new cdl grad what companies to go for & who to stay away from

Good companies. I've seen worse results at Trimac than you, but I believe their opportunity varies greatly terminal by terminal.

I would also recommend Conway Truckload and maybe some reefer carriers (others here may be able to suggest better starter carriers in this segment... there are some pretty bad ones to certainly avoid). My thinking is to choose a carrier that will lay the foundation for what you want to do once you get the experience to go to a top-paying carrier, not so much the carrier that provides the best opportunity for someone right out of school. If you want to do flatbed, TMC and Maverick are great choices that can lead to moving up to Mercer, Landstar, etc. There are reefer carriers you can get to that offer really high net income opportunities - $80k to $110k - but you'll need to be driving at least 1 yr OTR with reefer experience. I'll stop rambling but main advice would just be to make sure the job you take will put you in a good position to be doing what you want to be doing/making what you want to make soon.

 

The only bad thing with reefer is what if you want to get a good night sleep every once in a while?

 

...don't say that too loud. They'll say you need a sleep test.

 

Go with Schneider Bulk. Don't believe everything you hear about Schneider, especially Bulk Division. They have drivers that have been there for decades, so it can't be that bad.
In a year you'll have the experience to move on if you want to another tanker outfit such as A&R Logistics; check their website.
There's also Burkhart Enterprises in Knoxville that requires a year experience; check their website.
Schneider Bulk is the way to get started for the good jobs in the future.

1 year experience:

Burkhart Enterprises
A&R Logistics

 

China...would you happen to know if any of these folks have terminals in/around Louisville? Thanks.

 

http://schneiderjobs.com/search-driving-opportunities

A quick google search for their job pages can answer that quickly.

 

Didn't ask me but Mercer is hard to beat, especially if from L'ville, if flatbed interests you.

 

I'm interested in regional tanker.

 

Here's some that hire around Lousiville, but not sure about terminals:

Trimac Transportation
Tidewater Transit
Ferrellgas
Ruan - milk tankers
Southeastern Freight Lines

Agrileum Environmental Services - Louisville, KY [TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="class: snip"]Offload the used cooking oil material from the truck into a tanker or tank placed at the hub.

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


Ruan - Jeffersonville, IN [TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="class: snip"]This is a tanker truck driving position hauling milk 24-7, home daily opeartion with drivers making $209.00 per day and averaging $52K/year!...
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

ny2tn...sorry, didn't mean to totally hijack your thread.