Newbie - Dry Van vs Tanker

There's several tanker companies that hire new grads:
Trimac Transportation - 1st choice. Reason for 1st choice is after 24 mos. experience it's possible to make over $100K there running coast to coast OTR.
McKenzie Tank Lines
Girton Propane Service
Schneider Bulk
CTL Transportation
SVTN
Superior-Carriers
Tidewater Transit

 

@Thull ??? @Chinatown ???? O/P .... use the search function and check out some of our Tanker threads.... as that is what I haul. Yes, the money IS better, but ... but ... BUT .... with little to no experience, learning the surge along with "everything else" going on in your brain, fresh out of school, you may want to start out Dry-Van .... even with SNI, and then get comfy in the truck and on the road, before you ask to switch divisions. It's what @Thull did. Check some of his posts and threads, especially the "right-turn" one. Almost 3000 posts!
Best of luck to you in your upcoming graduation; Stay safe!!

ps: @Chinatown beats us all to the punch, LoLoL!!!!

 

Yes, you can make a boatload of $ running team, that's what I did my first 3 years. But, say goodbye to getting quality sleep (or any sleep) and no matter who you're with, being cooped up in a closet with someone else wears on you and it gets old. I don't miss teaming at all but I never made more $ than when I did. Now, I can eat where I want, when I want. Same with sleep, and I can actually get sleep with the truck sitting still. I don't have anyone I argue with or have to compromise with and it's nice, and I still make good $.

With regard to those 2 companies, I'd choose Schneider over Covenant but it's up to you. I've never worked for a mega, only small companies. Best of luck.

 

I wouldn't run teams, but some people are ok with it. Trimac has teams or solo if you want to try it.
TWT Refrigerated Service is a reefer outfit and pays teams .60 cpm split which is way higher than average.
Recently Trimac hired a team fresh out of cdl school at one of their terminals in Louisana. Trimac terminal managers have a lot of authority on hiring and may or may not hire a new cdl grad. First impressions mean a lot, so look sharp and visit a terminal if you can.

 

Tanker is a good choice. Flatbed can also be a good choice if you like physical labor. Flatbed opens the door to working up to high, wide, and heavy aka HWH. The money in plain Jane flatbed is better than dry van. The money in HWH is likely better than tanker, depending on the company and pay package.

 

There's positives and negatives to both. Van is pretty much hands free putting up with receivers at warehouses could be real annoying. Tankers you may get unloaded quicker however your dealing with Hazardous chemicals, plus the surge of liquid moving around takes some getting used to.

 

Glad I got some dry-van experience in before going to hauling liquid. Worked out well for me.
Maybe Schneider dry-van. Get about six months in and slide over to their tanker division, which some drivers seem to like.
Good luck.

 

I agree that having dry van experience is good. You generally back into tighter spaces and that helps as you move on to other types of trailers. @Thull can speak to starting at Schneider dry van and moving on to...Bulk IIRC.