Going with a company to learn but which one?

Since I haven't heard anything yet about driving harvest in Eastern WA from my instructor I have been looking at my options to get the experience driving so I can eventually move to what I really want to be doing. I know I was saying I wanted to avoid big companies like these but after reading posts and really debating it with myself I just can't see another way of going about getting the experience I want without going this way.

I have spoken to 4 companies so far:

Gordon is a 3-5 week waiting list. They have a 3.5 day orientation, then on to 28 days in cab training at minimum wage for my state *I think WA is 9.30 hrly*, but they didn't say how much I would make after that time frame.

TWT is fairly quick to get me in with 6-8 weeks in cab training at $500 weekly only driving about 4-5 hours daily with the option of possibly going team with my mentor toward the end if the mentor thinks I'm doing well enough. After the training period is over they would change me to .31 cpm for the first few months then up to .33 cpm. These guys are also in the TSI which has one of the companies I want to work for *James Williams* that says they will train those with 6 months experience. I really have no clue how that works if the 4 companies work under 1 company which might give me a step up or if they are separate and won't.

Central/Swift is a 3 day orientation at minimum wage (my state) then I would go through 5 weeks training in cab. After the training period I would start with .28 cpm.

CR England is 10 days advanced training with no pay. They provide transportation to Salt Lake City UT and hotel room but no food for those 10 days. After that I would be in training in cab for 40-50 days *If I understood him correctly* at 9.25 hourly roughly 65 hours weekly. Then they would pay me between .25 - .40 cpm after that. roughly 35,000-40,000 for the first year.

I'm actually leaning toward TWT because the pay seems good after training and I get paid for the training plus I might have a step up toward working for the company I want to work for which will help me get on at a local company where I would be home every night.

However, CR England while not paid for the first 3 weeks pretty much guaranteed that my first pay check would start at $600 for the 3rd week *paid 4th week* and then the next paycheck would be $700 and the guy kept saying I would get at least $35,000 for my first year after training. Sounds good but 3 weeks without any pay is going to be really hard to handle. Especially since I have to provide my own food during those weeks.

If you were in my shoes which company would you go with? Anyone with experience with those companies mind chiming in with some insight on these companies? I would really appreciate the help. I want to get started as quickly as I can.

Thank you

 

Thank you. I sent in the rest of my paperwork and am now just waiting to hear back. I really like that I would be running West coast where I want to be anyway until I can drive locally.

 

I heard from a recruiter today from TWT. We talked a little about the job and what it entails. He asked about my plans so I told him what I wanted *to work for James Williams. He said they could transfer me there with no trouble. He asked if I was a smoker/non smoker and if they could only find a smoking trainer would that be a problem. I said no then he said they were going to look for a trainer for me. Does that mean I'm hired or just on hold again?

 

Thank you. I'm crossing my fingers hoping they find a trainer for me quickly. I'm super excited to start really learning.

Thank you Kevin_L. Yes, I am. I have family that smokes and I'm an ex-smoker. I've been smoke free now for over 7 years. It's going to be rough being around smoke but I'll look toward the future. That part won't last to long then I'll be in my own truck and no smokers allowed after that point.

CR England keeps calling me. I'm sorta glad that I'm not going with them. They seem kind of desperate for not having enough work for all their drivers?! I called and talked to them once but since then they call me every single day. I'll have to call them again and let them know I've decided to go with another company.

Now to wait patiently until they can find me a trainer... I'm not a patient person... Ugh!!

 

How long does it take to find a trainer? I haven't heard anything and I'm really not sure how long to expect and forgot to ask. Whether a few days is normal or a couple of weeks. This not having an idea how long is driving me nuts.

I also had a friend contact her brother in law about Interstate Dist. She said they start out at .34 cpm, paid orientation, they provide the hotel, only 4-6 weeks training time plus they still run West Coast *11 states*. Still weighing my options while I wait to hear back from TWT.