A tired frustrated unemployed guy looking for the best "will train" company in Texas.

oh man, i feel ur pain. swift is treating me pretty good, roehl u have to pay 500 up front, ffe seems pretty good and its close, but i dont actually know anything solid on it. dont even bother with cre. central seems decent, ive heard good things about prime. the best thing i can tell u is ask around, call recruiters, call swift. millis u have to pay 500 as well if i remember right. wil trans u have to pay 1500! milan express u have to be a tennessee resident. u could try usa truck.

im afraid u will need some money, for food and fees though.

cmon everyone, lets help this guy out with some good info!

 

Why are you looking at these big companies? Find a guy with a couple of trucks, go sell yourself and your skills, and go to work. You might even make better money than at one of those 'training' companies.

 

1st choice - FFE
2nd choice - Stevens

3rd - Prime is ok as a company driver; don't go lease.
4th - Central Refrigerated is a good company & seperate from Swift. Google it.
5th - Panther Expedite will hire you today with no experience, but you must have a CDL.

That's my 5 choices in order, if it were me looking.

 

Try Maverick in Little Rock Ark. I went the same route ...went and got the CDL which was NP and then nobody would even look at me (Other than Maverick) They have a great rep from what I've found...The recruiter told me ...we dont care where or how you got your CDL as long as you show up with it ! Hope that helps ! Good Luck !

 

Try USA Truck out of Van Buren Arkansas. They take on beginners. I believe that they also have their own driving schools. USA Truck hauls dry goods, I believe to all 48 states, NOT sure about Canada. You may also want to try Southern Refrigerated Transport, (SRT), out of Texarkana Arkansas, which is on the Texas and Arkansas border. SRT goes to all 48 states and Canada.

GOOD LUCK!!

 

Honestly, I wish the best of luck to you. You have paid your dues in the office. You havent paid your dues out here. This is a whole different place. You do have to deal with people face to face. They are the shippers and receivers. My guess is, you will probably have to go with a mega carrier like swift to start with. Dont take all you read into account about a company. I know people that have worked for and still do work for those bigger companies. Some of them are really happy. Get what you can get since you are unemployed to get the experience. No experience puts you in the worst shape to come to the table with a list of what you dont want to do. You probably wont get anything on that list of trying to avoid due to your experience right now. You spent $300 to get your CDL. Have you ever bumped a dock before? Been in a situation you have never imagined existed? The list can go on and on. Its not as easy as just getting in a truck and driving it down the road. With all that being said, I am not trying to break you down or put you down in any way but you saying you have paid your dues would be like me walking into your job and telling them I am not starting at the bottom, I want to be a manager from the start because I have paid my dues for the last 11 years. When you change professions completely, you start at the bottom and put the time in. I wish the best for you and hope you have luck in your search. I know you are frustrated and from the way you worded some of the things you said in your post, your not happy about starting over at the bottom. Just remember if you get on with a company and have attitude, you wont have a dispatcher for long. You will be right back in the job pool! 12 years ago I was in your position. I had no CDL school. I rode in a truck with my father for 2 years and got my CDL. I had to start from the bottom myself. I had to deal with the rejection from many different companies myself. I worked for a guy running local that had 2 trucks, and they were junk, for $8 an hour just to get some VERIFIABLE driving experience. It wasnt easy but I made it. Keep your head up and nose to the grind stone. It will work out.

 

In my opinion, and experience Roehl is the best. If you want to avoid all the things mentioned Roehl the best. They just build a new terminal in Texas. The home time is great. Depending on where you live your home time can be 11\3, 7/7, or 7/4 7/3. I didn't have to team during training my training lasted for 8 days. Most be between 8 and 14. Then you get your own truck. They dont mention the lease at all. They won't even allow you to lease until youve been with the company for 6 months.

I originally went with Prime had 3 trainers, who were all horrible and I quit during training. Everyday the trainer would try to talk me into leasing. They get a bonus if I lease. Their training is 40,000 team miles theres no where they could expect me to get along with one person who the only common interest is our gender for 40, 000 miles. Thats about 3 to 4 months. Then your year experience starts after that time. They shorted my checks some weeks I was negative. It was a nightmare.

Good luck on you search and let me know if you have any questions.

 

What's that ol' song from the TV show "Hee Haw"? "Pain and woe and misery on me! If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!" Well, your plight does sound pitiful and I'm not gonna rain on your parade (too much). Actually, reading between the lines, I do detect just a bit of self-deprecating humor in your saga of woe. Nevertheless, you have already been given some great advice here by others in the industry. As a fellow newbie here, allow me to urge you to listen to these professionals and take their advice to heart. There is a good place in trucking for you if you are willing to get in the harness for a year and do whatever it takes to prove yourself as a competent professional driver. Good luck to ya!

 

Two things, you may have paid your dues in an office, but unfortunately, that means nothing now. And number two, don't overlook the small fleets in your area. I'm talking maybe a dry bulk tanker fleet, usually they are smaller companies that pay well and most of the time its local work, so you can be home almost daily if you so choose. As for myself, I worked a local job right outta high school making 12.00 an hour, got my cdl through them, gave them 8 years of my time and parted on great terms. I then went OTR pulling tanker for 2 years, Made around 52000 the first year of that. Left there on good terms for my current local, gravy job. Home everyday, weekends off, and 60-65000 a year. But the bottom line is this, I had my share of crap jobs, but I still feel like I am 'paying my dues' even after being out here 11 years... I wish you the best of luck and hope it works out for ya.