The students guide to choosing a good starter company

Unidos · Jan 16, 2010

Anyone know what lct pays starting out?

The Challenger · Jan 16, 2010

No but I do know LCT will not take any students from Roadmaster Drivers School. I think that is ridiculous.

Markk,

Please add Bottomfeeder to Southern Refer as they are owned by Covenant holdings, Swift, and Central.

KH

Bigarmin88 · Jan 16, 2010

Kinghunter said: ↑

As students fresh out of school, we students have less options than a experienced driver with four to five years. Now how would one go about choosing a good company to start with? In this thread, I will make my best attempts to guide students in the right direction. I will discuss pay, benefits, and Note to all readers: I am NOT a RECRUITER for any companies about to be mentioned.

Pay: Most companies out there pay around .25 cents per mile (aka cpm) and give raises throughout your first year. Some companies like US Xpress use a sliding scale where the longer the dispatch, the less cpm you will get. Some like Roehl will pay a flat rate depending on the fleet. Most if not all companies have per diem plans. This means some of your cpm is tax free. The number usually varies. For teaming the company will give you a smaller number that multiply by the total miles or a number that you divide by two as there are two people. Example:

6500 miles x .185= 1202.50
6500 miles x .37= 2405.00 divided by 2= 1202.50.

Equipment: This is one area everyone will look carefully. Most companies have fleets that are averaging 1.5yrs to 2 yrs. Usually, all trucks will be traded out by 500K with the exception of a few companies. Most if not all students will get a older truck thats about to be traded in as students tend to do more wear and tear. Most operate the International Prostar, Freightliner Cascadia, Kenworth T660, Freightliner Century/Columbia, Volvo VN780/670.

Benefits: All companies offer the basics. However a few offer 401K plans and stock investment plans.

Home time: Lets come to reality; As students we are peons meaning companies will test us on how long we will stay out. Werner is notorious for doing that. Usually, it is one day per home for every week. If you go out four weeks, expect no less than four days at home.

Companies that hire students:

Swift (hires in certain part of FL)
US Xpress (hires in certain parts of FL)
USA Truck
PAM Transport
Southern Refrigerated
Central Refrigerated (currently accepting students from their school only)
Covenant (hires in certain parts of FL)
Armellini (hires in certain parts of FL)
Stevens Transport (hires in certain parts of FL)
Werner (hires in certain parts of FL)
CRST (hires in certain parts of FL)
Roehl (hires in certain parts of FL)
TMC
Prime Inc.
Crete Carrier Corporation
LCT Transportation (hires in certain parts of FL)
Conway Truckload (hires in certain parts of FL)
WEL Companies (hires in certain parts of FL)
CR England
Transport America
Will Trans (hires in some parts of Florida)
Wiley Sanders (hires in some parts of FL)
Western Express (hires in some parts of FL)

Hope this information helps you out. Before you make your decision, please check out each one to make sure their operation fits your current needs. Note: Some companies require you to team for your first year or six months.
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Glade to hear this,I just came back to Florida and was looking for work.Ill keep these compainies in mind.Thanks

Unidos · Jan 16, 2010

Kinghunter said: ↑

No but I do know LCT will not take any students from Roadmaster Drivers School. I think that is ridiculous.

KH
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i went to roadmaster but i am on my 28 days of training with crst. After my training and i go on hometime i plan on going to LCT. They said to finish my training with crst and call when i get back to FL.

newtruckerinohio · Jan 21, 2010

ok Werner has been talking with me alot about going and driving with them but i read all these bad things about them....i am new still in school( really guys is werner that bad?

Kabar · Jan 21, 2010

May trucking also does training. Starting pay is .32 after training.

RickG · Jan 21, 2010

newtruckerinohio said: ↑

ok Werner has been talking with me alot about going and driving with them but i read all these bad things about them....i am new still in school( really guys is werner that bad?
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Why do you think a company that reduced it's fleet by 10% is always hiring newbies ? They keep hiring because people keep quitting . No new work . Freight has continued to decline for the past year and a half .

Rug_Trucker · Jan 21, 2010

Unidos said: ↑

i went to roadmaster but i am on my 28 days of training with crst. After my training and i go on hometime i plan on going to LCT. They said to finish my training with crst and call when i get back to FL.
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I talked to an agent today pitching CRST. He told me 21.5 split????? That didn't sound good. Maybe I misunderstood him?

LCT never has been a good company AFAIK. What don't you like at CRST?

wvbama · Jan 24, 2010

What about all the companies that have company training like prime and cr england. Any others out there? Im located in WV 30 mile west of Winchester Va. Thanks everybody. This is the best forum.

JustSonny · Jan 24, 2010

wvbama said: ↑

What about all the companies that have company training like prime and cr england. Any others out there? Im located in WV 30 mile west of Winchester Va. Thanks everybody. This is the best forum.
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WVBama, I'm a wannabe and I've only been on the forum for about 3 months so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. Please read all the posts you can about C R England!!!!!

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