Schneider newbies= lack of training

I don't think it's fair to report schneider as a "bad trucking company" based on a non-driving report of a new guy's mom either. I've worked there a year, I could complain of course, its not like I'm only drinking orange gatorade and peeing orange back into the bottle, but as far as I can tell its about the same as any other "training company" if you compare the results. I spent either 4 or 5 days on the road with a trainer, but for me that was a selling point- its not that much fun living with some dude in a truck. 8 weeks seems like too long. I'm not arguing that it might have prepared me better because I dont know that, but I havent had a problem.

I'll plead guilty to being a slow backer or whatever if thats what our reputation is, but I havent seen it being any worse than anyone else really. I still don't think I'm good at it, just careful enough not to bust anyone's headlight out. Its stressfull at first backing in a a customer or busy truckstop with people watching you, but lives aren't really at stake there. I'd feel awful and maybe jobless if I nick your sweet pete or knock over a customers pallet of china.

Anyway seems like this thread has been a big fuss about nothing.

 

From what I have been reading in all my research of a good company and training is that I found that many companies will have you spend about a week with the trainer by your side and then over the next many weeks they put you in a team environment, where the instructor is sleeping while your driving.

 

I started working for Schneider in 2011 after getting my CDL. I was with werner first but quit after four weeks after I heard that some people been there 6 months and were still waiting for a trainer (This is out of Dallas, Texas). Any way, when I first started Schnieder was okay. Not the best (I found out later on) but okay. Because of the CDL mill truck driving school, my driving skills weren't the best and they had me stay in training a extra week. But then I had the trainer from hell so my skills couldn't take all the blame. In total my training time was 4 weeks. 2 with my OTR trainer who was female. That was what I liked OTR trainers and students had to be the same gender. 2 weeks was spent driving local with a trainer at the OC in dallas (It was suppose to be one week but I had the trainer from hell.) Then I got my truck. It was a beat up 2004 "Freight Shaker" with 800,000 miles. And it was NASTY! I didn't know then I didn't have to drive the truck that was dirty like that. It took me four hours to clean it. And that's just the inside. The outside of the truck looked like it wasn't washed since....2004. I found out much later that Schneider pays (used to) for a truck wash at the blue beacon after every PM. After my first load I got a ticket at the scale house in Devine, TX. 200 pounds overweight and for a busted light. The light was working fine. It was just so bright outside that the DOT cop didn't see it. That ticket was $265. That was the last time I listen to a driver that says "they won't get you unless you're WAY overweight". After that I weighed every load over 39,000 pounds. And I do my pre trips thoroughly. There was a lot of other things about driving I had to learn on my own. Since I worked on trucks when I was in active duty army those skills helped me in truck driving. My first truck had so many things wrong with it as time when by. It seems like if Schneider doesn't care about their trucks then the drivers don't either. I had that truck in the shop every 2 months for something. Then when the truck hit mile 900,000 it started eating 2 gallons of oil a week, and had no power going up hills. I told them that I wasn't driving another mile until they fixed this truck. After being down for a week, the mechs at the indy oc fixed EVERYTHING. The truck was now running great. Then three days later I had to drop the truck off at the dallas OC because they were giving me a new truck. They actually gave me a new truck after just eight months of driving. A 2012 freight liner. I thought I wasn't going to have no more problems. Boy was I wrong. The new truck had a lot of electrical problems. Then there was this "OnGuard" radar sensor. That sensor slammed the truck's brakes giving me whiplash and I was on workman's comp for 2 months. After they fixed everything the truck started running okay. Then Schneider started becoming "micromanagey" and all about cutting costs without actually saying it around late 2012. The want you to drive 60mph or under. You'll keep getting messages on the QC that you are going too fast and can get fired if your overspeed is over 5%. Their bonus system is a joke. The trucks now has a temp sensor that shuts the truck off if you idle at five minutes unless the temp is 20 or below or over 70. No APU's in company trucks. After two years it's time for a change. Schneider is an okay company to start out with to gain experience but after a year you may want to seek the greener grass. That's why I'm considering Prime. Once they approve the final paperwork I'm gone.

 

Whiplash lol yeah OK. Good luck at prime and there 55 mph trucks.

 

years ago the trucks were a lot smaller and easier to handle. I hate having an audience when backing.

 

Why go to a training company when you have 2 years experience? Prime is ok, but you can do much better with your experience. You can make $60K per year working at Holland Enterprises. Check out some other companies before you make a final decision. You worked hard to gain 2 yrs. experience, so now make it pay off. Research these companies :

Holland Enterprises
Lily
JBS Carriers
Ozark Motor Lines(no NYC, no Canada, 100% no-touch freight)
K&B Transportation(choose milage pay or salary of $950.00 a week)
Navajo

 

Well I'm looking for a company that allows cats. I heard a lot of bad reviews on K&B and Navajo. I leave for orientation at Prime on 12/17. If it doesn't turn out good then I'm done with truck driving. I'll just go back to being an EMT, or maybe check out the oil fields? I'm not hating on truck driving and I did get something good out of it. I was able to pay off my POV in 1 year instead of four, get rid of all my student loans, and fix a serious impacted tooth that would of ended up with me losing 3 healthy teeth to fix cheaply, if I wasn't able to afford the root canal; and the special 3D X-ray I needed that wasn't covered by insurance. I was able to do this by staying out on the road most of the month only coming home to do my national guard drills, and sacrificing a lot (No $4.00 lattes lol). After all the stories I've heard about drivers jumping from company, to company, I'm not about to do all of that and play their silly games. After looking at my total earnings, I was making close to the same amount of money I was making as an EMT (but slightly more) before things started to slow down. Hopefully everything will work out.

 

et me start off by saying Schneider is a joke i started out with this company i paid my way through school and went to SNI and o my!!!!! let me start off by saying anything positive on here about SNI is because they have people that troll the internet searching for negative comments about the company and post 20 good comments. Now they have this this program called work flow which is how you get your Loads u cant talk to the Planner/Dispatcher because they have put what they call a DBL in place which they tell you is your leader but is really just away to keep you from being able to get the truth about why you keep getting crappy loads. Next if you want any extra Days off they will tell you you are only allowed 1 day off per 6 days out on the road and will never ever get you home when you schedule even 7 or 30 days in advance. they will tell you that's trucking and you chose this job. they preach safety let me tell you they will write you up for over speed (anything Over 60mph) then telling you that your load is my be late and that you are ok to drive how you want to get it there and once it delivers send you a quallcomm message saying you are in danger of termination for Overspeed. Now in Work Flow they make it sound so good in orientation saying that you can pick when you want to come out of the house or Off time by setting what they call you NAT (Next Available Time) meaning when YOU want to accept your next load coming out of the house. well let me just say don't even think about taking a 48 hour reset because they will call you and do everything possible to scare you and then make your job so bad you will want to quit they wont fire you right off for fear you will get unemployment which in trucking is easy but big companys suffer from having to pay. If you treatin to quit they will give you the best loads and tell you that you are now on this account and then they tell you after they have made there money one after 6 mo that there isnt enough freight and put you back on the crappy loads. Bottom Line is that Schneider hauls Crappy freight paper Chep pallets Water ect. your pay is so screwed up at .28 cents per mile that if you bring home more then 400 a week they will send you a letter saying they over paid you but good luck trying to figure out where because the statements are not correct paying you for loads from weeks prior and then for getting to pay you on others. Lucky for me i have teamed up with a lawyer that is working on a class action lawsuit on this company and will be moving forward with the case soon. Just FYI for any new or Drivers possibly considering this company Please Look elsewhere save your self the drama. I will be happy to post pics of pay stubs and any other info. Email me or message me.

 

A lot of what you are saying is true, if you are over speed (over 60mpg) by 5% you will get threatening automated messages saying that you'll get fired. You have to call their bluff plenty of times they have threaten to take the fuel expense out my pay for going out of route (I did it for safety reasons) but they never did because I told them I rather pay $500 for fuel rather than get in an accident. A lot of companies are now cracking down on fuel costs as much as possible, for example Prime requires their company drivers to have a mpg of no less than 7.25. You don't find this out until you are half way through orientation. So THAT's why their trucks go so slow. Sure you can drive 64 mpg but you won't make that mpg. I understand that you have to save money for fuel but passing crazy rules like that is crazy. This is one of the reasons why I'm done with OTR driving and I'm trying to get a local job. All you can do is tough it out that first year and then find something better.

 

SNITruckerSLAVE if you don't mind -what exactly are you suing them for, Is it for pay issues ?