At a crossroads.

Dave, I'd be scratching my head, too. I actually "am," ... for you, man. You know the beer route is pretty physical, and won't count toward any real CDL-A experience, but if you need it now, so be it. I'm not sure how old you are, but being over 50 myself, I don't think I could handle it.
I'd do flatbed first...even tho that's not my preference~!
Personally, I'm just put off by SNI .... I'm GLAD they didn't take me six years ago because of a seat belt ticket. I'm not sure WHY, I just have a bad taste in my mouth, with them as a company, as a whole. Maybe @Thull will chime in here; they're quite "easy" to get fired from, is my opinion, or my out-take should I say.
Have you ever looked into Freymiller? They have a quick refresher course to getting back into the CDL boat. . . . Not sure WHY Mac wants you to train so long; they're not making money on you at that point...more like spending it. Leme go re-read your post.....and I'll add more.
I still think (know) that you need to do something quick, and may be feeling haste at the moment.
I'll re-read, and be back. I help how I can. In the meantime, check out Freymiller. I don't know much about them, but hear they are a "comeback" company, with little to minimum retraining.
TTYS~
Tom

 

Ok, I just re-read the whole thread, for the most part.... did you ever TRY Freymiller? I know, they are mostly OTR... but you'd be out there making money! The SNI route, as you even said, is NO guarantee of money if you don't get the miles. The beer route, hmmm... I've never done one; I'm old..LoL.
Again, you are ASSUMING (ya know what they say about that, lol) that MAC will want you out that long. You really need to get someone higher up the chain there, to clarify. Be honest, tell them exactly what you posted here (in summary of course) and see if they will abbreviate your training. I don't know much about McElroy, but they seem decent, and were I you; I'd try to go that route.
I know what it's like to have young'uns home... I did it for 3 years... it was tough but we made it thru, all the better. No debt; house paid for; 12 acres.... again...this is just IMHO. I wish you the best... hopefully @Suspect Zero and @EatYourVeggies and especially @Chinatown chimes in again soon.
@Big Don .. what say you? @x1Heavy ... any input?
^^^ some of my "older wiser kindred spirits," Dave.

Reminds me of the Bonnie Tyler song, I'm holding out for a hero...... or something like that. I feel for you. I've had to make a quantum leap back in the day, myself. Speaking of, are there any FedEx/Linehaul contractors near you? Teams/doubles, but home weekends and pretty good pay.

Not to add to your quarry of conundrums.... just a thought.

I'll check back soon.... thinking of more~!
Tom

 

I'm not sure about the beer, since it isn't side-load, it may ACTUALLY count for CDL-A experience. @Mike2633 ????

ps: WELL at least you ARE young enough, LoL!!!!

 

Hopefully some of these Day-Glo's (lol i'm so bad!) will chime in soon. I'm a vampire, personally. Extra $100 a week, LoL!

 

That's alot to digest.

I have a few questions (I'll probably have more later on):

1) Does sni or mcelroy have mandatory per diem? I despise mandatory per diem.

2) Will sni or mcelroy let you bring the truck home? If not, how close is the yard to where you live? You MUST factor in the drive to and from the yard as this costs gas money, wear and tear on your vehicle, and time.

3) I'm almost certain sni, being the bottom feeder that they are, pay zip code to zip code. Is this the case? How does mcelroy pay?

4) What is sni and mcelroy's detention/layover/breakdown policy?

5) What is sni and mcelroy's idle policy? I know for a fact sni company trucks don't have apu's because I see them put-putting on the highway. What about mcelroy?

6) What about mandatory cameras? Are they outward facing, outward and driver, or none? The third option is the best but the reality is you're not currently in a position to be particularly choosy. I use my own outward camera in my truck and car but it's my device and I control it and the data.

If you can answer these questions, I'll be better able to give you my opinion - key word opinion - on whether to go with sni, mcelroy, or the local beer hauler.

 

^^^^^ EXCELLENT post. . . . I've been local and dedicated so long; I forgot all that needs addressed for the most part. Thanks, man. I'll remember this myself. Awesome info.

 

Day-Glo reporting for duty sir! LOL.

Wow, there's a lot here. And sadly, none of it seems to be getting any easier for ya Dave. Seems like life shouldn't be this complicated but for the moment it is what it is I guess....

I'm going to go off in a bit of a different direction maybe in lite of the new developments. As I see it right now the news about your father trumps everything else you have on your plate. The news you got about him today has to be hard to swallow, I'm sorry that you have to deal with everything relating to his health, or lack thereof, in addition to what was already on your plate, but you do.

You need to sit down with your wife and decide as best as you can just what you are willing to do to try and balance home, bills, children, sanity, money, and all the other stuff along with what you will need to do for yourself in your relationship/time with your father. From what you stated in your post I am not trying to be harsh, or rub salt on an open wound here, but it doesn't sound like has years and years left. Hopefully I am wrong, as I know nothing other then what you stated above, and if I am then anything I'm saying here so far is worthless, but if I'm right, you need to be totally sure you are not going to look back after he is gone and say Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda. That's a very hard thing to live with, I know, I've done it. Whatever decision you make in that regard know that it's final, you can't go back and change it past tenths.

All that being said, if time close to home and being able to see your father regularly is at the top of your list right now then maybe this beer route gig will be best. You stated that as a helper you would be up to a rate you could deal with in 60 or 90 days? (Can't remember for sure, my brain damage is more severe today then normal it seems). So if you had to you could take that job and know that provided nothing went South you would be able to pay the bills regardless of if you got promoted to the driver position or not. If you got to the driver position then things would be a little better. I don't know dick about beer routes (actually, i don't know dick about most things) so the thing mentioned about enough turnover to probably get to a driver position within 1-6 months I would probably ask about. Is there that much turnover because it's a physically demanding job that chews up and spits out most people or is it because the company sucks and people run for the hills after a few months?

Another big pitfall of the beer route gig might be no credit toward experience as mentioned already. I would definitely try to check into that as much as possible. Some of the Pepsi/Coke routes in my area use 53s and some use the shorter side door type, it depends on the route. Some places just can't be gotten to with a 53 foot trailer.

You have to make whatever decision you have to about family and father no matter what but if you need to go this way right now because of that it would still be nice to know in advance how bad it's going to come back and haunt you in the future.

Question: What happened with the wedge trailer thing? I remember you mentioning it a few ago but haven't heard anything back. Is that still an option open to you?

Also, I would have to second @G13Tomcat about Freymiller. No personal experience with them but from what I've read they could be a better fit then Schneider. Can't comment on the flatbed, just looking at a flatbed makes my muscles hurt.

There's more I probably will say but for the moment I have to take care of a few things, and also reread a few things in this thread, I'm starting to confuse myself.

Who said Dave should write stories? I want that title too, I'm not going down without a fight man, I've got a novella here!!