Florida Truckers - Who Do You Work For?

I'm in Hudson which is about 50 miles north of Tampa. I want to start doing OTR and I'm looking to join one of the companies that offer CDL training. I've been researching the options and all I'm finding is mixed information on which companies will actually hire in this area and which companies are good to work for. I was thinking Prime looking great but it seems they may not be hiring here.

Can someone who has been here before just flat out tell me what train and hire company in this area is the best to work for? By best to work for I mean quality of training, starting pay and availability of miles.

 

..and boats, apparently. There have been one or two boat haulers advertising in the classifieds in the Tampa Bay area for about a year now.

 

Same thing in my area as well.

KH

 

Hi, Im in port richey and I got picked up by Stevens Transport.
I looked around for a long time and stevens seem to be a decent route to go with to get started. Only other real option starting out (in florida) was at roadmaster (in tampa) but they didn't guarantee a job after cdl training just that they would try to help me find one.
Good luck on your search...

 

tdi in sanford fl guarantee's a job and gets you pre hired before you even start school

 

National Truck Driving school in Jacksonville Florida, from day one your in thr tractor driving around a 350 acrea track going around curves and railroads ( not real rail roads ) then day two you go out on the road.
The whole time I was there I was in the tractors eather backing or up and down shifting on the tracks or in the real world. Its 3 weeks long you will spend 8 hours of the day driving and 2 hours of the day in the class going over logs, weight, coupling, winter driving and maps along with a bounch of other much needed to know knowledge. The instrutors there were the best
as well you should look them up before making a choice on a school, just a thought

 

First off, TruckersaurusRex, I know you're looking for paid training by a company but I wanted to comment on the red section of the post above.

If you do decide to go to Roadmaster, or any other CDL school, you may not be guaranteed a job, but if you pass the school, you can bet your bottom dollar that there's a job out there for you - assuming:

1. You have a clean criminal background
2. You have no DUI/DWI
3. You aren't behind in child support
4. You have no more than 1 or maybe 2 speeding tickets in the last 3 years

If any of those things DO apply to you, then I would highly suggest getting a job lined up before going to truck driving school. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have some issues that you're not sure about. I'll help you best as I can in that regard.

As far as finding a company that will hire out of Hudson and provide training, that's going to be difficult.

Even with the economy suposidly rebounding a little bit, a very little bit, many company still won't hire in Florida, or below I-10.

You might try Swift, Werner, Roehl, FFE, and - dare I say it? Ok, here goes - CR England. Ouch - that hurt. I'd be very cautious about that last option. And for god's sake, don't take any offer of a "lease purchase" deal from any company. Especially CRE.

Good luck, and please do let us know what you end up doing!

 

I'll be going to National when I get my financing in order. Hopefully before the end of the year. I live in so fla now but have a 2nd residence in northern Virginia. That'll be a much better hiring area. Looking real hard for a good flatbed job.

 

I would say ouch to all of those except Roehl. Swift and Werner feed of the same bottom as England. Might call Schneider. Of all the megas, it's the only one I would consider.

 

National Truck Drivers school in Jacksonville, Florida treated me right with alot of behind the wheel time which is a good thing.
There is a job recurter that works for National Truck Drivers that will help you get a job if you need one or not sure were to go.
There where some guys in my class that had a gaurnted signed letter from National Driving School that they would have them a Job before they left or the schooling was free, that I swear to seen the signed contracts they signed....The part that sucks about that is you have NO choice to pick from, you go where they say or contract is void, haha.