Starting my career again with Schneider

Thinking of starting with Schneider myself, and your post encourages me. Truck on!

 

The nightmare stories I've heard with SNI. No way on this Earth would I work for them. SNI. Swift. JB Hunt. Werner. Central. CR England. I'll turn in my CDL before I work for these jokers.

 

People are the often the architects of their own misery. I've been with SNI over a year. I work when I want. They've never lied to me. I've never had a roadside breakdown. My paychecks are always accurate. I have rarely waited on a load, their freight is everywhere. Maintenance addresses my concerns promptly and without question. I've never had my DBL call me with an issue. I do what I'm asked and I'm left alone. Their commitment to safety is sincere. I've never been asked or even had the hint of it being suggested I do something illegal. I can shut down any time at my discretion for safety. They get me home when I say it's time to go home. I enjoyed the 2018 I drove last week with the fridge, memory foam mattress, microwave, inverter, and tri-pack. 48€|mi seems industry average at least at a mega with my experience. Other than having a concierge waiting for my return to the home terminal to unload my dirty laundry I don't know what else they are supposed to do. I have no consequential complaints that wouldn't likely be found ubiquitously throughout the industry. It's trucking.

 

As crazy as sni cam be..i was both a co driver and an ic for them...they are better than most of those other megas for the most part...better facilities and at least you can go into the office and talk to the people if need be...no bullet proof windows..they still value drivers more more than other megas..

 

I could not have put it better myself.
Bottom line, do your job and you'll never, ever have any worries. (Mostly)
Schneider has its opportunities in a couple of departments, but 98% of the time, it's no problem and truck on.

I've been with them for 6 years and have no intention of going anywhere else.

 

I personally know of an SNI orientation class that started in June of 2015 with 7 people. Only one was still with SNI by December. One quit after the first week. Most were gone before the second month. An SNI polyanna came to that class early in the week and claimed one could make over 90,000 a year as a company driver. When I heard that story I fell over laughing.

 

Attrition is largely due to the nature of the work and the quality of today's candidate, not the inhospitable corporate nature of SNI in my opinion. Lots of folks just can't cut it no matter where they work.
90k is a lot. They only deposited $1184 into my account today after taxes and 20% to 401k. Of course that was for 6 days work, not a year.

 

Attrition is due to the fact the companies don't pay nearly enough to compensate for what a driver has to put up with in the trucking industry. Bad food on the road. Anarchy on the highways. Company micromanagement of drivers. 14/11/10 hour rule. 10 year work history. Lots of free work drivers have to do each day. People with no CDLs able to tell you how to drive. Some companies still paying map miles. Drivers expected at some places to unload the freight. Being gone on the road for weeks at a time. DOT BS. There's no wonder we see what we see. I tell any new driver-to-be I meet to learn some alternative skill before getting into driving, some skill he can rely on to escape trucking when he wants to get out for good. One does not want to be stuck in trucking because he doesn't know how to do anything else.

 

The main problem with that strategy is you have to keep your nose operating-room clean. If you have a DACcident, a piddly little incident that doesn't matter for squat, a high-turnover outfit like SNI will use it against you to make you look less attractive to a competing (better) carrier. A DACcident on your DAC keeps you from being able to quit a carrier and go elsewhere, a place that may be better. Nobody wants to be stuck at a bad outfit with no options the next couple of years.