Best option for CDL graduate in Indy

This "pay your dues" crap is nonsense. There's no rule, written or otherwise, that says you are REQUIRED to do OTR before anyone will hire you locally. If all you look at are the "megas" like Swift, Werner, Knight, CRE, etc. then yeah, you'll be hired immediately out of school and you will be OTR. That's because there are guys like me, who have 8 - 10+ years experience and have hauled OS/OW alongside almost every other type of trailer out there that want to be at home at night and on weekends, so you have us to compete with mainly.

However, if you really want to be a local driver and you aren't afraid of manual labor (I did a bunch when I first started driving) then there are jobs to be had because again, middle-aged guys like me and especially older guys with years of experience don't like to nor do we want to do a bunch of manual labor, so if a younger guy such as yourself were to walk into a place like Budweiser, Pepsi, Sysco, or US Foods, chances are pretty good that you would at least get an interview if not hired. Granted, with places like that, you can make a decent amount of money, but you'll be running cases and cases and cases of product for long hours. When I did Pepsi, I would normally start out around 03:30 (3:30am for you 12-hour clock folks) and I would have to manually unload upwards of 10,000 cases one-by-one onto a hand truck and then take it inside a store and merchandise it. On a good day, I would be done by about 14:30 - 15:00, so about a 12 hour day, but in the summer it wasn't unusual to be out 14 or 15 hours a day.

As far as the LTL companies, like YRC go, they sometimes take new guys but they usually want at least 6 months to a year of experience before they'll talk to you - not always though and it can depend on the needs of the particular terminal. Aside from that, pretty much every new guy is stuck on the "extra" board doing local P & D and dock work. Those guys are usually referred to as combo drivers and if you are on the extra board, you basically have to sit by your phone to find out if you'll need to come in and work that day. Might come in and drive for a few hours or you might come in and work the dock, and you typically have to move up in seniority before you get a regular schedule.

Indianapolis is a large enough metropolitan area that you should have no problem finding food service or beverage companies to at least talk to. Keep an eye on your local newspaper and Craigslist since some smaller companies won't always advertise with "bigger" places like Monster.com or Careerbuilder. Generally, the "larger" companies like Coke, Pepsi, Budweiser, US Food, McLane, MBM, etc. will have decent insurance coverage as well, so don't think you have to go with a "mega" to get adequate coverage.

 

Simply put unless you can live for a FULL YEAR on relative low pay I highly recommend you try to find a trade/tech school that offers tuition assistance and somewhat lower tuition. Something like what the state of Virginia does here in Hampton roads. They use Federal grants to help low income people attend CDL school. Then you can take your pick of any company not just the ones like Pam and USA Truck that C1 there in Indy used at one time. Schools like C1 are OK they are company financed and you lose a lot of freedom. Good luck with whatever you decide. Please fully investigate your options before you sign that contract.

 

That can be the case with some companies though and some view it as a trade off wherein you're home regularly, but the pay is somewhat lower. Of course, being a new OTR driver, you aren't going to be running 3000 miles per week either and the OTR companies normally will start you out at something obscene like 25 cents per mile. Company trucks are typically limited to 62 or 65 MPH which sounds great until you get out in this part of the country where 75 - 80MPH speed limits exist and that can cause your overall weekly mileage to be lower as well.

I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences and suggestions, I just wanted to make you aware of other options since there seems to be this preconceived notion that OTR is a requirement. In my 8 years, I've done exactly 2 months of OTR and that was when I first came out of trucking school and hired on with Swift like an idiot. Been local ever since and made a decent living doing it.

 

Supposedly C1 has lifetime job assistance for their graduates. If your going to self finance then I recommend you at least let the school help you. I also agree with a previous poster. There are local opportunities for greenhorns that pay surprisingly good pay.

 

Check out Beelman out of Indy. I think you may be out a couple days at a time, but their family insurance is 50 a week I believe. Driver only is free. And I bring home around 8-900 a week. I'm out of southern Illinois and make it home nearly every night. They have dumps up in Indy. And haul mostly contaminated dirt. But they will take you with your schooling. Heck they took me without schooling.