Try being like Brown

In Chicagoland I see no reason you can't get into an LTL or parcel outfit with no experience. Like Wagames said, you can start as a dockworker or package handler and work your way up. The starting wages aren't great generally and it takes some time but can be well worth it in the end. I know FedEx Freight, UPS Freight, and Con-way Freight have dock to driver programs and although I don't know a ton about it, UPS Parcel has something similar.

UPS companies are union while Con-way and FedEx are not, but unless you're set one way or the other they're all pretty good places to be.

I know the others are similar but I can only accurately give some info on how it works at Con-way Freight since I work here and have for a while now. It's only at some locations but I know for a fact Chicagoland has at least two and I think it's three locations where you can get your CDL while working the dock. You hire as a dockworker at that pay rate and have 90 days to get your CDL with endorsements once you decide to sign up for the program. Our drivers teach - at my terminal we have 3 that teach and two are million milers while the other had always been a P&D driver but has been here for about 14 years. I think the dock pay is around 12 an hour but the CDL is free if you stay here for a year - you stay here for a year chances are you won't leave - stay for 5 and you won't..

I like Con-way but by no means is it the way to go - whatever company we've been mentioning in this thread gives you the first opportunity is the way to go. Not sure if Old Dominion does anything along these line but add them to the list if they do..

 

you know, I used to think like this also. Then I woke up, and saw the light. Oct. of '09 I got stranded in Limon, Co. during a blizzard, spent the night in a hotel with 7 UPS drivers (6 male 1 female). We all ate together (birds of a feather) at the Denny's next door so I got to listen to them.

Now, as I learned all of these drivers have at least 15 yrs with the company, so they said. UPS paid for the hotel rooms, it definetly wasn't 5-star, heck it was barely 3.5 star accomodations, yet they cried about the accomodations (we got the last 4 rooms at the hotel), they cried because one in each room had to sleep on a roll-away, they cried because UPS would only reimburse them for $.60 on the dollar for their meals. Hmm, guess they were lucky, they could have been forced to spend the night in their daycabs or on a cot in a shelter.

Yet, while they were crying about what the company wouldn't do, I listened to them discuss their vacations/trips from the past year. One spent 10 days in Hawaii, one spent 8 days on a guided fishing trip in Alaska, two went on 17 day trans-canal cruises, another had gotten back the previous Sunday from a 2 week guided Caribou hunt in Alaska, the woman was discussing having taken her grandkids to Fla. for 10 days: Disney, Epcot, etc., etc.. Another was passing around a pic. of the new E-class Mercedes he bought.

The next morning was even more amusing, sure they all make great money, but they drove crap. They all #####ed about how hard starting the trucks were, that they weren't allowed ether or starting fluid, that the trucks all ran like crap when not plugged in. All the trucks were at least 5 yrs old. Look at most of the UPS fleet, they pay the employees good money, but as a result much of the equipment suffers.

Gosh, I felt like a king listening to them, my company paid for my room without question (they didn't want the truck to idle overnight), they told me to use the company credit card for my meals instead of my own money. I used my own money instead.

I've got a good friend who's husband works for UPS. He started in '02 working 3am to 11am pre-sort. After 4 yrs he moved up to casual (read PT) driver, this past April he finally got a full-time route assignment. Two months later he was suspended from driving for 120 days following a no-fault accident. He was at a loading dock, a 4-wheeler backing out of a parking spot backed into him, the 4-wheeler was at fault. UPS said he should have forseen that he was in a bad loading dock and taken more precautions to prevent the accident. He drops to the bottom of the senority ladder for drivers.

 

Probably very similar to working here.. It takes time to work your way up the board and you eat a lot of crap sandwiches while doing so. We make 80-110K but feel we deserve every penny of it.. The truck I drive right now is 9 years old but for above mid .50's per mile that's alright - much more concerned about they keys I'm turning on my days off which today is one.

Their equipment does not suffer because of what they make and neither does mine. We run trucks into the ground because there's simply no re-sale on a single axle day cab unit that gets 200,000 miles per year. UPS Parcel runs some of the cleanest most compliant equipment on the road regardless of how stripped down it is. We're finally retiring all of our old junk here as the Cascadias roll in but so long as the truck gets from point A to B and is assigned to me I could care less.

 

Jakebrake, I have been reading alot of your comments on this site and your information has been very helpful. I am a wannabee at this point. Just graduated college with a finance degree and want to get into/try the trucking industry. I've wanted to do it all along and the itch never went away. (I briefly explain myself in the welcome wagon). I am 25, no cdl, no experience. At first it seemed like OTR was the only way to get started, but LTL seems like another option as well. But, it seems like you have to pay your dues, which I have no problem with. I also have funds set aside to pay for my own training if needed. I plan on moving to Las Vegas in the near future. Any suggestions for out there? From what I gathered it sounds like UPS Freight, FedEx Freight, Conway are the way to go. As of now, a long term goal of mine would be to start my own company. But, I look at a career in LTL as a very sound alternative as well.

 

seriously, skip UPS and go right for UPS Freight....yes, UPS pays more, but in most cases it will take you FOREVER to get into driving a semi over there

it takes years just to become a package car driver over there, and then years after that to get into semi driving (feeders)....granted, they do hire seasonal feeder drivers but thats not a full time career


UPS Freight hires almost all of our drivers off the streets....i have been here almost 3 years, seen about 30 drivers hired....27 of them were off the street, 3 were promoted within...

the reason is, most of our dockworkers dont have their CDL, and never plan to get their CDL...if you do start out on the dock, it probably wont be long before you get on full time (took me roughly a year and a half)

 

just read this post....try to get on your local UPS Freight terminal....work the dock as a part timer, and they will most likely let you use their equipment to practice in the yard

practice until you can get your CDL, hazmat, and doubles, and watch the money roll in

 

I dunno... I for one am listening.... taking notes

 

Here's a fun notes about UPS. Before I went into tankers I used to pull triples out of Las Vegas NV and alot of times I would get the Tonopah Turn. Running line haul for an LTL company means you'll start your run at night and run all night to get the freight back to the warehouse in the morning so they can break it down to distribute what had to go where. I'd leave around 10pm and have one stop in Beatty NV, drop a box, pick up an empty then take the set to Tonapah and bring back another set coming down from Reno NV. So I had to meet another driver there to switch boxes and that would be around 2 to 3am in the morning. I'd get everything going and head south. I'd go to Goldfield NV which wasn't very far and pull the short grade there and pullover at the top.

You guys that have spent anytime on US-95 in NV know that turnout at the top of Goldfield is a nice place to catch a few winks if you need to. I didn't have a alarm clock just my CB and running a day cab. But out there at night there wasn't hardly anybody on the radio. So I'd just lean over the steering wheel and catch about 20 minutes. I'd stay there until I heard Wayne. He'd be going the other way and everynight around 4am you could hear him pulling that grade on the south side of Goldfield with his set of three boxes working for UPS. He'd shout over on the radio and tell me it was time to go and you could set your watch by him. He drove so many miles and had to take a break but his trip was the same every night. We'd talk for about 10 minutes or so until he was out of range and then we'd do it all over the next night. He was a very professional driver and would help any driver that needed help. He was very instrumental in helping making my decision to haul gasoline. He knew all the benefits and pay and where to go. He's most likely retired by now but Wayne was known by all the night drivers on US-95 that spent any time out there. I'm glad to talk about him and so long my friend.

 

First off THANK EVERYONE who's contributed to this post for the helpful insight. So just to make sure i'm clear on the differences between UPS and UPS Freight, is it correct that UPS would involve working on the dock first and UPS Freight would involve driving right away? As I've stated my goal is to drive here in Chicago for an outfit like UPS, Conway or Fed Ex once I've done my time in OTR, so please forgive me if I ask too many questions.

I leave to Prime on Monday to begin my OTR career, and to be honest I'm not crazy about leaving driving to work on a dock while I wait for a spot to open up, even-though I would if there was no other options as it would be worth it to reach my goal. If driving right away for UPS Freight is an option that would still allow me to drive for UPS at some point, I'd rather do that.

After I get my CDL and begin working for Prime, how long should I wait before I apply UPS, Etc here in Chicago? 6 months, 1 year? (Paying back the loan early won't be a problem down the line.)