Need Company Recommendations From OTR Drivers

This week is my last week of trucking school and my testing day is on Thursday and I'm feeling pretty confident about passing. I'm going to Transportation Training Center here in Lebanon Tennessee and I live in Cookeville Tennessee. With the many trucking companies this school is affiliated with I'm having a hard time deciding which one I should go for but I know exactly what I'm looking for as a truck driver.

I'm looking to be a OTR driver all the way and going all over the USA as well as in to Canada cause I know it can be good money. Aside from all the hassle. I'm looking to work hard.

I'm looking for practical CPM so being paid for every mileage I get.

Looking for companies that do bonus performances for keeping with safety regulations and how much you haul ect.

Looking for a company thats all about safety and cares about their truck drivers

Companies that have trucks with APU units so I can put in and use like a foreman grill, microwave oven, fridge ect all the good. In order to stay healthy. I have to because of my heart condition.

I'm looking to do Flatbed division but I'm fine with trailer but flatbed drivers get paid more and I'd like to get exercise here and there.

I've looked at GlassDoor on some companies but theres always those mixed reviews of positive and negative and I know I'll be needing to make my own judgment. But with my preferences I'd like some recommendations from experienced OTR drivers.

Thanks a bunch!

PS I know my first 1 to 2 years is going to suck hard

 

Crete operates a terminal out of Lenoir City Tennessee. I am happy so far. Excellent safety record. Nice equipment. Check them out.

 

First, your first 1 to 2 yrs. don't have to suck if you get with the right company. Do you have any endorsements? You may not get everything on your wish list, but you can run coast-to-coast and check things out until you have 12 months experience. Some companies that normally require experience are bending their own hiring rules now because of the driver shortage, so apply everywhere you're interested. Submit the online applications.

Tyson Foods - great company with 70 mph trucks.
Navajo Express - APU & inverter already installed.
Interstate Distributor
Melton Truck Lines - Tri-Pac APU's
Pride Transport
MTB (driveformtb)

 

What do you think about the companies below?

RE West
Huff and Puff
Werner Enterprise
Averitt Express
Schneider
Falcon
Maverick
Mc Elroy
Covenant
Roehl
US Xpress
Ozark

I think thats all of them.

 

How long has Crete been around? Also is there a way to see which companies have high turn over rates and which ones have good CSA ratings?

 

Covenant and US Express are only good for teams.

Ozark runs Eastern half of USA. Trucks have APU's.

Averitt - forget them!

RE West - 48 states & you would probably be hauling mostly hot water heaters out of AO Smith in Ashland City. Probably do OK on that account.

Schneider is good company; their best division is Bulk but have extra physical requirements to qualify. Strict on heart rate tests.

Falcon is OK, mostly Eastern lanes & lots of Michigan runs.

Maverick flatbed is OK - real strict at orientation. Trucks have APU's.

I personally wouldn't be interested in the others on your list.

 

Chinatown already hit some of the one's I was going to mention. Melton and Tyson ( though I wasn't sure they would hire a newbie). My husband drove for Melton and we saw Tyson and Navajo coast to coast. Inverters and APUs

With Melton I know The farthest west we got was Montana, East Massachusetts, southwest New Mexico and southeast Florida. I know their were some runs to Cali, but I don't know about Washington and Oregon.

Tyson I believe is all 48 plus Canada ( though I'm not 100% on that).

He drove for Western Flyer Express and we hit almost all the states ( missed Main, Connecticut, Vermont and Nevada) in the time he drove for them. ( They were ok no major complaints, I'm pretty sure they want 1-2 yr's OTR though..) Most trucks have inverters and APU's

TMC is from the drivers I have talked to a good company ( flatbed).

Edit: My husband worked for J.B.Hunt for awhile and probably would have stayed alot longer if his dispatcher hadn't ticked him off. ( on more than one occasion). They were actually pretty good for him and kept him running, except on the weekends, we tended to sit (in the Dallas yard) every other weekend. Which erked him, but wasn't overall a bad thing, as it's a nice yard, has laundry and a courtesy car to use to go shopping and stuff. : end edit

Depending on your endorsements and what you plan on getting, tanker can be pretty good paying, specially when you add hazmat. Though I think getting a little driving experience first is a good thing... driving a hazmat tanker on snow and ice in the mountains as a newbie??? Not saying it can't be done, wouldn't be my choice.( most of the companies my husband worked for frowned on or prohibited the use of tire chains)

 

Crete was founded in 1966. It is privately owned. It has dry van (Crete), reefer (Shaffer), and flatbed (Hunt). It has 5600 tractors and about 12000 trailers. It is in the top 3 csa scores. All tractors are 2 years old or less. This company is also debt free. It has a 35% turn over rate.

 

All companies have high turnover rates. I don't pay attention to CSA ratings; mudflap 1" too short, reflector lense cracked, dirty license plate. One driver had a blowout while crossing the scales and got a $175.00 ticket for driving on a flat tire. Much of that CSA stuff is just garbage to make revenue. Just look for a company that has your wants & needs, ie. running lanes, APU's, benefits package, etc.

 

Yeah I'm not looking to do team driving with anyone. Forget that. Lol

Well it looks like I'll be filling out applications for Ozark, RE West, Schneider (whats the heart rate test and what is the qualifications if you know?), Falcon, Maverick (by strict orientation what do you mean by that?) and yes they do seem like a really good company nothing but good reviews on them.

Thank you for all your friendly information Chinatown. Nice to meet you by the way. And is that also your handlename or just your username? My username is my handlename. Thunderdome or just Thunder. Really don't know how I got that name at the school but I'll take it. Lol