What's a good company to start out with?

Hey sneaky, you are in a good state for otr driving. Write down your needs and wants and then look into the companies that can fulfill them. or that will try to fulfill them. As a brand new driver you might look toward some of the larger companies to gain some time behind the wheel. Most of them have schools or can get you through a school. Don't go with the companies that put you with another student to train on the road. Riding with a certified knowledgeable trainer will make you more prepared for going at it alone. Its not rocket science, but there are a lot of tricks of the trade that will make it a lot easier for you and also make trucking more enjoyable. If you find you dislike your trainer or he/she is not training you properly call the company and they will assign you someone else. dont feel bad this happens often and is not a big deal. you might find training time stressful, this is because you are in essence training yourself for a different lifestyle. Bare with it, it will all feel normal in about three months. Also once you are done being trained and you get assigned your own truck you are free to do as you wish. Overall it will take eight months to a year before you know what you are doing(for the most part) by then you will have paid off your schooling and if you dont like the company you are driving for, you now have the experience to go somewhere else. One more thing, if you go with a larger company they tend to run reefers, vans, and flatbeds, so you have the option to get a little experience on all of them so that you can best decide which suits you. Oh yeah and have fun! your going to meet a lot of interesting people and go to a lot of interesting places. bring a camera and journal.

 

I was in the same situation. Got my class A from an accredited school in 1992. But I went local driving a mix of A and B trucks over the years. I decided to go OTR last year. I could not find any company's that would hire me without a refresher course. So I looked around and went to Central Ref. They are not too bad, as training company's go. I had to do a contract for 2,000 for the refresher, that I paid off over 8 months.
This is a training company though. The pay is not top shelf, only .29 to start .30 after 6 months.
I went into a dedicated fleet after 6 months, and I get .38 as my base rate, plus .01 for productivity every month. I average over 2900 miles a week, and I am home every couple of weeks as a pass thru for the night, and i take off 2-3 days a month as a block.

I have been with them for a year now, and I am staying for now. I want to wait out the economy and fuel, to see what happens. Also Central is in the process of raising all there rates, so I want to see if they will pass any of that on.

Good luck in your hunt. It will be hard to find a non-training company to start with, unless you get lucky and find a small fleet. But some of these are not good either, and will run you to death.

 

Your best bet is to go talk to drivers at a local truck stop and see what they have to say. I just talked to a USF Glen Moore driver who likes the company. MorrisT can verify whether he likes them or not.

Hunter

 

My man and I have been on the computer for 2 days now researching companies. Schneider National is looking good to us now. Found a CDL pretest on their site and printed it out. They also have pictures of the physical capabilities they will test you for. They offer training with an 18 month commitment. You do have to have your CDL permit prior to training. Going to go talk to a recruiter in 2 weeks. Pay looks average. The only downside we see so far is that we might have to share the truck as company drivers. Dont think thats uncommon though. Oh and looks like theirs only one training facility in Dalas. Not seeing anything about a passenger program either.
Does anyone know anything about how well they take care of their fleet?