newbie looking for a good company to start with

I see Ficel trucks in the South Bend,IN area all the time,they are based in Buffalo and run covered wagons(singles & doubles).I think they haul steel coils and they have about 80 trucks.I checked out their website before and if I remember right they require 2 years experience but you never know,if you show a good attitude and willingness to learn,all they can say is yes or no.
Also there is a good thread on this forum about Superior Carriers(tankers)where a guy got hired on right out of school,and they reqired experience.He just went to the terminal and talked to the boss and his attitude got him the job.
You can also try the yellow pages,Buffalo should have a lot of companies to call.
Good luck in your search,just remember persistence pays off.

 

Beware, they are all good or bad, depends on who your talking to. Being new you have to pay your dues somewhere. Whats good for some is bad for others. Work hard keep your lic clean and learn along the way. You will filter out alot of BS in time.
Good Luck!

 

Everything is changing, but the "training" companies are still the old reliables, like Swift. Werner is usually good, but is laying off drivers now and has trainees stacked up at Omaha (and other terminals I am sure) waiting for trucks to get into. Do some research, ask around, and be careful.

 

Watch out for what they tell you also; some recruiters will lie to you just to get you onboard; I have delt with some and i have been driving 10 years and have been with 6 different companies because they lied to me. I have been with 2 here in WA. that were good and one of them I would recommend to anyone but they only haul new furniture and they're really slow right now with the economy and they don't haul nationwide; the other is Sorenson in Chehalis but they only hire guys in Western WA. they pay good but you run you butt off for them that's for sure; with them I was making .38cpm, $10 per dock bump and $1.50 for every 1,000lbs. I hauled and was only driving I-5 and gone for 3-4 days at the most and bringing home around $850-$1100 a week depending on how many drops, picks, etc. If I went to Phoenix I would bring home about $1400 in a week, but also you were fighting you logs just to have the hours to make the run leaving Sat. morning and being back in WA. on Wed. or Thurs. at the latest.