Which company would be best to go with?

IMHO, they are the bottom of the barrel. My advice would be do lots of research about the industry and the companies on this forum. It appears you are new to the industry and the forum. Welcome and good luck.

You need to research and find out what the important questions are. You can make an above average living but you will make sacrifices that other jobs don't require. I want new people entering to find out what's going on and make a plan, so I'll give you my cut and paste advice. Take it for what it is worth.

Read the "good companies" and "bad companies" section on this forum and get an idea of what company you want to work for and what kind of trailer you want to pull. Don't just go to school and then try to figure out where to go.

You need to look at your driving record and criminal record. Many don't take this into consideration and find out they can't get a job after school. The school likely won't mention this because they want your money.

I don't know your financial situation. Don't take training from a company if you can afford it or get it with financial aid. You will be their slave for up to year. If you leave they will trash you DAC and credit record.

Just know that training and trucking company recruiters will do nothing but lie to you. They will let you talk about what you want and then tell you what you want to hear. Trucking is about moving freight to make money for the company. Your home time, family, paycheck and everything else comes second.

It is not like any other job. Local is usually backbreaking delivery work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. Often you unload dozens of times a day or you are a salesman. Regional is lots of loading and unloading time, fewer miles than OTR and not as hard as local but will wear on you and push your HOS limits. OTR is out 3 - 5 weeks with 3 - 4 days home, less manual labor and more miles.

You'll probably have to pay your dues before you get the gravy job. Weekends off, if you are lucky enough to get something like that starting out, may be home Thursday afternoon and leave Saturday night or home Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Loads deliver on Monday early and you leave in time to get them there. Often your home time will be in the middle of the week.

Regardless of your driving choice, after school you will go through company training. This can be six weeks to three months with little or no home time. The first phase is usually $400 a week and the second phase is $500-550 a week. Some pay less. One company pays 12 CPM for training.

 

That's sound advice Bigjohn, I hope he listens.

 

Stay away from Cr England.... probably one of the worst company's you could pick for employment

 

More like slave driver!! Gow to Watkins-Shepard, Schneider or some one else who trains. CR makes you buy a truck. Thats the stupidest thing in the world next to Stevens out of Dallas. They sign a rental agreement and never see the money. Just have to pay iif it blows up or they wrec or blow out all the tires. You keep the books and thye keep th money. Good deal for them.

 

What do u know about Stevens out of Dallas?They sign a rental agreement and never see the money?What does that mean,LMAO.Just have to pay it if it wreck or blows up,lol.

 

Why does every newbie ask the same question on there 1st post ? Can't they do there research on TTR first then they see would see that the answer's are all there in black and white, or are they lazy and they want the member's to do the research for them ?

 

I have had no experience with CR England myself. However, if you research this forum and several others on the internet you will find there is alot of post that bring up red flags. They don't sound like a good company to work for. As far as Central Refrigerated goes, I am in their training program right now in Fontana, CA. From what I have read about them and talking to other drivers they are not a bad company to work for as a rookie. I have a thread I started about the training at Central as I am going through it if it helps you out you can find it here: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...-me-through-cenral-refrigerated-training.html Just make sure you do all your research before you comit to any company or training. Good luck to you.

 

as someone else here stated, "why do newbies start off with this question, on their first post".??

it IS true, you could have really read some of the boards, but we will still try to help you. CR England is really NOT a good choice, but hey, it's STILL a start someplace. just DO NOT sign any papers stating the you want to be a lease operator with them.

ok, technically, if any ONE of them is still living...you HAVE a family...you just ain't married with children is all. and it's NOT IN YOUR BLOOD, it's in your family's tradition so to speak. you were not born a trucker, you were born a human being, that will need some training.

either company you choose, for training, i would highly suspect you will have to go to their location. but MY question(s) is/are, aren't there any trucking schools in YOUR area you can go to..??

because this would be MUCH better than signing a contract with a trucking company. then too, if you personally cannot get a student loan, and some members of your family ARE truckers, can't ANYONE of them co-sign a loan for you..?? as LONG AS YOU MAKE the payments, they WILL NEVER HAVE TO.....i would find that if no member of the family is willing to co-sign a loan for you, perhaps your "bloodline" runs thin...thusly NOT making this a "family tradition"..?? family usually always helps out family.....unless ya'll don't talk to one another....

check around YOUR area for schools, that are accredited, and please READ the threads we already HAVE for getting into trucking, THEN ask some questions, as many questions have already BEEN asked and answered...

good luck to you on your new journey....

 

I'm not sure why that is Dave. Most ask the same questions or from the same list of questions. They wonder why we answer like we do. What I see in these questions is the fact that they haven't done enough research to even know what the real questions are. Once you've done the research you know what is available and have realistic expectations. Then and only then can you ask real questions.

These repeated posts have caused me to keep the information that I posted in a word file. I just copy and paste it with a few specific changes for the OP. I hope they, at the very least, take to heart the part about researching. I try to cover the many pitfalls we have all read about repeatedly. I really do try to help and I will be the first to tell you I am not an expert at anything!

Everything we do in life has us in competition with others. We are in charge of our own destiny. I love to debate and get ideas and opinions from others. It always broadens my horizons. However, I would never start without research and a basic knowledge of the subject matter. The point being, if you only ask and don't research, the knowledge and opinions you acquire, actually belong to someone else. It may be easier, but it puts someone else in charge of your destiny.

No offense to the many who do this, to us old-school hands it seems like a lazy approach. I think it's more of a modern day, technology approach. If you do lots of reading on this forum, you learn quickly who is credible. I can give you a long list of owners and drivers that I read and take to heart when they post. I can give you a short list of posters that I ignore. You need to decide if I’m credible before you value what I say.

If you just ask questions, how do you know whom to believe? This approach leads the normal person to take the answers he likes or the ones that agree most. Either of these approaches is flawed. If you are searching for facts you need to develop a method of gathering information that will yield facts. Only after you gather facts are opinions of any value. Research yields facts and questions yield opinions.