Recruiters

The best companies don't have recruiters. (And they will hire new drivers)

 

I don't know as I'm not in Delaware.

My point is that there are 400,000 trucking companies in the U.S. If someone is only applying to companies that have recruiters and a website, then they are missing the boat. Pick up a phone book and look up local companies and then get off the couch and go see them in person You would be surprised how many good companies will hire new drivers who don't have a website, let alone recruiters.

Sure, my way is more work, but it can yield better results in the long run.

 

You should ask if you get detention pay or layover pay, you don't want to sit two days waiting on a load and not making anything. Also this forum is for asking questions so keep asking. There isn't to many drivers that want to see you make the same mistakes they did. So as a new driver keep asking because the question you don't ask could be the one that puts you into a situation you don't like. But most definatly look for a small local carrier. Some haul more local so you could also get more home time during the week. You may not even get a trainer if you go that route or they'll train you until the trainer says give him his own truck.

 

Ok,http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/ Which is off the FMSCA site http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ , there is a ton of info on the main site as well! I would spend some time of it!
Right when you get on the page there is a big blue box to the right that says
SEARCH FOR MOTOR CARRIER SMS MONTHLY RESULTS:

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD] USDOT# [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] MC# [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Select the USDOT Circle thingee and Enter in the DOT into the USDOT area and hit enter. We'll use Pride Transports DOT# in this Lesson. #236361

This then will take you to this page
http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/Data/carrier.aspx?enc=Op0StHiuqka7tEu/9Ekz5Q==

And you can see the 7 categories and whatnot. A TON of great info here and critical for researching a company!

You can click on any of those tabs and they will take you to a separate page where you can view the actual violations themselves.
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]Unsafe Driving [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

26.1%​

[/TD]
[TD="class: nagperformance"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: nondeficient"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Hours-of-Service (HOS) Compliance [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

36.7%​

[/TD]
[TD="class: nagperformance"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: nondeficient"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Driver Fitness [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

35.2%​

[/TD]
[TD="class: nagperformance"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: nondeficient"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Controlled Substances and Alcohol [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

No viol. within 1 yr​

[/TD]
[TD="class: nagperformance"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: nondeficient"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Vehicle Maintenance [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

33.6%​

[/TD]
[TD="class: nagperformance"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: nondeficient"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

Not
Public​

[/TD]
[TD="class: notavailable"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: notavailable"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Crash Indicator [/TD]
[TD="class: performance"]

Not
Public​

[/TD]
[TD="class: notperformance"]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: notavailable"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

Local can be hard work. A lot of times it requires the driver to do loading and/or unloading. Also, you are driving around on smaller streets and run into some tight spots at customers. All that and it most likely won't count as experience if you decide to go OTR at a later date.

With OTR you are always close to home. It's your truck...lol

 

Have to solely agree with Elendil! He hit the nail on the head!

Your absolute best bet is to stay away from those mega-carriers. Find a good smaller outfit to drive for and your chances of success will be substantially higher! So will your happiness!

These mega-carriers only want fresh meat because this is there main source of cheap labor! They can pay you a trainee's wage for months to haul around their freight! They actually don't want experienced drivers. So in order to solve that problem they created the "lease" program. This is so they can still pay a driver who now has experience, trainee's pay and they won't know it! Show them a bright, shiny, brand new truck and numbers and figures disappear somewhere into the chrome and dreams of glorious amounts of chicken lights!

Take your time and do your research. It could take some effort to find a good company. Reason being is that they don't spend millions of dollars in advertising like the mega-carriers. That alone should set off an alarm in your head. Why does a company have to spend so much money in advertising to get YOU to work for THEM?!?!

You also need to be careful when talking to the employees at the cdl schools. They are all paid to recommend and send students to the mega-carriers.

Good luck....