Central Oregon Truck Co...the fun begins

Weeble Kneeble,
Been reading you post. Thanks for all of the info. Sounds like they're an up front company to work for.
Am consider returning to OTR after my current contract is up in Feb. 2014.

I will keep reading your post as they come until then.

 

Hey Shaine. Been a while since I've been on here, too. Been busy, what with the holidays, and getting rolling here. They took me out for 1 week with a trainer, and said that was good enuf for them. Did 2 truck recoveries that week, so my actual time with the trainer was just a few days... lol I ended up with the 2nd truck I recovered, a 44' tandem Wilson trailer & #591. I finally decided to be part of "Western 11, Occasional 48" so Robert is my coach. I unloaded plywood this morning at K-Falls, then loaded more plywood early this afternoon at Spectrum. I stopped tonite in Riley, at the rest area, heading for west side of IN by 1pm on the 31st. I hope the wind is at my back on the hills! Happy Christmas and New Year!

 

Anyone running the 11 western or the ca/az/nv I've seen advertised? Contemplating a move to Tucson which isn't a great location for anyone it seems but cotc is advertising there. Just curious what one could expect in the way of weekly/monthly gross and hometime. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Just finished reading the entire thread. It's starting to be very tempting to come join the ranks of COTC. Anyone have anymore info on the ca/az/nv fleet? This is the first I've heard of it but it'd be perfect for me. What's the starting pay like for the 11 western fleet? I'll have 6mos experience soon.

 

Well, I wish everybody a late Merry Christmas and an early happy New Year. I left for Anchorage on the 24th and are making my way back. This trip has been interesting to say the least. Lots of critters on the road. I am not talking bunny rabbits either. Moose, caribou and multiple herds of bison. I almost hit a herd on the way up since they decided to sleep in the road in a blinding snow storm in the middle of the night. Tons of snow in Northern B.C. and the Yukon. I was pushing snow with my bumper and it looked like I had a snow plow on the front.

Did a recovery of a minivan yesterday that had spun out and was stuck in the snow bank. A couple from Florida with two little kids in Northern B.C. seems like an accident waiting to happen. Nobody was hurt and the van didn't suffer any damage.

South of Fort Nelson I found one of our guys that had broken down on the side of the road. His truck had shut down due to low coolant. After a 100 mile round trip to Ft. Nelson and 5 gal of coolant later we were on our way to Fort St. John.

Got to bust some ice this morning to get the trailer wheels going again as well. Just had a shower and life is pretty good. Can't wait to get home since our vacation to Belize is coming up next week. Woohoo.

 

When you say 6 months experience, is that 6 months flatbed or 6 months total driving? COTC likes to see two years OTR but they will make some exceptions if you have 1 year plus a strong previous employment history. Just an FYI. They'll teach you to flatbed but they aren't set up to teach new drivers. Good outfit to work for when you get some time behind a wheel. I'm not with COTC now. I took a smoking good deal local job, but if it ever fell through I'd be right back to COTC myself.

 

GR8 is right, but while talking with people at the company, I discovered that they have hired a few right out of school! I was amazed, to say the least. So the only thing you can do is apply, be COMPLETELY honest, and see what happens.
Some advice, though. COTC does go over some basic securement, but not as thoroughly as I would have liked to have seen for those who don't already have flat experience. Roehl Transport (my previous company), on the other hand, is extremely thorough in their securement training. Maybe give a company that provides solid securement training 3 months before coming to COTC. Just $.02.

As far as pay goes, you will start at from .32-.35/mi, depending on several factors including experience. With the availability of .08 in achievable bonuses, its very decent pay. Especially since you will keep moving as long as you have hours available! Including my week on the road with a trainer, 2 truck recoveries, 1 on-the-road reset, and 4 days home for Christmas, I've run almost 8000 mi in 3 weeks. And most of that was in the last 2. Back to back trips of 2300 and 2600 mi are nice!
And yes, I have loved my first month with COTC!