Company Recommendations

I'm probably gonna go with FFE or worst case SWIFT. People bust on SWIFT. But all the drivers for them on here seem very capable in their knowledge. But 90% it'll be FFE.

 

I've been planning my career change for a few years now, and have done a lot of research. I live in the panhandle of Florida. I have my CDL, but have no experience. I've call dozens of trainer companies, and yes, you will get a lot of doors slammed in your face.

My opinion of the companies that hire new drivers out of Florida that I've researched:

TMC--nice equipment for new drivers, regional (regular home time), good pay structure and income potential (for a new driver), superb load securement training, pretty good reputation, but gosh are they full of themselves. The recruiter who visited my school drove a black car, wore black cowboy boots, black jeans with black belt with silver buckle, and rivets, black TMC polo shirt, black cowboy hat with silver medallions around the band, and his fingernails were even painted black with silver dollar signs on them (okay, I made that last one up). The employee ownership stock option program is great. Put in 15 or 20 years with them and you could be sitting on an extra $100,000 that you didn't have to do a darn thing to earn.

Cypress Truck Lines--old equipment for new drivers, regional with guaranteed weekends home, okay starting pay with 20% pay increase after 6 months and a newer truck, pretty good reputation, but the main terminal is a dump. The driver lounge is an old, dirty, damp cinder block building with a couch that looks like it was once "curb alert" on craiglist, and a small cathrode ray tube TV with rabbit ears, complete with wads of aluminum foil, and it is sitting on a couple of milk crates. I'm only exaggerating slightly. The terminal is also a graveyard for old, worn out trucks. Derelict tractors line the fences all over the place. You probably wouldn't want to hang around there much anyway.

Melton is another good flatbed company for new drivers. Starting pay is very good, equipment is very nice, securement training is first-rate, with lots of ways to make extra income. It is an OTR company which is great if you want to see our beautiful country, but I surmise that getting home time is difficult. If you're out for a month and earn four days of home time, two of those days will be spent driving to and from home, so you get jipped. This is based on what a former Melton driver said on youtube. Yes, it's anecdotal, but if you expect the worst and it isn't that bad, that's good, right? I see Melton trucks here all the time, either sitting empty or bob-tailing around town, so somebody is getting home.

Stevens Transport might not have a good reputation among drivers, but one thing is certain. You will be a backing god by the time they get done with you. The training is very good. Starting pay is not the best, but definitely not the worst. I get the impression that with reefer you drive more and wait more than any other segment of the industry. Equipment looks good, too. They do have regional dedicated routes in and out of Florida after you do your OTR time, and some routes might get you up to high 30 to low 40 CPM. But I can't think on anything more boring than running around the southeast. If I'm only going to get home every three to four weeks, I'd rather be OTR to all 48 and Canada just for the sightseeing.

May Trucking and Freymiller hire Florida new drivers. They're probably no different than Stevens or any other training company. Werner and Schneider will hire Florida newbies too. They're all pretty much the same: training companies with high turnover.

The recurring theme when experienced drivers give advice to noobs like us, is no matter what kind of a poop sandwich you have to eat every day, stick with it for a year. Be safe. Don't crash. Learn everything you can. Be on time. Keep a positive attitude. Leave on good terms. Get that year under your belt.

Once we do, a whole other world of opportunities opens up for us.

 

Have you checked the jobs section on here? When I was job hunting, I found a company that flew under the radar, and they did make an offer. You may be able to find lesser known companies on here

 

KOTTKE requires one year experience to work for us

 

2 years