Newbie needs advice: Who to go with for experience?

Although i don't think i ever heard the term float the gears, I am old school, i realize that you are talking about shifting and not using the clutch. Trust me, when you get good enough to be able to do that? you will not want to use the clutch again, it's a lot easier and you will get lazy. I seen your post about reefers being loud, not the case anymore as the fleets are buying new trailers with Thermo King Whisper units, they are really quiet. I see that you have some concern about being asked to run illegal and acting like a team player. The days of running over hours or getting tired are coming to a end. With csa 2010 coming into play and now safestat with there scoring for companies safety record, and now with drivers getting there own safety record everything is now is being put on the drivers back. And now with elogs taking place i don't think you will have nothing to worry about. Think of it this way, being a team player is a driver that drives the truck safely,legally, delivers the load on time and damage free, gets no dot violations at a inspection i.e. log book over hours of any kind, no moving violations like speeding, following to close,etc. Remember all dot violations and moving violations are now going to be put on your own safety record and will follow you from company to company. I think the only companies that will succeed out here are the ones that run legal and have a high mantainance standard for there equipment. It's a differant world out here compared to'78 when i started. Ahhhh!!!! the good old days.

 

Thank you so much rocknroll81 for your post!
Your words are hopefully from your lips to the trucking Gods ears! I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm hoping that will play in my favor when I do my pre and post trip inspections safety speaking.
I'm considering going with Roehl but they give no percentage of touch freight on their website at all. Also their cpm is rather low for a newbie at 26.5. I've seen other companies advertise more but who knows how many miles I will get just starting out. At 26.5 cpm and 2500 miles that would only gross me $2,650 a month. That is over the $2,000 that I wanted to initially make but figuring in all of my expenses plus bills at home, I'm not sure that will cover everything. deBoer is another company that I am very interested in but they have 12 months minimum experience on their website but then they will take on new students from an accredited school. Which is it? I'm a bit concerned about where I should lean towards for my first job actually. Roehl won't let me have my dog with me but deBoer will. Ahhhh choices, choices. lol

 

I just received some very very disturbing news about the school I was going to attend to get my CDL. It has been suspended until further notice due to not bringing in enough money! With a 13.2% increase of trucking jobs in the next 10 years, now isn't the time to quit training us!
I'm seriously bummed out.

 

vmwelker, I just tried to send you a private message but it was rejected because you need to make some room in your mailbox. Send me a message when you do this so I can send you my message.

Thanks!

 

Sorry to hear about the bad luck,hopefully there will be other choices.

 

There are other choices that I am exploring for sure. Its just a matter of shifting the paperwork and my image of that perfect school and going down the road for a different way of learning.
It'll all work out fine!

 

The original school I wanted to attend was called Dakota County Technical College or DCTC for short. They have suspended their program until further notice and have even taken it off of their website!
I've made contact with TCE or Transportation Center for Excellence to get my training. They have simulators but no slick pads like DCTC had. The one good thing about TCE is that I'm guaranteed a job after the 3rd week of class and the training with the company of my choice is paid.
I'm leaning towards Werner. My only question is does Werner have apu's in their trucks?

 

I'm a lurker on this web site and found this thread tempting to reply to. I went to a local junior college that has a 320-hour training program. Four weeks was in the class room and then 4 weeks was skill pad and driving. I did gain a lot of information during that time but not near what school MaMa Bear was describing. I finished school in Dec. 2008 but then the recession was in full force and it seemed like no one was hiring graduates. I live in Florida and have heard that this a black hole state = this means stuff comes in but not a lot of loads go out.

I was just about to go with Werner (the only company that replied back) but then I got very sick and my husband went on unemployment. I then finished a safety course I was in but have always thought of getting with a company.

Now that my husband's unemployment has run out and the salary I am making just isn't cutting it, I've decided to go back to CDL school. I have been out of school for 2 yrs so I knew I would have to get some type of refresher or start all over type of course. I could probably have gone back to the college but that was 8 weeks and I would like to get something sooner. So, 1 November I will be starting with Roadmaster. I know there have been pros and cons with Roadmaster but at least they provide one thing that I didn't get with the college = help with placement. The admissions person at Roadmaster has told me that I have 4 pre-hires so far and I may apply to a few more when the school starts. Also, they have a variety of trucks to drive so as to get used to different transmissions.

I plan on retiring early from my present job even though I will take a loss by doing so. But it will mean having a second income without doing the time. I was doing a second full-time job for 4 1/2 yrs and that just about did me in. I don't want to ever do that again.

I have always enjoy driving and the big trucks have never scared me. I always thought they were awesome! Plus, I figure I can later become a trainer, team driver, or go after hazmat loads. I have a college background, one of which is in safety, and I would be interested in going into the safety department of a trucking company.

The companies I have pre-hires from are Werner, Roehl, US Xpress, and Covenant. At one time, my husband was a driver with Covenant. I think he would still be there but his diabetes got worse.

Even though I'm a lurker, I just keep looking around and see if this is the way to go. As it is, my money situation isn't the best (filed for bankruptcy) and one of my co-workers will give me a loan so as the cost will be lower. Then, I will set up the repayment from the company to go directly to her.

So, there you have it -- a trucker wannabe at 56 (soon to be 57). I figure that there is some room out there for a female trainer and thensome.

 

You might try watkins shepperd before you go back to school.

 

ulurhu, I had to think on how i could answer or throw my 2 cents in with out getting negitive, and thats because you are a newbie and i am old school and i know that i am out of touch with a lot. I not sure what roadmaster is, but if that is a driving school you just sent up alot of red flags when you said that the admissions person already said you have 4 prehires, does that mean you have 4 companies that are willing to take your app. when finished with school? or does it mean that they are willing to hire you before you even finish school? That does not make sense to me, again, i am old school and sounds like you are being duped just for your money and it seems that you are going thru some hard times right now and you should be more cautious moving forward. I think that your schooling in safety is a positive thing and it might not hurt looking at that, more so if you are current on the d.o.t. rules and regs. Another poster said to look at Watkins Shepperd, from what i recall from other posts it seems that they are a good company. I believe that they have a website and a yard in Florida, i might be wrong with the yard in Florida though. If Warner called you back awhile ago, you might want to give them a call again. There is a company in Florida called Indian River Transport in Winter Haven. FL. They are a food grade tanker outfit and have a website, you could call them for advice also. I know that you said something about working a second full time job and it seemed like alot of hours for you, just remember this, once you are driving otr, you will be putting up to 70 hours a week and it could be done in 5-7 days, in other weeks maybe not as much. And lastly, if you have someone that will help you out with paying for your schooling, i think that you will be by far, dollars ahead if you go to a company that will train you and just stay there per your agreement with them, like in work there for a year, that way you can use your loaned money for what ever. i.e. rooms, food and what ever else while you are in training. Hope this helps