Crete/Shaffer or Schneider

Old Dominion would be the best choice. They do hire new CDL graduates. Call and ask if you live close enough to one of their terminals to be hired.

Schneider bulk division would pay the best annually as far as Schneider divisions.

 

I started out with Crete, they were not a good fit for me. But that is my own experience, they may work out for someone else. I have heard allot has changed since I worked for them in 2007.

 

For me.. it's mainly all about money.
Schneider pay is garbage, some of the lowest pay scales I've seen around.

I came to Crete/Shaffer because for OTR the pay higher than everybody besides Walmart.
Less than one year experience here and I'm at .43CPM, you won't come anywhere near that at Schneider.
I've only been here a few months but the least I've grossed in a full week is $1100 here.

Now of course the smart choice would just be jumping right into LTL right away.
I plan on eventually going into LTL

I can say Crete will give you a trainer with 3+ years experience and you'll be out for a trainer for 2 months and pay you $500 a week during that time from last i've heard.
Schneider's training is 2-3 weeks last I heard and you're only out with a trainer not that full time.
Some complain 2 months of training is difficult, it is not fun to be in a truck with someone that long but Crete is investing in you.. they are spending more money on you to make sure you are safe and learn the right way.

 

When I talked to Shaffer they told me to call them back once I had 4 months of experience...are they now hiring CDL graduates or is it dependent on location?

 

Is Crete a team driving company?

 

Old dominion would be a great choice to start with if they'd take you, I know their pay is great. I think that involves driving doubles and/or unloading your own trailers though, which not everyone is into. I would definitely talk to them.

As for straight OTR, Crete is great. Sounds like you're looking at the 2 week fleet. Have a couple friends that do/have done that fleet, and they both got excellent miles, and our OTR cpm is first rate. Crete has the least amount of bad trainer horror stories that I can recall. EVERY company has bad trainers, but I honestly think Crete has one of the better chances of getting you a good one. Not gonna lie, I think 8 weeks of training is excessive, but it's just something to deal with to go with a great company. There are companies you could drive for where a guaranteed 500 a week would look nice, lol. The 8 weeks training is 2 parts, so you do go home for a few days in between, possibly get another trainer. Crete will also teach you, and insure, that you do all your logging and daily procedures legally. One downside of Crete is that their safety department likes to take a lot of "extra precautions", often/always being stricter than DOT on requirements. That's likely an insurance boost for them, but you get used to it, and it's really not a big deal, just grating if they get on you for something that isn't a DOT issue. Also, if you're fat, you're gonna get sleep tested. Sleep studies, especially at Crete..... have a pretty low success rate as far as getting away without a CPAP machine.

Odd to throw in here, but USX is also putting out a huge pay raise this year. Their rates are going to be pretty close to Crete. Their team rates are going to be better than 99% of what first year drivers are going to see I believe. The management system there is completely different there tho. If you like being a number, and having a company that isn't going to be on your back, because they don't actually realize you're there, USX is nice. That's not sarcasm. Sometimes slipping through the cracks and being left alone is nice, as long as you keep running.

Good luck buddy. You're obviously looking ahead, doing some research and making sure that you're not another loser going to work for sub par rates at Swift/Werner, allowing rates to stay continuously low in the industry. This is a hard job, make sure you're getting paid what you deserve.