One problem with a lot of the megas is that they will certify a driver with only 6 months total experience to become a trainer. It is a "blind leading the blind" situation. The OP sounds smart and also sounds like he was unlucky one too many times in a short span of time. Better training might have prevented all that.
Need experienced advice
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Ben T. Larson, Nov 10, 2015.
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If you don't want to do the Carolina Cargo thing, knock on some doors in your neighborhood at some small outfits. Some of those will road test you and if you do OK, will hire you.
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I believe that the advise to seek out a smaller company may well be the way I should go. Yes I love the OTR seeing things/places I've never been. But as some have pointed out, I went too big too fast without through training & next to zero experience. I shall look into smaller more local options. Once I have secured a position and gotten a few years of experience under my belt perhaps I can move back on and up to bigger things.
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You want to continue OTR, so don't just give up. Swift has high standards and low pay. Try another company and be happy to accept second seat a while. USA TRUCK has been known to give a retrain chance. Your comany choices depends on where you call home. Bigger companies advertise everywhere easy to find. Small companies often look to job boards to find you. Insurance policy is going to determine if they can hire you. Just keep asking and put yourself out there to be found. What's done is done, move forward.
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My advice is going to be a bit different than others.
It seems as though you are not afraid of hard work. I would tell you to check out asphalt work and other construction jobs in your area. That's what I did out of school, not because of a bad driving record but because I have a wife and infant at home that I want to spend time with.
At my company I was a laborer and reserve driver, then became a equipment operator, and now I am a driver and operator.
Pay is good and I get to see my wife and child 95% of the time. We do rarely go out of town but in the last 3 years I've been gone a total of 3 months.Bob Dobalina Thanks this. -
To be fair, there are lots of good companies who advertise on Craig list.
roadmap65 Thanks this. -
What????!!! Is this actually @Chinatown or did someone hack his account? Lol
Excellent advise.Chinatown Thanks this. -
With the exception of Swift, where I went straight out of CDL school, all 3 jobs I've had in the past 8 years have been sourced from Craigslist. One was with Pepsi, another was with a local construction company, and the most recent was a regional equipment rental chain with 75+ locations.
Not every company that advertised on CL is some "bottom of the barrel" outlaw gig. Yes, there are some of those, but as long as you research the ads you're interested in, you can usually come up with some decent jobs.rachi, Bob Dobalina and roadmap65 Thank this. -
I ran across a guy last week that runs a few Hotshot trucks, Those 1 ton trucks pulling 45ft flat bed trailers that require class A. He said his guys are home every night and make about $650 a week. He was training a guy that was a Werner refugee. I'm sure it was 1099 and no benefits. My point is you have a CDL start looking! There are other things you can do with your CDL. Maybe just forget OTR with a Mega and look local.
Contrary to what you hear,there are some VERY good jobs on Craigslist. Pick up the application in person ,talk to the man or woman and sell yourself..
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