Attention all rookies and wannabes: Local Jobs for New Drivers

What happened to Harvey? After 10 days training OTR, I'd really hoped to speak with him about LTL gigs....

 

Apparently Mr. Wallbangar has left the building.

 

yeah ... "Banned or Retired" ... mysterious ain't it?

 

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums and just wanted to put my 2 cents in about finding local work for rookie drivers. You should easily find work with any of the soft drink or beer distributors given they have a warehouse/office close to where you live. I worked for one of the major soft drink companies for awhile. They will hire you w/o having a cdl and train you to drive. I think they do this with all employees in case they ever need a fill in driver. However, working for one of these places is extremely physically demanding. You will handle your products 2 or 3 times unloading, stacking, unstacking, stocking shelves, etc. You only spend about 10% of your day actually driving. A typical work day begins at 430-500am and you may not get home until 800-900pm at night. You do not get paid overtime, you get "chinese overtime" which is about half of you hourly rate, the more you work over 40hrs, the less you actually make, and yes you will work over 40 hrs! You do get commission on every case you sell too, I can't remember how much exactly, but it does help..Pay is fair, I was able to bring home 650-800 each week depending on how many cases I delivered. So if that sounds like something you can do, then go for it!

If you are wanting local work, you can contact the closest Tech College that offers CDL training and speak to an instructor there. Many times companies, esp. local LTL, sawmills, and construction companies will call these Tech Schools looking for drivers rather than advertising jobs in the paper or online, even if their hiring requirements say "1 year OTR required" etc.
Also if you attend one of these CDL courses at a Tech College, the school may offer job placement to help you. Getting your CDL through a Tech School is dramatically cheaper than going through a CDL mill, or getting sucked into some driving contract with a major carrier that is offering to train you. However it will take a few more weeks to get it, but you will receive better training in my opinion.

 

William F. is my GG Grandfather...yee haw

 

I just want some experience OTR. Once I get that out of my system I will probably end up local. Depending of course on who I end up with.

 

I got my Class A CDL back in March 2010. I also had trouble finding a local driving job because everybody wants 1-2 years experience. It was so frustrating for me. I still ask myself if I made a mistake by getting into this industry. I tried OTR and hated it. I can't imagine trying to make a 1 yr commitment. I've been working at Ryder for the last 4 months. I'm a service employee. I work at the fuel island and wash trucks. I do drive occasionally. Mostly straight trucks and bob tail tractors, but sometimes I do pull short trailers. The pay is pretty lousy, but it's better than doing OTR. I check for for driving jobs everyday on Craigslist and Monster. At least when I apply for other jobs, I'll have a little experience.

 

I got my cdl by myself by going to a local school http://www.minnesotatrucktraining.com/ It cost me around 500.00. Before you show up for the 4 hour class they have a pretrip inspection sheet you can download and familarize yourself with. I took the pretip report to the local school bus garage where my friend is a mechanic and I went through their pretrip bus inspection several times on several different days. School bus pretrip inspections are very similar to the comercial vehicle inspections. The school even sets up a time for your behind the wheel test. All their vehicles are automatics and you pull a flat be trailer. I live in a rural area where farmers are always looking for somebody to hall grain. I was lucky that while I was looking for part time work as a driver somebody sent me in the direction of a small truck and trailer dealer. The salesman hired me on as a part time driver moving trucks and trailers. He let me use trucks and trailers on the lot to practice with. I have been doing this now for about 6 months. I dont know if I will ever do this full time but it is now an option for me and I am getting experience. Another good thing is that I am getting to know allot of people in the industry locally. If you cant find work in your area you may have to move. There is work for inexperience drivers. This company is always hiring in my area and their ads in the paper don't ask for experience. http://www.viessmantrucking.com/driverinfo.asp?tab=driverinfo&info=2

 

good thread

 

i`m concerned about taking the CDL test, do you get a chance to keep taking it if you don`t pass them the first time or will the LTL companies let you go?
Thinking about Estes or Conway training program any info would be helpful.