Covenant Transport, Inc. - Chattanooga, Tn.

All I know about Covenant......

Is that I seen one of thier rig's in mid Wisconsin the other day.....

Not bad looking from the other side of the four lane anyway!! It was at least CLEAN!!

 

Hey VTwin, good luck. To make it through the Covenant experience, you will need lots of patience. I drove for them, for about 13 months, for the same reason you did:they said yes. All in all, it was rough, but looking back (and reading other people's accounts of other companies) I guess it wasn't the worst company ouyt there. IF you can, try and get a regional spot, I did, and in doing got at least 2400 miles every week, and home every week (supposed to be for a reset, sometimes it was only for 24 hours).
So good luck, and bring along your shower shoes, the Covenant Motel doesn't have the cleanest bathrooms.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I figure people make it worse than it really is. I will keep high hopes and just ride the year out with them.

 

That's all you can do brother, but if I may make a suggestion, I would stick it out there at least a year and a half. Especially if you want to find a local job (a GOOD local job), lots of companies are changing their requirements and increasing the minimum amount of experience required.

Of course, living in the Chicagoland area means that truck drivers are always needed, so you may be able to find a local job before then, but, most likely it won't pay crap and it will work you to death.

 

Yeah most local jobs out here want 2-3 years of OTR experience. I may like it and do it for alot longer ill never know till i try it

 

Good luck, i just hope you get a trainer. I have been waiting for almost 3 weeks for them to get me set up with a trainer.

 

I start training with Covenant this month and would like to know what the drivers think about working for them. I see alot of posts on Swift , Werner and CRE but not much on covenant. I stayed away from Swift and Werner because of low start out pay ( 22 cents a mile) Covenant was the better of the three so I went with them. I would like some feedback on this company from some of it s drivers, any info would be greatly appreciated. I know it s not all cake and candy but I m prepared for that.

 

My son has been driving (as part of a team) for Covenant for 13 months...the first 11 mo as a company driver and the last 2 as an independent contractor (his co-driver bought a truck and leased it onto Covenant).

They've had ups and downs. Since they leased onto Covenant, they are doing much better, partly because they no longer have mandatory per diem and partly because they have been doing dedicated Estes loads cross country. They are in the refrigerated division which has fewer drivers. It is hard to do well as a solo dry van driver at Covenant unless you are on a dedicated Walmart account. There are a few people on this forum that have driven or do drive for Covenant. Not too much GREAT has been said about them, but for their size (#of trucks), not too many drivers come on here and trash them, either.

A terrific thread to read on Covenant can be found under "Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Companies Here" near the top of this forum. The thread is called "Covenant---from a wife's perspective". You'll read all about the bad and the sometimes good of the company.

 

Thank you for your input mountainmama, much appreciated.

 

I was called back by Covenant yesterday, they told me they wanted me to call them back when I'm ready to go to orientation (I can't go for 3 weeks due to local obligations). One thing that kind of bothered me was that they wanted to send me to orientation this coming monday, even though they know I have a job and am going on trial for criminal charges in 2 weeks. Sounds kind of weird! (charges will definitely be dropped as long as i show up...)

Anyway, I'm definitely going for the job, I feel like I have to...I need to get behind the wheel again, and i'm sick of working hard to not even be able to pay my car insurance...I quit CRST last year because I wasn't being paid, and not only could i not find another trucking job, i couldnt find a dcent job PERIOD in that time...wow, i didnt realize the economy was so bad...

I have 5 months of experience OTR, but the last time I drove was the week of Thanksgiving last year....so I'm a little anxious about the road test. I still can't make tight right turns in my car, so I know i'll do great on turns...but I'm a little worried about the rev matching... So...how strict are they on the road test? Last time I took a road test, they basically were going to pass me no matter what unless I hit something (JB Hunt). But at CRST, I actually had failed a road test (after i'd had a CDL for 3 days..heh). So, what's Covenant's like?

Anyway, I figure that i'm going to do everything it takes to survive the employment with them, no matter how bad it turns out. I need the experience so I can get a better job. If i would have known how much of a trainwreck my life could have turned into, I wouldn't have quit CRST...