New blood

Hello,

Just received my CDL A, no endorsements, last week. I went OTR for about 9 days with a friend and then did crosstowns in Chicago for about 5 days; studied the handbook and then practiced parallel parking at the closed DMV facility for a few hours. Went in to take my driving test and failed the parking portion. Second time a week later, went in and aced it.

One of the friends I practiced driving with got me into the company he works for. First week was this past week and I have to say I'm confused- I was put on 'local' driving the first day without any training. I didn't even know I was going to start driving as I was told to come in for orientation which consisted of: here are the keys and here are the two addresses you're going to. The second day I was sent 180 miles away for a flatbed pickup. I've never tied down a flatbed before. I waited 3 hours at the terminal for a truck to be repaired; took 3 hours at the drop strapping down the load and going through safety/security; and the next day spent an hour and a half unstrapping the load at the yard. I wasn't paid for tarping, driver assist nor was I even paid the complete mileage- 150 instead of 180 miles according to them.

Then I was told I would be teaming with someone I have never met, for who knows how long. I insisted on being teamed with the friend who helped me and I guess they agreed because I was going to leave today with the stranger but never received a call from dispatch.

The pay is $30 a pick-up and drop for locals and a $.14 split for team driving. If I do well on this trip, then supposedly I'll get my own truck and go solo OTR starting at $.30/mile. The only problem is that it's a small local company and it is very disorganized and unstructured so far. I don't know of any pay-raise schedule or even parameters for performance aside from $100 for every clean DOT inspection. They have all older model trucks which seem to always be needing repairs. The truck I drove Thur has an odometer that doesn't work and shook like crazy at higher speeds.

So I've applied to another company and am looking to keep applying as a new CDL holder. Do you guys and gals think it will hurt me to have started with the current company while looking elsewhere as a new driver? Am I thinking to jump ship too soon?

The way I look at it is I can't see myself staying very long at this company due to the lack of structure and confusion and I'd rather start with one that is more organized and professional. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the opportunity to start working right away, although the above might not show it, it's just that I want to get on a track where I can see down the line, even if that means not making money right away.

I have a C-class license suspension from 2012 for a no-insurance ticket from 2007. Long story short- I paid a lawyer who got the court date for the ticket pushed to like 2050 somehow. Shortly after that my car got stolen and I didn't drive for years. In 2012 I was offered a job driving a CMV that did not require a CDL and that's when I found out about the suspension due to non-payment of Texas surcharges. Aside from that my record is clean- no accidents and no other tickets since 2007.

Any advice or comments are appreciated.

Mods feel free to move this thread if this is not the appropriate sub-forum.

Many thanks. Great forum and I've been reading through it like crazy since I came across it.