Multiple Mention Thread

THANKS for the encouragement. It means much I have totally turned my life around am a good christian, family man. HE has watched over me thus far and I know he will continue too.

 

if you attend church and the pastor knows your story, have your pastor write a character reference letter for you to give to prospective employers.

 

Thank you for letting me be apart of this message forum. I have been reading it almost all morning and have found it very helpful.

I am considering starting a trucking career and live in Charleston, SC. I have not found a school or college yet but would like to find a few good companies first after reading everyone's advice this morning:smt100 .

Could someone maybe help me by mentioning a few companies that may be a good place to start for someone living in Charleston, SC. I am sort of lost about how to figure that out. I am looking for good income out of a school, don't care about benefits too much, and am willing to work hard. I would probably be interested in the long haul stuff or the regional driving around the southeast.

I know ya'll are not getting paid to be my career counselors or anything but I felt allright about putting this up after reading other posts. I feel kind of selfish without offering anything in return but I don't really know what I am doing yet. Hopefully, I can buy some beers or somthing on the road for your guidance.

I guess I am looking for a company that has terminal stations in Charleston right? Anyone have any advice on possible good companies around Charleston, SC?

Thanks, Andrew McAllister

 

Welcome Andrew. I live just out of Walterboro, and have been at this for about 12 years now, so you would think that I would know a little something about the companies in Charleston. The fact is there is some decent to great companies down here, but I'm not sure who all has driving schools. The only one off hand that I know is Glasscock. I will try to get you some info on them. I think they are out of Sumter or Florence. Bulldog and Bunch, from what I understand are pretty good companies, but I'm not sure if they have a training program. I personally went thru Builder's Transport, but at the time was considering the program at OC Tech in Orangeburg. Let me do some digging on Glasscock, and I'll get back with you on my findings.

John

 

OK, Andrew, here it is. Go to Glasscock - Homepage. There is a picture of a rig at the bottom of the web page with CDL TRAINING written on it. Click that picture, and it will give you all the contact and other info you are looking for. If I am not mistaken, they hire most if not all of the completers of this program, and have heard nothing bad about this company, and have met several of there dry bulk drivers around Columbia, and Charleston.
This a start, hope it helps, and I'll be on the look out for anything else that comes up.

 

Andrew, Roehl is out of Ellenwood Ga. Give them a try.

 

TMC is a flatbed company that has a training facility and terminal in Columbia.

 

Just wanted to send a thanks out to ever is in charge of birthday greetings. It sure helped me start my day when I saw it this morning.
I also wanted to thank everyone for all of there advice and insight into some of these companies. I was all set to go to Roehl and then the counslor at the community college called
and asked me to come see him. Now I am totally confused again. He says if I train with them he can probably get me in at ABF since they have job placement with them. Schnieder keeps calling and I was asked to stop by tomorrow and have lunch with their recruiter so he can fill me in. TMC also interested.
I guess what I am getting at is all these companies are interested and I don't even have a CDL yet??
I feel like a piece of chum that was thrown into shark invested waters!
If it wasn't for you guys I would of fell for all the things Swift was saying. I guess they just took a bunch of accounts away from Werner and they will be looking to hire 850 drivers.
I just don't see how they can ALL have the best home time, the BEST pay, etc... Oh well.

 

If you can get in with ABF, it is something to seriously consider if you are taking a long range view of the job. While it isn't my choice in work, there is no doubt that doing union type LTL freight has it's advantages over the long term. The pay is good, the work gets you home daily, and the equipment is decent, if a little basic.

Downsides are the seniority system, which can mean that you wait a long time to get the more decent runs. It also means a lot of nite work on the line haul segment, so the freight is in place when the P&D drivers come in to deliver it.

If you want to get out and travel some as part of the job, then other forms of trucking become the option. You can use the OTR life for a year or so to build up experience, and then transition to something more regional.

One of the big problems everyone encounters starting out is that they simply don't know enough about the world of trucking to make these decisions, and need to accumulate some time to see what is really going on and what appeals to them.

You have to decide what are the most important parts of your life and choose accordingly. There are jobs for everyone out there, it's just a matter of setting your desires and finding one that fits you, your family, and your needs.

 

Burky,could not have said it better,great advice. I gave up peddling freight with roadway in 1971, been running the road since, that for me works,miss home sometimes but never all that hard work. everyone finds their sweet spot just like you said. all kinds of driving opps available..