Just starting out.

i just finished orientation in lakeland fl (two days) and was put in a rental car and sent with two others to indianola miss. we drove all night arriving about 6 am.we have all day in a hotel that warner provided to catch up on our sleep and will be picked up on mon morning by our trainers to work on a dedicated dollar general account. there is a huge dc here and we are excited to meet our trainers. good luck who ever you decide to go with.by the way i went to roadmaster tampa and had three prehires.werner,covenant and swift. I chose werner as their orientation was nearest my home.as i said good luck in whatever you decide.

 

May want to check into NTB, they haul out of the Meijer DC there in town.

 

Of the three you listed, I would prioritize them like this:
Roehl
TransAm
Werner

If you have three prehires, pick one of them and go with it. In this environment, take what you can get. I know here in Omaha Werner has trainees filling up hotels waiting for trucks. I have heard a lot of good about Roehl. TransAm is not bad. Other "training companies" have stopped taking trainees. I see you checked with Swift, and even they are being picker nowadays. Who'd have ever thought?
Keep your nose clean, listen to your trainer, and treat your CDL like gold. It is!

 

Dollar General is a good account. You will be making lots of stops, loading and unloading your own trailer, so I hope you are in decent shape!
I see you're from Bradenton. If you ever get into reefers, you, too, can pick up the cheap loads from Tropicana! At least you will be close to home!

 

Hi HTD,

I just finished a 160 hr course here in SE MI. Took and passed the test yesterday and am on my way to Missoula MT to start Watkins Shepard's 10 day orientation on Monday. I too had offers from Werner, Trans Am, and two others. I kept looking and Roehl and WS came to the top of the stack. Roehl balked on me based on where I live but said they would reconsider me if I reapplied using my daughter's address in Ohio.

WS won out as they have a terminal only 35 miles from the house. And, by all accounts, are a driver friendly company (Roehl too). WS gave me a pre-hire two weeks into training and have kept their promise so far. Best of luck to you.

 

Watkins Shepard runs the rocky mountains so you will get chain-up experience. Don’t be afraid of chaining-up. Just because most drivers refuse to do it means that you have put yourself into an elite class if you do.

The LTL carriers pay the best but require drivers to chain-up. LTL will also get you home frequently but they are hard to get on with and require experience and a first class driving record.

I started with Crete Carrier out of Lincoln Nebraska. They run mainly Nebraska to Pennsylvania to Georgia to Texas. I started June 2004 with them. For 2005 my earnings were $48,055.13

I had 8 weeks with a trainer. I was really sick of my trainer after 6 weeks and thought I could do the job no problem without him. My first 6 weeks on my own were just Hell. I had thoughts of quitting more than once a day. The next six weeks were bad, but not as bad as the first six. When I started my 13th week I noticed that things were easier and went better. I had decided that I had finally made it as a truck driver. The best thing about my trainer was that he lived 18 miles from my home, so when he went home, I was home. A friend of mine I met in truck driving school quit after 3 weeks on his own. They sent him out 4 weeks at a time because his first trainer lived in South Carolina and he lived in Nebraska. I was getting home every two weeks because that is how often my trainer went home.