Straight 7 transmission

Long after the fact, but for what it's worth..... (especially to newbie drivers)

In school and around the trucking communities at large, you hear about putting in time and payng dues in OTR jobs. I don't doubt this is true a majority of the time, BUT... don't be afraid to apply at places you may not be qualified for (all they can say is "no"). Con-Way was an easy hire just a few days out of school.

While I didn't stay with them long, it sure as hell beat an OTR job in pay and such. Working the docks sucked, and it was really terrifying being given your own truck (kind of - slip seat and all) with virtually 0 training right out of a driving school that also give virtually 0 training.

In hindsight, here is the run down for other potential newbie LTL drivers @ Con-Way...

Days 1,2,3 - were the same first few days of virtually any other company (truckng or not) on the Planet - Paper work and Videos, etc.

Days 4,5 - Riding along with other drivers to other terminals to see what it's like. You may even drive part of it (either to or from)

Days 6,7 - Same as 4,5 but seeing City driving or more routes.

Days 8+ - Either you can try to get a couple of more training days (another guy who got hired with us who was coming off OTR) - or- you get tough ####ted and get the keys to a very old Sterling (ford) truck and a manifest.

I liked the fact that I didn't have to spend weeks in a cab with a trainer. Just personal preference of not being annoyed 24/7 by some potential goon I didn't like. On the other side of the coin, it's kind of crazy to give a truck pulling doubles to some guy (me in this case) who has driven any sort of commercial vehicle (at the time) for less than 15 or 20 hours. Baptism by fire for sure, and if you're confident (or don't mind screaming in terror occasionally; you're along in the truck after all!) then it's not a bad gig.

Pay wasn't bad. I think I started at 17.99/hr (maybe 18.99 can't remember) when doing dock work or city driving and .40/mile driving. I can't remember hourly/mileage pay at max rate (after 5 years) but one of my "trainers" was at max salary and made $89,900/yr out of Roanoke, VA Con-Way... (that's good money for this part of the country btw)