Why do companies hire new drivers?

Attitude is everything... It's easier for a company / dispatcher to deal with a newby rather than a disgruntled employee. A new driver could also be called a naive driver. For them sitting without a load for extended periods is normal, etc...

 

Have you read the posts by CRE's trainees running 5,000 miles a week ? They probably get less than $400 a week driving while the trainer sleeps . I saw a trainer post he makes $1400 a week . They save a lot .
Security ?

 

so its not because they want to help new drivers get started and stimulate the economy. im such a fool for believing that nice recruiter.LMAO

 

I agree. When I went to school (Private, no carrier sponsorships) they painted a realistic picture (looked like a train wreck) of the trucking industry. Thanks to that and this board I had no surprises once I got on the road.

However, after having to do a refresh course recently (Had to be out of the truck for several months, beyond my control) I found that 99% of the guys there had no clue what they were getting in to and being 85% of the class was being sponsored by carriers the school sure wasn't going to tell them anything bad.

I talked to guys who thought they would get a load assignment and could just get it there any way/route they wished.
I talked to other guys who thought they'd have big inverters and refrigerators and microwaves.
Heck, I'd say the majority of them thought they'd get out of school and hop on a truck - had no idea they'd have to go to another state for orientation.
And these guys were on the hook for $6k if they quit within the year.

So yes, I'd say most if not all newbies quit because they didn't have a clue what it was really going to be like. (To much Smokie and The Bandit, and not enough real research)

 

I'm assuming they waited until your check cleared before they painted that realistic picture .

 

Mega-carriers need trainees. More than the trainees need the mega-carriers.

At any time there are about 5-7 huge trucking companies in the industry. Let’s call them mega-carriers. Just one of these companies reportedly has 17,000 tractors. That’s right 17,000. Let that sink in for a minute. …. Ok. Each one of those tractors is a capital investment for the company. It must generate income for the company. It generates income by hauling freight of some kind. Now they really don’t have all of those tractors working at once. Some are down for repair and maintenance and some are parked for lack of a driver or on layover but it’s a relatively small percentage and there are still a lot of tractors to keep busy. Not to mention trailers. How does a company secure enough freight to keep all of those tractors busy? They have to haul a huge volume of freight and the only way to do it is to offer the customer the lowest price. In other words they have to be the low bidder. To do that they have to control cost. They need to pay the lowest possible price for everything from equipment to supplies to wages. Wages are the one expense that the company has more control over than anything else in their entire operating budget. Because wages are the only thing not provided to the company by an outside vendor with a profit motive.

For a mega-carrier to stay in business they have to pay a low wage. To pay that low wage they have to hire trainees. Let that sink in for a minute. … Ok. They have to hire trainees because no experienced driver will work for the wages that they must to pay to make their business model work. Typically in most industries an experienced worker who has several years of experience does not go to work for a company that pays entry level wages. It’s the same in trucking. There is no career field that has entry level pay of $35k + per year that only requires 160 hours of training. None - nada - zero. With only 160 hours of training you are qualified for an entry level non-union blue collar job. How much do those positions pay outside of trucking? Well usually around $15-$24k per year at the very most, mostly with no benefits. $35-$40K is a sales pitch.

These mega-carriers have unbelievable turn-over rates too, some have reported as high as 125% annually. They need a constant supply of new drivers to fill those positions. That’s why they have recruiters. Recruiters are really sales people that are responsible for filling those seats. Recruiters are selling jobs. Yes they are selling jobs and one of those jobs costs about $3k-$5k. What a great way to add extra income to the company. Especially since the cycle repeats itself every few weeks. Because they know that about 75% or more of new CDL holders won’t last a year, most only last a few months. So if that 17,000 unit mega-carrier only has a 50% turn-over rate that still means that they have to hire 8,500 new drivers per year at an average charge of $3,500.00 per student that’s $29,750,000 …. Nearly 30 million dollars yearly gross revenue from their training program alone and, that‘s without considering government incentive funding, some reports say that this is as high as $8,000.00 per trainee. The incentive money at that rate could add about another 68 million dollars to their revenue stream. Are they doing you a favor by hiring you? Or, are you doing them a favor by going to work for them?

Speaking of extra income. What about the whole tuition reimbursement deal? Did you know that the only carrier that will reimburse is the first one that you work for after you graduate? Why? Because they get government incentive money for hiring a trainee. The incentive money is more than what your tuition was so even though they are giving you money, they are still making a profit. If you quit and go to work for another company goodbye reimbursement. Your second company isn’t eligible for the government incentive so there is no reimbursement. If you trained through a company school they get the incentive too on top of your tuition.

So really, the mega-carriers need trainees. More than the trainees need the mega-carriers.

just my $0.02

................. Jim

 

Rick... They did not. Yes, I was surprised and I know this is not the norm. Actually had two guys leave 3 days in. (Had up to one week free and clear)