Most Important Things to Ask a Recruiter.

Hello KinnaKeet

You have been doing a great job in school.

Here are some starter questions for your Recruiter encounters:

How much per mile (CPM)?


What type of mileage system do they base your mile and pay on?? ie..PC Miler, Rand McNally....Practical/Actual??

Dedicated Route??

Forced Dispatch??


No Touch Freight?


Lumpers (used to load and unload shipments)

Are lumper fees paid by the company or the driver??


Type of equipment that they have including the engines


What speed is the truck governed at?

On Board Communications System??
ie.. Quall Comm, Carrier Web....


Insurance???
Complete breakdown of available benefits.

 

And if there is a difference between loaded CPM and deadhead CPM. I've caught a couple of recruiters "overlooking" a lower CPM for deadheading.

 

1) Hometime? Is it one day home for every seven out? Six? Ten? "Weekends off" (aka you get your 34 hr reset at the house instead of in the truck on the road...but if you do the math, that's not exactly a "weekend"...but it counts.) How long, if at all, can you "bank" HT (aka be out on the road for five weeks and get five days of hometime)?

2) Tuition reimbursement? Hey, every dime helps. A lot of companies have discontinued this due to the economy unfortunately...

3) Related to type of equipment is...how old is it? What kind of transmissions? What percent of their fleet is manual vs. auto? Also related...APUs? Very important, depending on the idling policy of the company.

4) Bonuses? If so...Mileage? Accident free? Fuel stop? Idling? Paid holidays?

5) How often are cpm raises?

6) How many avg miles per week are their drivers seeing RIGHT NOW? Last year's figure doesn't matter...ask them if they have anything from this year.

7) How long is their "training" period? How much do you get paid during this time?

The number eight) Do they do a per diem and if so, how much of the cpm does this cover? (aka .29 cpm = .20 cpm + .09 cpm per diem...the .09 is untaxed. Some see a benefit to this, aka bigger checks, and others don't, aka less social security contributions. That's a personal decision...)

That's all I can think of right now...

 

Hows about if they will put it all in writing?

 

How about:

If the job is so great, why ain't you doing it.

 

LOL, right!

 

Ok, this may not be of importance to you, at this time, BUT..

Does this company have a rider policy?(for if, after training etc. you'd like your wife/husband, significant other, join you on the road.)
If so, how much is it, and wil it be taken out weekly, or all at once?

Does this company have a pet policy? If so, how much of a "deposit" do they require,how much is it, and is it taken out all at once, or weekly,until paid ?

Other than that, it looks like everyone has covered any other questions...

Good luck, and have fun out here!
Judi Kay