Another newbie here!

You couldn't get his freight!
He paid his dues.

I suppose that either your recruiter or trainer, at your CDL school, told you not to listen to experienced drivers, they might be too bitter or cynical
.

If you guys don't like the answers then change your questions.

 

Yes , I'm driving now and I'm not worried about anybody hauling my freight . I run regional hazmat tanker and my job is very secure . Another member , hicksie , just got hired by my carrier at another terminal .
My posts aren't always negative but many of the positive ones are pm's to members I can help out .
Many experienced drivers know why I am negative . CDL schools churning out graduates will more and more jobs are lost is the most detrimental effect in the history of the industry . Newbies are cutting each other's throats . Carriers cut rates to where drivers weekly wages are below poverty level . A newbie with driving skills that would have been accepted by a trainer a year ago is rejected because there is likely a more skilled newbie out there . It takes very little to be terminated . I read a post by a trainee that was terminated because he was pulling out of a parking space and his trailer just brushed a mirror on a tractor . No damage but he's terminated with a DAC report showing an accident .No other carrier will touch him . I post links to factual data . Freight has declined every month for the last 9 months except February . It went up 2% in February but down 3% in March . Why would anyone think they could get a career in trucking when freight is at its lowest level in 7 years ?
I'm doing fine .I'm paid percentage and guaranteed $.40 a mile for every mile the truck moves . I get paid detention time and loads are dedicated . As soon as I get empty I come back to the terminal 10 minutes from my house . I run tanker but haven't touched a hose in over 3 months . Customers handle the loading , unloading .
My employer has been in the trucking business for 30 years and only has 25 trucks . Before any driver gets assigned a load he gets a call asking if he wants that load . If we want to idle all night we idle all night and nobody says anything about it . If somebody has a family emergency the boss says that is the priority , don't worry about the loads . It burns me up to see the way bottom feeder companies treat drivers .

 

An exercise:
I am curious as to what the experienced drivers (or knowledgeable) think will happen to all these new cdl holders if and when the freight picks up ?

I (without any real basis) assume that many people are attempting trucking careers due to being unemployed or laid off, not because they actually WANT to be truck drivers. When/if the economy recovers do these cdl holders return to other job opportunities (assuming jobs will recover as well)???

If this happens, do we see a bright future for new drivers who WANT to drive for a living......... do we see prices paid and cpm rise...... what do y'all see comin down the road....... just for fun.

 

RickG thanks so much for telling my where you are right now in your life. You have never sounded bitter (as we all know some of them do) I was just curious about your life. Hubby and I are very undecided right now; we know it is the worst time to go into trucking (for me anyway to join him) but his company is going into their slow time and we can't afford to go back to $200. weeks. I do not have a "career" to fall back on (poor future planning on our part) and this is something we have always wanted to do. It's hard to hear the bad when its something you have dreamed of doing but keeping an open mind and balancing the good with the bad is part of being an adult and making the right decision. We will keep reading and most of all praying we make the right choice. thanks again

 

You need to watch TexasNana's posts and blogs . She recently trained with Swift to team with her husband . Some opportunities are there but the good ones will go to people who know someone that will bring them in . Expediting is also slow but some couples have been hired right out of school to drive an expedite straight truck but if your husband gets his CDL expedite carriers will let him train you .

 

It will take a long , long time for freight to recover . It has been steadily dropping for the past 9 months . YRC is close to bankruptcy . Werner is reducing its fleet 4% . Freight rates will eventually come up but driver pay will be very slow to come up as long as there is an oversupply of drivers .
The bottom feeder companys will always have a large turnover and always be hiring . They will have opportunities for new drivers because experienced drivers won't work for $.22 a mile .

 

Thanks for the advice I will look TexasNana's posts up. Can you explain "Expendite carriers" to me, since I am so new to trucking it takes me awhile to figure out some of the terms and phrases. I did feel much more prepared when we went to visit a school on Tuesday. We were told that a team could make 100 thousand the first year (I knew from reading here that was a lie) and that he new Stevens Transport would want us right out of school. Well, I thought it was funny that he only wanted us to apply for two companies while I am in school (Stevens & Covenant). I have researched both on here and neither one sounds good. They will say anything....they do want my money after all!!

 

Hello and good luck to you in school and getting started!

 

Hi I just wanted to say HI I new and don't have any words to the wise yet. but Hi and welcome.