Acquiring about a CDL? Please read.

While at home here a week ago I met a guy down on his luck, he was selling some equipment and i was buying it off of him. Now I had always heard the stories of guys getting ruined by farm schools/companies but never actually met a person who was "ruined" , until last week.

While we were talking the gentleman had left a 3 month stretch at a large red truck company, signed a contract and was on his way to get a CDL. Life was good the recruiter seemed honest, straight shooting and he was still going to make money. Got the test done and off he went, what he didnt know was there were 3 people in one truck, the rate at .17cents a mile seemed like a "standard" and the actual was not so great. The actual miles he was able to put in was less than $7 an hour and that was before taxes etc. before he knew it he owed the company. After 3 months he was out and now jobless. Not because he cant find work its because of the Automatic transmission restriction and the fact he is a low time driver. To get the Automatic transmission restriction off his license he has to redo a road test which would require more training on top of what he has already put in. Crazy.

After he told me his story I have been looking for companies that accept people like him, and the list is short with baggage likely. SO here is some advice to anyone looking to get a CDL or endorsement.

1. Get a class A CDL, dont get a B with air or anything off. The work is the same so dont be lazy and not read 2 chapters. Get a CLASS A CDL or nothing.

2. Do all your training in a "stick" truck. Make that a priority. This is not a stick versus autos, the automatic restriction on your license is just a one more thing holding you back from that local gig or working for the smaller outfit that pays better and more home time etc.

3. Get all the endorsements you can. My only exception is Hazmat. Even if you never use them, having it is another tool in the shed and makes you more valuable. Its all in the same book so just start reading.

4. Try to stay away from contracts. Instead try to find a local school and just pay for it or make a deal with a farmer or something. You can read the states CDL manual, take the written and theirs your learners permit. These big farm school/companies are creating there own turn over rate, dont be apart of there stats because you sold your soul to them on paper for a CDL. Your worth more.

5. Once you have the newly minted CDL understand you will be "low balled". My first gig I made 20 cents a mile and was hourly if local. The reason for this is experience. Your still learning while tearing up there equipment. Be willing to work your tail off but dont sell your soul.

This may seem like a broken record post, but the conversation I had with he guy that left the red truck company bugged me. I have worked in the industry for almost 12 years now and the stories at the pump seem to get bigger every year but dont be scared. There is good money to be had if your willing to put your head down and do the work. We all start somewhere, but only you can put yourself in a position to win. Good luck study and be willing to learn.

 

The .17 cents a mile dates to about 1950 at best. Abusive.

Three people in a truck is UNACCEPTABLE. I don't CARE if there are 5 bunks, and a bathroom back there. Thats abusive and shows avarice on part of the fleet. The resulting truck will never stop according to HOS.

And so on so forth. He got used and then rode hard and put up wet with no money earned. Figures.

 

20 cents a mile? They can shove that straight up their ### as far as I'm concerned. Even being debt free you'd be going backwards lmfao.

 

Plenty of companies hire drivers in that situation; he just hasn't looked for them. If he was on this forum, we'd have him rolling down the highway in a few days. He doesn't need the automatic restriction removed; plenty of companies will hire him. Where is the drivers location?
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@x1Heavy - My first job driving in the mid 1980's was paid 8.5 cpm at Midwestern Distribution, Ft. Scott, KS.
That's what I was relegated to at the time and I didn't complain; did what I had to do under the circumstances to get the career started. I couldn't have cared less what any other driver thought or said, it was my life and I made it work. Stayed with it for 3 mos and that's all I needed to be on the road to success.
Now I'm "sittin' purty", no worries and can see the Las Vegas Strip from my home.

 

.20 was approximately late 80's and .30's took most of the 90's before breaching .40 got close to .50 end of 2001

It's just about 2020 now. I expect driver pay to be equal to 30.00 a hour more or less with a minimum of 1000 per week take home after taxes solo. Twice that teams. Otherwise forget it. And schooling costs up wards of 6000 dollars for those who have problems with the expense.

When we ran FFE as a team being on trainer salary turned out to be half the full pay for two coast to coast turns paying .75 to the truck. That year worked out to 4.52 a hour for me and wife each, or about 32000 a year give or take a thousand when we reported our income in 2002. Over 7400 hours was spent on the job when you consider 306 claimed service days away from the house for perdiem.

I have long since grown not only sick, tired and wearing of the flat stupid cheap payrolls shoved down the throats of truckers I begin to advocate for pay more so that good drivers will be retained, turnover reduced and there is way less no money problems in this industry.

Inflation also took it's toll from the 70's to now. We finally got from around 4.05 for skilled pay (Minimum was less than that) to 10.00 here in Arkansas starting 1 Jan. 11.00 in Jan 1 2021. Which finally produces a netincome over and above expenses of gasoline commuting to work round trip. Only to see stores close and hours cut. We lost the Freds chain store in our area which was adequate but they closed in the face of the minimum wage increases. Finally got them moth eaten so to speak against the profits they want to make. There is no point in running that business anymore.

I think its wonderful Las Vegas, I could live there also and have a few thoughts about migrating out that way, but I would not be living in Vegas proper I would be in one of several much, much quieter towns near the Valley of Fire or roughly Hawthorne-Walker Lake. As our Society here gets increasingly loud and problems in crime, it becomes eaisesr to consider migrating to Nevada out that way. Or possibly Utah or Idaho. Idaho was wonderful if you knew how to get through the 6 months winter.

To see drivers paid .17, tripled to the truck and so on.. it's still not acceptable. I understand history and people buckle down to the grindstone and make it work. Yay. But thats a form of stealing from the worker today. And you wonder why they leave in 3 months. What a waste.

 

This.

 

So that driver went to CR England. There are times where you have to go through less than stellar conditions in order to get somewhere better. Everybody wants to be at the top. It ain't that much room up there. Its just the reality. No matter where that driver goes, it will be some BS. All companies are pretty much the same. So him having a lack of experience, he's gotta make it work somewhere.

 

yes

 

20 cents a mile was an example not a hard number to take. I got that number because that’s what I made almost 12 year ago. Yeah sucked and I didn’t make much but when your debt free you can’t go backwards. You don’t stay there long. I gained a bunch of respect around my area for sticking it through and then became and O/O.

A little clarification this is just some pointers. Nothing has to be done like this, but this is what I have found to be the most helpful. I didn’t want to start a wage war or what we should get paid vs actuality. That’s another dead end or just pump talk. Thanks.

 

Sounds like CR England from what I have heard. Cant imagine what the inside of one of those trucks must smell like after a few days out. They should get a .17/mile rate differential for putting up with that. For what its worth I was getting 21/mile back in 93 when I drove for HO Wolding. Thought I was sitting on top of the world in my cabover Freightshaker with spoke wheels. Had my sights set on getting into one of there worn out cabover Petes that they bought from Werner but never happened.