Getting on the road

I'll say this and if Im wrong I'm sure someone will let US know however, through my readings on this site it appears the now days you will ALMOST always have to do some type of OTR driving before securing a local gig. It appears expierience reigns supreme and if you dont have any Class A or not then...................You get the point.

 

Not only that BIGDBEAR but nowadays with the economy the way it is companies can be a lot more choosy as to who they hire. You can hire an experienced driver or newbie who are you going to hire to work for you?

Most companies will count your local stuff as like a half a credit. You get full credit for any over the road driving and half credit for local stuff. A recruiter once explained this to me because this is the system they use to decide what to pay you. They use this formula so that it works out fair and exact for every driver. Plus I'm sure they do it so that they don't get sued too!

SLroadman this is why I reiterate to new drivers that trying to skip the whole school process and obtain your CDL yourself these days just doesn't work out. This is due mainly to the insurance companies. They are the ones forcing these rules upon the companies. They want to only insure drivers who have gone through accredited schools for "X" amount of hours. This is how you get hired on and gain experience. They are so strict nowadays that if you wait longer then about a month after you finish school the companies are telling these drivers that they must take a refresher course because they waited too long to get a job after graduation.

You may want to check if you can just take a refresher course or if they are going to want you to go through the whole process. Your best bet is going to be to just go through a company refresher or school and drive for them under the year contract or whatever. This will get you hired on with no upfront money or interest and you will have a job. If you do it this way they maybe a little more lenient on you as far as the route you will have to take to get back behind the wheel.

 

"All these companies " ? You mean the "major carriers " ? Avoid carriers that are constantly running ads in those trucking magazines .
Do you really want OTR ? Have you checked with food service companies like Sysco ? Where are you located ?