companies that dont require refresh course

Hey injun have you heard anything from that kid that was left in the truck by his mentor for 3 days in texas. any idea how he is doing now

 

No one here is advocating that...We're talking about experienced drivers that have been running local for a while and now want to get back out here.

Really?

So then because I never went to a school, I could never get a job at a big carrier?

Not that I would ever lower myself to that!

Really?

So with all of my experience and years of safe driving, I could NEVER get a job with a big company because I didn't go to some CDL mill and learn how to skate through a test?

And you actually believe that?

You can't get "proper training" at ANY school! Even the BEST schools out there can only teach you to pass the test and get the license.
It's painfully obvious that the majority of "company trainers" can't teach anything but bad habits and spoon fed company propaganda about how they think this job should be done according to some clown that's never even been in a truck!

There are many thousands of drivers out here that never went anywhere near a school and I'd be willing to bet that most of them are far more competent operators than the trash that stumbles out of most truck driving schools!

 

Black,

The world changing my friend, yes I do know of drivers that have applied for jobs with plenty in the seat time with small carriers and were rejected because they had no formal training. I was going to team drive with a guy that had tons verifiable experience and clean driving record and they would not touch him with out having attended a school.....and we applied to 5 major carriers and none would accept him, the next day he was back hauling dry wall, local.

Just so you know the guy that started this post has NO Tractor Trailer Experience ..... He has a class B, driving straight truck.

 

The person I was speaking to has not been in a truck in nearly 8 years. His gripe was why companies require a refresher course despite his experience. I answered his question.

Regarding benefits: I had Swift's medical/vision/prescription/dental insurance when I ran company for them. It's actually pretty good...comparable to any employer-provided insurance I've ever had.

I was not treated like crap, got plenty of miles, never had to worry whether I would get paid for the work I performed and was able to get home when and where I requested. I don't know whose information you're going from, but busting my chops about it won't get you anywhere.


Now, I'm going to find a nice grassy spot in the next truck stop I go to where there are picnic tables and people can walk around barefooted......and let my dog poop right in the middle of it.


Cheers!

 

Duplicated

 

OK....But there are plenty of companies that don't require a refresher course that are far superior to some big bottom feeder like SWIFT.

I'm sure it was....

I've heard and seen too much negative about SWIFT from too many of their drivers to not take what you say with a huge grain of salt.
You seem to take anything negative that is said about SWIFT personally and then go out of your way to make people believe otherwise...That's fine, You're a SWIFT company cheerleader but that does not negate the tons of negative information that's out there about that company.

I hope you'll at least have enough class to clean up after your dog...Although if you did, you'd probably be the first pet owning truck driver in history to actually clean up after their dog.

 

Am going thru the same process, "refresher".. least ways looking for schooling after being outa the seat since 05/09. I keep hearing it's for Insurance reasons. FWIW, the lowest I've found is a complete 160 hour course in the 3000$ range! As high as 7500$!. My question is how much has worked picked up since the bottom of the market, I quit when takehome got below 300$ a week/1000 miles or less.

Anyone can give me an overview of the general condition for miles in the flatbed industry now? Was a runner-go getter.. just gave up when there was little to no work available.

 

I think its a bit presumptuous to say that only trucking school grads are qualified.

Smacks of arrogance, and is the kind of thinking that will get your feelings hurt if you had to back up that misconception.

I may have been "green" when I started OTR "way back", but nobody had to wait 20 minutes while I backed in a hole either.
Nor did they have to wince as I maneuvered through city streets.

I went OTR straight from a local job where I bumped the docks and did TWENTY FOUR drop&hooks every day of the week.
I drove a 1988 freightshaker COE (with sleeper) pulling 48's, and dealt with podunk docks, backing-in off of residential 2 lane streets, and even off of one ways that you had to pull down the wrong direction.
When I got OTR, it was like going to heaven with all that room to maneuver at docks and truck stops.
Part of my "local" driving routinely included 200+ mile round trips, multiple 50+ mile runs "within 100 miles", and all along the same routes asthe "OTR guys".
(Including having to navigate by paper map only, and not having any communications other than PAYPHONES)

And ya know what??
It made the difference when I was hired to run OTR.
EXPERIENCE trumps BS..... EVERY TIME.

True, I am a product of the "old days", before all the schools started churning out 90 day wonders.
Back when an "old hand" did all the teaching and instruction, and you either made it or were sent home in shame.

And since it was brought up.....
When I was a driver trainer, I sent several to the house myself.
There's a HUGE difference between driving around town a couple hours a day and backing up to some cones... and actually being out there dealing with the real road.

Had one guy break down in tears in "heavy BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA traffic" (in the center lane of I-20) and set the brakes, then told me to "take over".
Next day he informed me he "didn't drive in the snow".

Come to find out, he was also hired straight out of his school by COVENANT, and they had fired him when he drug his trailer over a guard shack.

There has ALWAYS been more to trucking than just aiming a TT down the interstate.
It's not about the "long haul", it's about dealing with shippers/recievers, weather, road conditions, stupid drivers, wrong directions, wrong addresses, other truckers, mechanical problems, cops, and all the things you can't be taught in a classroom over a few weeks.

I never said I let my CDL go.
I never said I wasn't DRIVING at all.
And I never said I was "rusty" in any way.

I said I have not been OTR since 2003.
And there's a HUGE difference between being off the road for a little while, and being a know nothing rookie graduate.

I'll go head to head with ANYONE ..... Anytime.
May not "win", but you'll have to work for it.

And while I in no way would be stupid enough to think or say "I KNOW IT ALL", one fact remains intact.

"I haven't USED my skills" does not equal "I have fogotten everything I knew".

 

Time will tell how all of this CVSA2010 works out in the wash. Time will tell about these "refresher" courses. Guess we will have to see. But in my mind, back in the early 90s when we all had to go get a CDL, the government slogun was "Ony The Best Will Drive". Remember that? And we all seen where that got us.