Alternative Perspective

I am new to the trucking industry, and after spending several hours reading through the posts on this forum, I've decided to share what I've learned. I found a local truck driving school in my area that charged $1,500 (one not connected with any transportation company by the way), and on August 1st I started the training program. I am glad that I did; by September 1st I had my Class A CDL driver's license with doubles/triples and tankers endorsements (hazard materials endorsement still pending the TSA security check), and am now busy trying to get hired on with any company that is willing to take a newbie. But that seems to be where the confusion starts. You have to understand, if you don't already know somebody who is willing to take you under their wing, then you are left with about two or three options.
But regarding the general consensus on this forum or the topic at hand, what I'm seeing is some seriously foul attitudes, even if they're masked over with good intentions. It's enough that I'm convinced I'll keep my CB off throughout most of my trucking career and rely solely on my MP3 Player to keep me company instead. I keep reading the same posts ad nauseum: "Whatever you do, make sure to stay away from Swift, C.R. England, and Prime, they treat their drivers like they are numbers and not human beings and will leave you dirt poor and broke. Take a little time to find a local company that will hire newbies, it is well worth it." ..... Personally I think that kind of "advice" isn't even worth two cents. "Find a local company that hires newbies"??? Sounds good, okay so where are they? If I may be so bold, how about letting us in on the actual names of some of these companies? Because I've looked and looked for them, and every single company I've found requires six to thirty-six months experience to even fill out an application. So the "find a local company advice" really seems to amount to "don't you wish you knew someone personally in the trucking industry who could start you out at $50,000/year, like me?" because that's all I have taken away from it.
I have sent online applications to: Anderson, Challenger, Gordon, GWTrans, May, Melton, Roehl, Schneider, U.S. Xpress, etc. and have either been denied or received no response. That leaves me with three options as far as I can see: C.R. England, Prime, and Swift. And if those are the only options available for new drivers then why are people trying to discourage newbies from entering the industry within the only means available? Perhaps that in and of itself is a topic for another thread of subject matter.
Based on all of the available data that I'm seeing, if you don't know somebody in the trucking industry, you are not going to start out as a king. We've been in an economic depression (it moved from recession to depression during October of 2008, and has only gotten progressively worse, despite what the bought-and-paid-for news networks are selling to the proles as of late) during the last year, so let's start off at the bottom of the ladder and work our way up a few steps from there, then we'll see where we're at. Compare driving for C.R. England, to earning five cents an hour making license plates in prison, think I'll choose England. Next step, let's compare driving for Swift and living in the sleeper for three months at a stretch, to living in a homeless shelter and making $12/day by digging through trash cans and turning in recyclables.
To the newbies (like me): Don't be discouraged, you are at least three steps up from the bottom rung already, to be sure. Maybe Swift is not the worst fate that could befall us? So maybe you'll make $10,000 during your first year with C.R. England or Swift, but the real benefit that you'll really be reaping is you'll be slowly but surely chipping away at those "6-36 months experience" that are always the requirements for any decent trucking job, as I trust you too will soon find out. And after that first year, maybe you climb a step higher on the ladder and are able to switch to Crete or Maverick or some other company, and net a $20,000/year pay. And after three years of Over-The-Road Longhaul driving, if you have no accidents and no "incidents" (DUIs, etc.), a clean DMV printout, etc. you might just land yourself one of those dream trucking jobs that pay in between $50,000-$100,000/year (and I do know some truckers who make a six-figure salary). The first three years of trucking are what seperate the wheat from the chaff; if you get in a bunch of accidents you might want to choose a different career. This is why I'm going to put safety first, and if I'm tired I will be taking a nap. Nothing is worth having a bad DOT report in my opinion.
At this point I still haven't heard anything from any of these other companies so I will likely be going with Prime or Swift. If you do the same, I recommend having realistic expectations and going in with a military mindset, as opposed to some high-maintenance whiner mindset. That's about all the philosophy I have to offer up at this time. Thanks for putting up with my Alternative Perspective Morning Coffee Rant. Be safe out there, Peace.