Insurance/First Job

Hey guys and gals, I love all the great advice and stories on this site. Keep up the good work! I'm a wannabe and I've been lucky that so far I've been able to avoid a mega-carrier for training, (I'm lucky enough to have a friend who's willing to teach me everything in his spare time for free) but he was saying that I might have a difficult time getting a job without any experience, with someone other than a mega-carrier because insurance companies want to see 3 years of driving before they'll even look at you and big names like Werner, Schneider and J.B. Hunt are the only ones big enough to basically be their own insurance company. I was hoping some of you seasoned veterans (or anyone else for that matter) might have a better idea of how it is right now. I've been trying to avoid the "Big guys" because of all the horror stories on here, but if I have to just grin and bear it for a few years, so be it.

 

That's good advice tscott. My buddy said he's gonna put a few feelers out there for me while we're training so that hopefully I'll have a few different opportunities once I get my license. The one that he seems to think will pan out te best is with a construction/excavation company that he's friends with the owner of. It would be local work mainly hauling dirt. I don't mind spending some time there, but ultimately I want to go OTR and I'm wondering if hauling dirt really translates into "experience" when I go to apply for OTR jobs. Any insight into that?

 

As far as I know, it's a dump body, not a trailer. But you're right chompi, it doesn't seem like a bad job at all, but I really wanna try hitting the road. For all I know, I'm gonna hate OTR, but I doubt it. I'd rather jump right into long hauls to see if it's for me before back tracking to something that doesn't involve trailers. Otherwise, I'll essentially have wasted time by driving, but not in a combo. One of the big reasons I want to go OTR is to try and save up some money. Now, I don't have stars in my eyes. I know it's not easy; long hours, isolation, not that great of a pay to start, but I figure I can get rid of my apartment, put what I need into a small storage shed and whenever I get home time, spend a few days at my dads. That should help me to save up money to get my own truck in 5-10 years. After that, my buddy and I might start a small business together and take it from there. (I know it might seem like I have a "glorified" idea of trucking, but I've heard from enough veterans to know what I can really expect).

 

Yeah, it seems to be their Catch-22. You can't get hired unless you have experience, you can't get experience unless you get hired. The only way to get hired is if you join on to one of the mega-carriers, and sign your life away for 2 years making .20/mile getting 1,000-1,200 miles a week. No joke! I actually saw a company advertise on their website that they guarantee you 1,000-1,200 miles a week! Unless, of course, you join their lease program (which they basically force you into) in which case you make less than being a company driver. I'd be curious to see if you follow the ownership-chain far enough, how many mega-carriers share the same owners as the insurance companies.
Just some food for thought.....

 

If they see their own drivers as only numbers and not names or people, what do you think that makes an applicant?