Refresher course required?

did you have a truck driving job between those 10 months?

 

Calling these mega carriers is just a waste of time,they all going to tell you the same.If you haven't drove T/T since trucking school which was 10 months ago,more likely your best bet is to take the refresher course.Or you also call companies with there own school like Swift,FFE,Central Refrigerated Service and there few more.They might retrain you but you more likely wouldn't have to take the hold course.Also try May Trucking Company they might take you also.

 

Star will take you no matter what without the refresher course to me these big tme companies say refresher course so they can sign you into a contract and make you pay back for the school

 

Which STAR company???I believe there few of them.Are you talking about Star Transportation out of Nashville, TN?

 

Yup.. they see it as your an out of practice driver. Pretty much of your a fresh out of school guy you have about 90 days to find a job or your CDL is no good without a refresher.

 

Without any experience you will most likely do a refresher or complete training.

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. 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.

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. Check out your local community colleges and employment office.

Just know that most 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. In my area most dump truck jobs pay less than a good factory job. 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. For OTR 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.

One last thing, you don't want to wait around too long after training or you'll have trouble finding a job. If you get out before you have a year in, when you try to come back a few months later you will find they want you to start over.