Werner or Stevens!?

Thanks for the info

 

That's true that they buy insurance, but with her circumstances and the driver shortage I'd give the better companies a shot anyway.....just to be sure.

 

there is no driver shortage, that is a lie propagated by the ATA, which is run by CR England, Werner, Swift....

 

Normally that's the case but this time it's no conspiracy theory....it really is hard to find drivers in some areas. Many of the plains states actually have negative real unemployment numbers and hiring signs are everywhere.

 

There is NO driver shortage, as a national problem, as the ATA claims.

Now to find good drivers with 2 or more years experience, that is a competitive market. And a driver with a clean record and a good attitude can pick and choose what is a best fit for themselves. No state has a negative unemployment. I live in a state with just a 3% unemployment, and yes there are help wanted signs every where, but there are still people unemployed, and some of those are just not hire-able, due to their victim attitude, that the world owes them a high paying job, for no work.

 

That's what I mean by real unemployment....more jobs than people looking for them. Call it whatever you want but the availability of ordinary 7-5 jobs has made it much harder to find people who are qualified and willing to live in a van down by the river.

 

I started 15 years ago. I went with Stevens. They sucked. The pay sucked. But I'll tell you what, they have the best training program for rookies out there. Period.

 

I can vouch for Melton. I started here Feb or last year. Starting pay at the time was 33 cents. Still was way better than the other companies with me having no experience. Shortly after our starting pay went to 37 and I think it's now 39. I kept getting raises to keep up with the starting pay until I was at 41. Then at a year I bumped up to 46 where I'm at now. I've called around and talked to other companies and no one else can match or beat that so far with less than 2 years of experience.

Flatbedding is a different animal. You will cuss and swear to yourself at times that you are going to quit because your stupid tarp won't do what you want it to, or the snow is screwing you up, but once you're done and get a warm shower you tell yourself it really isn't so bad and continue to do the job. As a company driver the pay is good. The miles are good during the spring summer and fall but it slows down some in the winter. It's fine just plan for it. In almost a year and a half I've only had to deliver or pick up a load between the hours of 2200-0600 a handful of times. Most appointments are during normal business hours because not many people need materials in the middle of the night. Flatbedders help each other a lot. It's much quicker for 2 men to fold a tarp than 1 and tips and tricks are generally forthcoming.

 

Remember with a dedicated job you're HOME more so miles will be less. Plus what you think you might be losing out with miles you're earning with unload pay with that account. With reefer you don't get paid waiting in line for trailer wash outs. There's soo many ways to look at things.
In OTR jobs miles are per week as in 7 days.. out.
When I was with Shaffer I saw Stevens in docks and sometimes even next to me.
Unless they're talking about some special account they're BSing you.

Melton is way better than both, that is if you want to do flatbed.