what company to start with

To the FREEDOM?? of trucking...A lot of this,friend,is finding your own way,but,it would help everyone reading your post if you would list the choices you have.

 

conway freight if you want to be home every night

 

My personal experience...nothing else (aka, if you dont like what I consider companies to stay away from, ignore my post)
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good companies from the start

KLLM , Roehl , TMC , Maverick , H. O. Wolding , Central Refrigeration , Marten (this list is NOT exhaustive)

Companies I would advise against unless you like them for a reason I dont...lol

Swift (obvious)
Werner/Schnieder (they are just to big for my taste)
TransAM (they will push you HARD for lease right out the gate)
Prime (drivers I know who used to work for them said they treat their drivers like dogs)
Stevens (to me Stevens could go in the group above.... but I guess this one is just personal preference.... but, if you go Stevens, be prepared for a LONG training period) but at the end, you will know how to drive front and back! lol.

 

I worked for Schneider many years ago. For a very large co. they seemed to be good but it was a long time ago. Most companies that higher students have very high turn over rates. Your just a number and they treat you like a stray dog. Most drivers move on after they get some experance. Unfortunetly its some thing you will need to do also. Stay atleast 6 months no mater how bad it seams. A year would be better. Dont do a lot of job hopping. If you do eventually no one will hier you. Talk to as many drivers as you can with any company you are thinking of applying to. Dont just go for the highest milage pay. Remember .25 a mile at 2500 miles a week will be better than .27 at 1800. The only way you will get the real answers is to talk to the drivers. Recruters are sales men trying to sell you a job. They lie! Alot! Do your home work and do alot off it. It will pay off in the end.

 

I've never worked for either, but if you follow the KLLM threads back a few years it USED to be a really good company, but it has gone down hill allot, they are pushing there lease program really hard and pushing out the company drivers......

Can't say much about Schneider I haven't really looked to much into them, although I do know that they reserve the right to slip seat you at anytime so No inverters



If you want a good company, that treats there drivers like family and pays you what they owe you every friday and lets you have what ever you want in or on your truck, Call Roxy In recruiting for Watkins Shepard...(Thats who I drive for) if you go to the Watkins Shepard Section under company Dac reports you'll see mine as well as many other watkins drivers threads and you will not find one bad comment about them!





American Trucker

 

Don't ask do the research yourself and find out which company is best for you. Don't let anyone steer you away from your choice because of their problems they had there.

 

I worked for both and Schneider seemed to be the better company to me. However it was 15 years ago for KLLM and 14 for Schneider. Im sure things aint the same with either of them any more. KLLM will give you reefer experance but I personally think reefers are a pain in the arse! You will pick up and deliver at a lot of grocery warehouses. These are the arm pit of the earth! You always need to baby sit a reefer. Even when on home time. If your reefer breaks down (and they do) with a load of ice cream and you dont catch it soon enough your in trouble. In this day in age these companies will make it you falt somehow. Reefers also carry a lot of chemicals so you will most likely see more haz mat with them. Atleast I use to. The good thing about reefers are that they can haul dry freight also. Sometimes less sitting waiting for a load. However the longest I ever sat was when I worked for KLLM. 7 days at the TA in Ontario CA.
Dry vans can also end up in grocery warehouses and hauling haz mat but in my experance its more frequent with reefers. If it were me I would go with Schneider. They seem to be the best of the worst as far as large companies go. Good luck.