What's the difference in starting companies (Megas)

With this driver shortage I would think it would it would be fairly easy to get on with a smaller company, the only problem is the insurance, the smaller companies can't hire like the megas.

 

Just pick one,close to home,so you dont have a long trip,on the grey dog.

 

Training should deffinately be more then two weeks but six months is rediculous .that tells me they use trainees for miles and not proper training.which unfortunately you'll find with dam near every starter company and this is one of a hundred reasons why trainees dont learn much during training.

 

Probably the best advice here. Some will reimburse you though if you get a plane ticket. It's also good because then they will get you home on time if a terminal is nearby.

 

Ive done family dollar for almost 2 years. You just have to be very good at not hitting things, and in decent physical shape. The sign on bonus is because most truck drivers dont want to do the work making it hard to find people.

 

It's just rolling (or throwing?) the boxes to the dollar store workers right? or do you count it all and then throw? lol

 

All your mega's have a hand in the $ accounts (Family $, Dollar Gen., and Dollar Tree) they all pay close to the same with a few variance I'm sure. Keep in mind if they offer a bonus you will probably see that spread out over time, and it will be taxed at a higher rate. I worked for Werner on the $ accounts as a Surge driver, which means my FM would send me to which ever $ account was needing extra help. My pay would vary from DC to DC (distribution center) and that will be the same for dedicated drivers as well not every DC pays the same. I ran Dollar Tree out of Connecticut, $ General out of Mississippi, Kentucky, and Indiana. By far the highest pay I saw was the $ Tree in Connecticut. To name a few mega's I know of that run these accounts: Werner, Schneider, U.S. Express, and Averitt. As for the training aspect of it, it is essentially team driving, if you train on that account it will also take you longer to gain your training driving hours, since you are unloading your trailer about 50% of the time, less drive time. As for the work itself, yes it is hard work, but if you work smart it isnt too bad. My opinion is they don't pay nearly enough for it though, because in order to make good money you have to run hard and unload even harder. Basically if your not running 5-6 loads a week you really won't be making any type of good money. And if you are slow at unloading or rub your FM the wrong way you will probably get stuck with a lot of the crap loads that most of the other drivers do not want. I can tell you that as a Surge driver, I was constantly stuck with crap runs, but I was covered under minimum pay so that is probably why, which is fair. My advice to anyone looking into these accounts is to look at the $ Tree in Connecticut, when I was up that way this past Feb. they unload pay was $193 for each load, can't remember the mileage pay, and on-time pay. You can make well over $1000.00 a week up there if you work hard.

 

Are you going to drive for Swift after training? If not, look at CTL Transportation in Auburndale. Make a lot more money there.