Looking to Get Back In

Graduated from PDI in New Buffalo, MI, back in 96. Drove intermodal for a company out of Chicago (Transitall Services, Island Lake Il.) for about a year, then they switched me to drybox. Things were going good by the 3rd year, I was averaging 125,00 miles/yr. and making .34/mi.. I ran regional - essentially everywhere east of the Rockies. From Me to Fl to Tx to Nd, plus trips to Denver, On and Qc I still live in Michigan, but am willing to relocate anywhere.

The only problem I had with Transitall, was the fact that they dispatch you to drive past your home a lot - even when you don't want to. So I was driving through Michigan and Ohio far more than I wanted. And we all know how their speed limits kill a drivers miles. Meanwhile, they had drivers from the Ok and Mo area that was making some really big bucks with a lot less effort.

It seemed all the hard knocks were behind me. I got pretty good with blind loads, Canadian crossings (before 9/11 screwed everything up), and started teaching other drivers how to cross. Like any good company man, I also handled a lot of the other driver's screwups - disposing of damaged goods, retrieving abandoned vehicles, ferrying damaged trailers, smoothing over ruffled feathers, etc.. What goes around, comes around. A driver doing right by his company can (and should) expect better than the one that won't. Not all compensation is monetary.

But the wife wanted me home. So back in 99, I left the truck and went to work for a manufacturer. As karma always seem to work, we divorced only a few years after that, and the mfg. laid me off last year. Been sitting for just over a year now and all those promises of hiring me back have dimmed. So it's time to get back to work.

After 10 years, I still have my CDL and can pick up my Hazmat endorsement (it's expensive to keep, but easy to pick up again). Been studying up on the new HOS rules (many thanks to the good posters of this forum). All I can say about the new HOS rules is that just a few hours of city work can really screw drivers over.

But I'm having trouble finding a company willing to hire me. So far, the only taker is CRST, but I'm not really interested in sharing a one room apartment with another. Plus, I see their 28 day "training" program really screws the new guy financially (all co-drivers, actually). But if worse comes to worse, I'm willing to bend over and grit my teeth for 6 or 8 months 'till someone else hires me.

Other companies are willing to "prehire" me, but only if I spend $5K on school all over again. It seems that having a CDL with no recent experience is worse than not having one at all. Plus, I don't have $5K lying around, so I'll have to finance it. These companies will pay the payments, but they will own me in the meantime; another "bend over and smile" situation I would rather avoid.

But I'm willing to run local, regional, and intermodal, anywhere east of the rockies - but I prefer not to run up and down the east coast. No problem running into and out of it; just not up and down the length if you know what I mean. I've done it before, and will do it again, but I don't want to make it a habit.

So if anyone out there can think of a company I should call, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Well, thanks Mr. automated welcome response.