Good truck companies in Washington area?

Did you try Watkins-Shepard? They have 2 terminals in WA.
Try Abilene Motor Express; they hire from everywhere and have an excellent reputation with their drivers.

 

I work for Brown Line out of Mt. Vernon.w e hire newbies but the yard is a bit north of you. It is also one of he better paying...

 

That's good information; just looked at Brown Line website and it looks good.

 

I know no one wants to talk about a mega, but try looking into Prime. The starting pay is 44 or 45 cpm. If you have your cdl already, you'll most likely end up in the tnt training phase which is 30,000 miles with a trainer one on one. During the tnt phase you're garuanteed $700 a week until you finish the tnt phase then it'll be either 44 or 45 cpm once you go solo.

I throw them out there because I'm partially biased since I worked for them and had a great experience as a company driver. I have my own authority now but still deal with prime on a regular basis.

Just an idea since I live in Auburn and they had no issues hiring me a couple of years ago. Good luck

 

You can search TR for info about Stevens and United Road.

Stevens is a refer company that I don't believe has a terminal in the NW if that is important to you. They are a training company if that interests.

United Road used to not take new drivers but I think they do at this time. They have a terminal in Vancouver, WA and of course they are an auto hauler. Good way to break into that trade, but beware their DOT record isn't great.

Wakins-Shepard is now Schnider. Their terminal in WA were basically just drop yards. Who knows what is going to happen to them now they are Schnider. I suspect Schnider, will use all Wakins-Shepard facilities as just drop yards until they can sell them off and recoup the money.

Brown Line is owned by LTI (milky-way). A pretty large regional trucking company specializing in moving freight to Alaska. Brown Line at one time didn't hire fresh meat but apparently now they do. They were also a team company at one time with few solo drivers. IDK if that has changed but I suspect it has. LTI pays hourly however Brown line is CPM. Good rep though.

If interested, Taylor Shelfish is now hiring. $16 and all the raw oysters you can scarf down while driving.

It is a shame the WA Worksource is now spammed by Knight, Swift, Gordon, Schnider, Werner, CR England , Interstate, Prime, and the like. A driver has to dig through literally hundreds of adds from these bottom feeder companies to find a real trucking job.

 

Youre kind of stuck in the middle. There are lots if good outfits in Portland and Seattle. Gordon hires new guys and ive heard theyre decent for a starter outfit. I started with Watkins and Shepard in Missoula when i lived in Portland. Thy have a drop yard in Vancouver which ironically i never went to once. Also in Lakewood/Clover Park area they have a terminal.

Interstate is in Tacoma. Not sure if they hire new guys or not. May is down near Salem and i know they hire new guys but I'd peronally pass on them.

 

Try to get your foot in the door with Franz Bakery in Seattle after you get some experince. Top wage was around $24/hr last I'd heard and they're a union shop so it pays OT after 8.

Old Dominion in Seattle is a solid job. They even hired a couple rookies right out of school and started them at $20/hr when i was there. OT after 40 and topped out at nearly $26/hr after 2 years. I didnt have a regular bid but they always had plenty of work.

 

What about local companies in the Spokane area?

 

I know several people at OD, used to work with them at FedEx. Upside is they treat their employees pretty well, apparently, and they pay well, also. Downside is a fair chunk of the P&D drivers slipseat every day, and there's something else; I talk to one if the drivers at least every other night. For some reason, their line haul is really slow right now, to the point of OD cutting one of their bid runs, and that driver bumping everyone on their "wild board". Also, they've been having their line drivers rotate on taking extra days off. I'm a little baffled as to why they're so slow, this is peak season for LTL, all the way through Christmas now.

 

Lynden
Seaport Steel
Charlies Produce
FedEx Freight
Reddaway
Drive United
@Beau