My life at SNI ... grc

Hey JD had that open house with about 10 companies. They each made aprox 10-15 min speach about their company then we were free to talk to them. I tried to talk to all of them but of course with eveyone else there it was pretty much impossible to do. I talked to Schneider, Challenger, SGT, Robert, Werner and Kriska. Now you might not know all these companies being canadian but they all offered pretty much the same thing with a little tweek here or there. It seems to me that Kriska is a good company to look into more. They do go to the states. They are in the middle of replacing all there fleet with the new 2010 International Prostar. Looking at all the information I have in front of me it looks that I'm really going to have to make up my mind soon as to which company to choose. All the companies said to apply now so that when I graduate I can start with training with them. In the end I want my own truck and most companies that I talked too will assign a trucj to you and it yours (more or less). the only one that doesn't is SGT they slip seat. Bison was another company that was there but strangely they don't take students. He was there mostly to talk to any experienced driver. But looking at their info they offer some of the best overall package.

Let you know when I make a decision.

 

Oh yeah, I know of all those companies. I had no clue you were Canadian. One of those companies, Werner, I'm a bit down on. I lasted 11 weeks with them. I think you would be out of Springfield, [unSprungfield I call it], Ohio. I was on the Ca. fleet for them. They issued me the biggest POS I ever had anywhere. Totally non reliable. It took 2 days to even get the thing running, and problem after problem. I was told that, "You're only a Canadian driver", by the powers that be down there. All that, coupled with the low pay, got me out of there.
Other than Werner, the other companies sound alright. Now Challenger at one time had a bad reputation, but their drivers never complained when I talked to them.
SGT and Robert being out of PQ, I never spoke with those guys. They tended to stay off channel 19.
Kriska was another I was interested in once, I think they're out of Mississauga?
Where are you living? You surprised me, I thought you were a U.S. driver!!

 

Yeah thought I mentioned that I was Canadian. Sorry about that.
I live in in Keswick. It's about an hour north of Toronto. And your right... Kriska is out of Mississauga, they also have a place in Prescott. Werner has a place in Milton ,ON.

I'm trying to find a company that allows pets. I found out that Werner does. Kriska used to but actually changed their policy this year.
Just because a company does allow pets doesn't mean I'll pick them but it would put them closer to the top of the list.
I've always wanted to drive with my dog as a companion...but if doesn't look like it's possible right now since I can't find any companies out there. So it seems Kriska is the company I leaning towards right now. All I've heard about Werner on this site is bad except for a few people.

Decisions...Decisions :smt017

 

Keswick, over off Lake Simcoe? That's a nice area if I remember right.
Yes, Werner has somewhat of a terminal in Milton at the Truck Town place on Steeles. They had a small maintenance facility there, as well as an office that had some pretty decent people. They were the bright spot from what I saw and experienced while with them
You've got Muskoka Transport not far from you over in Gravenhurst, IIRC. I don't know if they train new drivers, but it might be an option.

I talked to Challenger before I went with SNI. They seemed to want me, and sent me all kinds of stuff. Any place you're interested in, give them a call.
Another one I know of is CAT. I know they take new drivers, I've talked with a couple of them, and was interested in them at one time. The only drawback for me was that I can't speak French, although that wasn't a requirement.

 

Well today I'm going to send my application to a few places and see what happens. I've talked to them on the phone and at the open house I've compared the rates they pay, what they offer, and home time (not that home time is a big concern). I also asked all the questions that were listed here to see what they offered. I'll look into CAT today.

Thanks

Monday I start training in the truck for the next 4-5 weeks.

 

Alright!! Keep us updated, maybe someone can help ya out with any problems.

 

yea, keep us posted. It is always fun to read about all the different perspectives and highlights that each person goes through. Good luck on your training.

 

Grc,
I heard from a knowledgable source that the nitrous oxide in any green vegetable eaten at every meal will start to heal blood vessels/angina in as early as ten days.

 

Correction, that is nitric oxide. in green vegs. Although nitric oxide reacts to sodium methoxide produce nitrous oxide, thanks wikipedia.

 

Has anyone heard how the weekly miles are for those driving SNI's SE Regional Run? I completed SNI Orientation back on 8/13, got a week off per my request, and now waiting for a Training Engineer to call for my 2 weeks on the road. One of my classmates got a TE right away with another student and has been keeping in touch w/ me via email. His TE is an OTR Driver and their miles have been low and they're having to wait to get new loads. I thought SNI had lots of freight to move. Is it limited to just one part of the company? I don't want to sit around waiting for a load when I can consistently run team coast-to-coast with a local company.