn't look.

 

IMHO, some of the big outfits are a VERY BAD part of the trucking industry. The mega CDL schools do help people get a CDL, but they certainly do not teach someone how to truly drive-a-truck (as said by many others) especially in a safe and legal manner. Needless to say, my first three years have been a huge challenge but the road is now beginning to get a lot smoother. Good luck with the path you choose.

 

To get a good paying gig look for one that requires a endorsement on your cdl- tanker, hazmat, doubles or triples. That's where you make the money. I pull tanker and I'm making $1200 a week, home every weekend, no sitting, day time driving, no bumping docks, no waiting for a lumper to over charge you and damage your freight then blame it on you. Don't pull a box. Anyone can do that.

 

Yeah get a tanker gig that makes you pay 200 a week for insurance. Guess that 1200 comes in handy. After you see the way people drive you will think twice about being a suicide jockey.

 

I've pulled box freight everything from toilet paper to cat motors to perfume. You mane it I've pulled it. I've also pulled reefer. Box meat, combos, frozen loads, fresh groceries for target stores. Now I'm pulling tankers. Grease, corn oil, salt water, biodiesel, fertilizer, liquid feed for cattle etc. tanker gig is the best I've had. Treated with respect by the company and the places I pick up and deliver to. No sitting, no waiting hours for a dock only to sit more waiting to unload. If you like being like every other entry level driver and pull boxes around so be it. Why do you think almost all new drivers start out pulling a dry van?