Opinions please

Oh, and you won't be making anywhere near $1000 with England. Not unless you train with your truck paid off and you're servicing the dm. That company SUCKS.

 

Who is he with? Because many of us have many years, know the ins and outs of the companies. Maybe he needs to tweak something. Let us know.

 

Hope you take dimes and nickels!

 

My cigarette ashtray. All of it!! Now! Let us know so we can help.

 

Start your company search with a company-by-company investigation at: http://www.fleetdirectory.com/ByLocation/Arizona.htm

Talk to as many companies as possible, make on-site visits to those that seem promising, look at their trucks and employee parking lot (do the cars look like the employees are paid well or struggling to get by?), make contacts and stay in touch, ask for recommendations on who might be hiring.

There's not enough difference between the mega 'starter' carriers to matter and it sounds like he's had enough of that and the pay. Avoid them all. The 5 months your guy has in flatracking and tarping is good experience and enough to move on but not enough to get into Ruan or Groendyke, for example.

At each level of experience (5-6 months, one year, two years, three years, five years) up to 5 years, new companies open up due to their hiring practices and insurance requirements.

He wants to be careful to 'keep his CDL warm', that is, stay active even if only part-time and not more than a couple months away from trucking. Otherwise he may find himself back with another starter company.

Typically, smaller and specialized, 'niche' companies pay more. Mail carriers (contractors to USPS) pay $18-$24/hr even for straight trucks. HazMat can and does pay better, tankers, too. Haz, in particular, has become a huge, nationwide industry. Good jobs there. Stay away from the large starter outfits like Swift, Knight and Gordon--altho Schneider for tanker training might be well worth looking into. Not the larger tanker companies like QC, tho, IMO.

Generally, look for companies under 100 trucks except for the 'elite' LTL (less-than-truckload) carriers like Old Dominion, UPS, FedEx, Con-way--the line haul tractor-trailer jobs will take more experience but with his CDL and the time he has under his CDL they hire people off the street for dock work to get to know them and their work ethic and it's fairly quick entree to driving a straight truck or daycab with half-set, home every night and better, more predictable pay. $16-$24/hr is about right for the good LTL companies, $10-$14 on the dock.

Check out the CSA score for EVERY trucking company you might be interested in: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/Data/Search.aspx The CSA score tells a whole lot about how a company operates, the attitudes of their drivers, maintenance and whether it's a safe place to park his CDL there. You may have to Google the company name plus 'DOT number' if the company name doesn't come up on Carrier Search.

The ugly fact is that his experience is about right for the industry. Moves from one mega carrier to another, especially the 'starter' companies, as an Aussie driver said in another thread, will only change the color of the bonnet (hood). Plus as we approach winter, trucking overall slows down through spring.

If still not sure, read the thread: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...new-drivers/169873-otr-pay-poverty-wages.html