Starting out for rookies

Darn it...That is basically what a company rep from Werner told students the other day..."The market is very very slow right now the worst we have seen it in 26 years. Generally there is a high turnover of truck drivers but that is not happening right now. Werner is a debt free company and we discussed whether we would have a hiring freeze or not like others. we decided not to so the applicants we are accepting at the moment are ones that have experience or ones that basically have clean records---no tickets, etc. We at Werner hope that the economy improves, not many miles are being obtained ... i ccan't recall everything else he said but in a niutshell, yeah we will take you if you meet the current standards but do not expect to make much of a paycheck.

I was furious when I heard that. Not only were the students upset, the instructors tried to tone down what the guy said. Heck, the students signed up for trucking because they that they had a chance...now who the heck knows! Take the money give them a dream and the reality is they are still not working and if they are they still can't make ends meet??? What the fudge?? Yet the owner of the school continues to say that he still gets calls from company's that need drivers like crazy......yeah right.

 

Hey Cryptkeeper, that was an excellent post. If you ever get tired of trucking, you should try your hand at writing job descriptions, professionally!

Chaser1, I know things are rough right now. But they are rough in other industries/business as well. Don't let it get to you, any more than you have to. Things will turn around, eventually.

And as far as getting into something that changes in midstream, you need to understand that this is just a part of life. EVERYTHING changes. It just sucks big time, when the change is unexpected, and negatively affects a person. I know that, from experience. . .

 

The market is down right now but it won't stay that way. And when it comes back it will come back HARD! Companies haven't been ordering any inventory and when the market picks up again there will be warehouses to fill. There will be a shortage of drivers then and loads coming out of everywhere!

 

Same here at my school, I was walking around saw the recruitment room there was just a few companies on the "hiring list".. Swift was still on there for the NJ area. Might be a North East region thing

 

I just got a call today from Gordon trucking and they said they can hire me but I will have to move in with my daughter in Phoenix Az. Gordon in up in Washington state.

 

For new drivers in southern California, when the economy starts to get better, check with Robertson's Transport in Rialto, Ca. Up until this past September 2008 they hired and trained new drivers, which is how I got started Oct 2007. I would assume that when things start to get better they will start to hire new drivers again.

State of California has a program (E.T.P... Employers Training Program) that lets certain companies hire, train drivers. State pays them a percentage of the cost of training so it is a money maker for the company. With Robertson's I had 3 interviews with them first and they conditionally hire me. Then I got my permit. Then I started training with them. Several of the Robertson's dispatchers are approved by Calif DMV to administer the 1.5 to 2 hour road test and yard skills test. What you get is your Class A along with doubles and tankers endorsements. Started first of October, licensed towards middle/end of October. Trained on bottom-dumps but transferred over to powder about a month later. Photo shown for me is of my powder truck. (Photo taken back in March while I was unloading cement powder at the 1000 Palms Plant.)

Major, major drawback with working for them is that, normally, one does not back up/dock/parallel park double trailers. When they started to get slow on work I contacted Schneider National and JB Hunt. They both said that since I lack experience backing/docking/parallel parking they would only consider me to be a trainee, even though I have driven 8 and 10 speed Mack trucks now for 15 months!!

When ther were busy, money could be ok. My best week I did 11 loads...gross was $1,020. I was talking with the general manager a couple of months ago when I was up at the main yard in Rialto. I mentioned about Robertson's being a training company and that the pay was so-so. He told me that when it was busy over a year ago many of the drivers made over $55,000 per year. So, it could be ok, when it is busy.

On thing I noticed after I finished up my year requirement with them and stayed on was a noticible change in attitude towards me. Now, it is more relaxed, more friendlier. It used to be Mr. Whipple or just dude. Now it is Dave.

dave

 

Cryptkeeper> Great post, I know there's a lot more to it than you've listed, but thats a good basline for us Frikkin New Guys. Ya need to add in the requirement to be a magician, coz sometimes thats the only way to explain how you'll get out of some situations.

So!
OK, I've been reading the horror stories and all that about the joys of starting out with a driver-mill company like England or Knight, but from the folks that went through it (and didn't fall for the truck lease program), is there a bennefit to going that route to get your training, licencing, and initial experience?

I mean since many companies I've heard of wont hire drivers w. less than 2 years on the road, or are fresh out of a 6-mo training course (this is via my roomies Dad who rolls out of Everett WA & has been behind the wheel for many years).

I've always wanted to drive, and up till fuel cost became the dominant feature in truckers lives, I had planned on it when I retired from the military. I retired in July, found myself a job in Bakerfield CA, and just lost said job. So now I find myself unemployed and one possible option is to drive. Knight has a depot about 30 miles from here, I belive England has one closer,... If there are any other companies that offer training and have bases around Bakersfield CA I'd like to hear about them.

I Know this is SO not the best time to go looking, and it may be a few months before I decide to give it a go, but it seems like I could make this work out and get to drive for a living like I've always wanted to (not a fanciful dreamer here either, been around rigs, wrenches, and drivers for years, Dad even taught comercial driving up in WA). The desire is that my wife and I could get our CDL's, get a monster rig we can live out of, and just haul where ever, when ever (met a few couples that did that for Atlas and loved it, like RV'n but bigger). But then again, I dont wanna get chewed up and spit out right at the beginning by some corporate mill either!

Options, opinions?...

Thanks!

 

I'm afraid you may need to be a magician just to keep your bills paid! This is just not the time for somebody to get into the business. OTOH, you just might get LUCKY!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

I am not sure about the total market right now, but I know the drivers I seen with FFE that want to work are working and getting paid. There are some who are primarly truckload dispatch OTR that are having to run more local LTL, but hey if you want to work you do what you can.

 

Hello to all,

I'm a recent grad from Maine looking for work, i've talked with just about every company out there, well it feel's that way !, anyway i'm hearing the samething no matter who i call, no work if you live in Maine or we don't go that far Northeast, the only 3 that would take me is CR England, Stevens Trans & Werner, the problem is , anyone i've talked to about these 3 company, all say the same thing, which is nothing good, i've been told to stay away from all 3 company's.

This week alone, i've called over 30 trucking company's with all the same feed back, not hiring student driver's !!!.

So where does a newbie GO ???.....IS THERE ANY HELP OUT THERE ?