Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

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The orientations happen every 3 weeks. The program is advertised as 288 hours and from reading on here anything over 160 is preferred by companies.

 

Just an update for anyone looking to start. During my job search I found that medium to larger size companies are not willing to compromise when it comes to experience. On the other hand, owner operators with one to a few trucks are more open, eager even, to take on newbies and pay a little extra in insurance. The trade off is obviously the pay. I have recently noticed that a lot of companies are changing to a w2 business model with benefits and either a base pay equal to at least minimum wage and bonuses for making extra loads or strictly hourly and perhaps some extra load bonuses, however these are still difficult companies to get into without experience. The owner operators mostly offer 25% - 30% of what the loads pay minus truck expenses or base rates for full and empty container movements, a few are willing to pay wait time but most aren't; these type of jobs are easy to find. Just talking to other drivers at businesses, truckstops, or even when just pulled over near the ports, you learn a lot and get some great advice. Taking some of that advice, I held out a little bit longer and found a good company that's "middle of the road" pay and was willing to give me my start. So there's plenty of opportunities for new grads at the ports. Realize that top pay or full union benefits is not likely to happen, but you also don't need to settle for the first offer with the lowest pay and crappiest equipment. Knock on a lot of doors and some decent offers will come.