New Trucking Student, Trying to decide which company is best.

Thats not true. I went with a trainer with schneider in 04. He was always in the jump seat. We stayed at hotels. I did all the driving.

 

Hey truckerman you might want to try D.M. Bowman. i started 2 weeks ago. i got paid 200 dollars for 3 days orientation and they paid for the hotel stay also. They pay 400 a week during your 4 to 6 week training and you get to do the driving with the trainer in the seat where they belong. It is also located in Williamsport MD, not to far from Baltimore. I have been very pleased with them. My driver manager is always easy to get on the phone and they don't force you to run illegal. They want everything done legal and right. So far I have enjoyed it and I go back out tomorrow and will be back next Friday. I have been getting about 600 miles a day. The one big thing that alot don't like about Bowman is they have their trucks governed down to 63 and you get an overspeed at 68 but I don't care about that. After training I will get 33 cents a mile and if I meet 7 other things I get a 3 cent a mile bonus weekly. You can do an aplication at joindmbowman.com. Good luck.

 

Yea...We get it. You are a Pakistani and love Swift. You have posted in every Swift thread and also started your own. You know, you can be as mad as you want at Swift, but coming on here and being a jerk is in no way gonna help your problems. With your conduct here(you just joined today) Im gonna take a wild guess that Swift is not the problem. Grow up

 

After retiring from usmc in 2002 went to schneider in fontana ca I live in riverside ca. Schneider treated me very well. Had to quit after 6 mos due to personal problems of a teenage daughter, yep some of u know. Now after 8 yrs out of driving I am thinking of getting back into otr driving. Schneider will b my first choice or stevens if they will accept a newbie, if not its schneider. What though is it I hear about diabetics who take insulin not being able to drive cdl. Also what is this I hear about cdl drivers needing to maintain a ht and wt standards. Though neitther applies to me does this mean allot of drivers will b out of jobs driving otr.

 

That was pretty much my situation when I decided to get into Trucking. Just like you, I was unemployed for too long despite very good credentials but it was Recession at its High, also I have to say i got burnt out by the many job interviews and job fairs etc., even just for rather simple jobs. I am happy I did this move.
Good luck to you and tell us how it goes!!!

 

Not the best of choices, but if I had to choose, Schneider would be the only one. Stay away from the other two. Avoid Prime, CR England and Covenant as well.

 

i just completed and passed/graduated from schneider's and will be getting my assigned truck on tue, jun14. I, too, like you have done a complete career change.
but since i don't get to "truckersreport" often, i will try to check back to this string

 

Okay- truth about trucking? That is all I am here for! Was set to sign up with Drivers solutions in two weeks-untill I read the complaint board about them and Pam..SO--Female who wants to learn to drive-but the info I am learning is depressing to say the least. What do you truckers advise and any females here please I would like your insight as well.Thanks

 

I am trying to get into trucking myself and I am looking at Prime and Central Refrigerated. I'm leaning strongly towards Prime due to their length of training (4-6 months with a trainer before you're turned loose on the roads), the pay during training ($600/week minimum or 12 cents/mile, whichever is greater - higher than the others I looked at), and the starting pay after training (33 cents per mile is higher than the other companies I looked at - Swift, CR England, CRST, etc). You would do a 4 day orientation in Springfield, Missouri followed by 3 weeks on the road one-to-one with an instructor (not sitting around waiting for your fellow students to finish their time practicing in the truck before you get a turn). After those 3 weeks, you come back to Springfield, take your CDL test, and if you pass you will head out with a trainer for those 4-6 months. However, with Prime, the recruiter will tell you upfront to expect to be out 3-4 weeks at a time before hometime. Prime will not take payments out of your check to pay for school - work for them for a year and its free. So it has its advantages and disadvantages.

With Central Refrigerated, you would do 3 weeks in school in Salt Lake City and then another 5 on the road with a trainer. If you pass that, you get your own truck and start at 28 cents/mile. The recruiter says you will get home every two weeks or so. Central Refrigerated will take payments out of your check to pay for school at $25/week for a year. If you complete a year with them, I think the payments you made only had up to half of what it would have actually cost you.

I have been researching many different companies since the end of March and still haven't decided although I have been approved by several. I would suggest you do the same. A good site to compare companies is truthintrucking.com. I did my comparisons there, talked to friends who drive, and then found this site. I have been able to talk to a LOT of people about everything. I love this site.

As for the pot smoking, from what I've seen on here from others who have asked that question, most of the companies do urine tests. But like you said, let the past stay in the past so leave the pot in your past because it will kill a trucking career.

 

hair follicle testing for drugs is accurate for the past 90 days (they say that with longer hair it can show longer history but tests pretty much are standardized for a length of hair suitable for a 90 day history). It tested for pot, coke, meth, PCP and opiates.