Rookie needs career advice

How bout focus on learning how to safely operate a CMV for a few months before worrying about the second company. Never could understand how drivers are already concerned about their second job before starting the first. Best of luck.

 

Hey I want
1. 62 cpm
2. decked out pete
3. detention after 15 minutes
4. all meals payed
5. 100% drop and hook
However, at times I have had to settle for less!

 

I'm out of the Atlanta, GA area. Training was 8 weeks. Then I was by myself doing local work, then regional, & finally OTR. I got to stay in a hotel during training. They teach you everything you need to know. Shifting & maneuvering skills come with time. Start making some calls to the terminal managers when you are ready to apply.

 

I also worked for SNI bulk before moving over to Superior. Superior does hire new cdl grads but not nearly as many as SNI, it also depends on your closest terminal driver needs. With a name like Gumbo-gal I'm going to say you are in Louisiana? We have two terminals down there, St. Gabrielle (Baton Rouge) and Sulphur (Lake Charles). I personally try to avoid the I-10 corridor between Houston and Mobile so I can't say how busy those terminals are, but the times I have been down there I always get decent runs out. NO APU but we can idle all we need, and as others have said you can have an inverter installed and a refrigerator etc. All the old Internationals are getting replaced by new Macks and Petes (10 spd and autos). My final paystub with SNI on 08/01/14 had a ytd gross+per diem of $25,700, comparable with 07/31/15 YTD at superior of $41,135. So yes 60k is easy to make here.
SNI isn't a bad place to start, but there are much better options.

Also I would look at Groendyke if they are in your area, they have apu's and a similiar pay package.

 

Yes, there's other choices, but Schneider is good also with excellent training which gives you a good foundation for later.
SVTN has a terminal in St. Gabrielle
Groendyke Transport
Tidewater Transit
A&R Logistics is good and requires 12 months experience.

 

There are some good suggestions here, but just thought I would suggest also looking at private fleets in addition to all the name brand trucking companies.

Many chemical companies, large and small, have their own trucks. Some of the larger companies are union or union-comparable pay scales. (50k +, 8 hours a day, home every night, paid/off holidays, weekends off.. unless you want OT)

Most are day cab jobs, but some run road trucks. Road driving in a private fleet is pretty much just dedicated out and back, so you can schedule your driving (how hard you want to run). And you don't really need an APU (who needs an APU if you can idle and you're only in the truck three nights a week)