Wanting to try reefer

I was looking at Mast website and it's not clear. How do they define "students"; does this mean the hire new cdl grads or do they have their own cdl school? Age requirement isn't on there either.
One place on the website has : Regional OTR Driver One year of Experience Required
Then another place it has "Students are considered full-time employees at Mast Trucking and are eligible for all benefits, including health insurance and paid vacation."

 

They hire people straight out of trucking school and hiring age is 21.

 

Thanks, now I can add Mast to my list. They have a good pay structure.

 

Not a problem, let them know Kevin from Charleston SC sent ya. If you can try to run for John Rangel, he's a great dispatcher. Gary and Tony are great as well. Also a heads up, you better know how to drive because some of the places they send you are just out of a Norman Rockwell painting. An example... I picked up watermelons out of the South Carolina State Farmers Market in Columbia, SC going to Apple Creek, OH. The consignee was a local guy who ran a local fruit and produce stand who just ended up building a small warehouse next to...his house. Yep.

 

Check out Wel companies out of De Pere, Wisconsin. Theyre all reefer and have on KWs and Petes. They buy new trucks every year i believe .

 

Why not?
I understand, that I hack on narcissists on these boards all the time (I REALLY do hate them with a passion)...but I don't feel like this guy is asking more than he probably deserves. He has put in 4 years, and if he has a clean MVR, no accidents, no damage claims on cargo---all that stuff---he should have the right to make some demands. Companies have their demands/standards why can't we.
When I was OTR, I told companies "I don't do the east coast, I don't go west of the Rockies, and I'm home EVERY weekend...if you can't give me (and my 25 years accident free experience) that, don't hire me".

Not always. Reefer freight is time sensitive, and any REPUTABLE company would realize that and pay accordingly. If you don't "start out" at a reefer company in the mid 40's (plus achievable bonuses)...you're at the wrong Reefer outfit.

I don't think any of them are 100% drop & hook....but I've heard Shaffer has a good 75% to 85%.....may want to look into them?

 

I was thinking Werner's Dedicated Purdue account (or something similar). Drag in; dock, uncouple, hook an empty and pull out. And it's basically triangle runs with the occasional anomaly thrown in there.

 

I agree 100%. Don't think anything OP was asking for in a company was out of line at all. A good driver should expect those things from a good reefer company.

 

Can confirm. As a Shaffer OTR driver, most of my loads are drop and hook.

EDIT: Shaffer doesn't equip APUs (they do have opti-idle), and you have to pay for an inverter (Can payroll deduct over time.)

 

For a new driver is reefer a good place to start? I would think it would be easier to move from reefer to dry rather then the other way round. I ask because I might be going to Navajo that have APUs, Kenworths, decent pay, no forced dispatch, etc but realize it's reefer work. I know they do some drop and hooks with reefer. My other option is Werner dry van.