Advice from someone with experience...

That is Covenant's policy for training. 2 students with 1 trainer and one of the students is labeled as a "ghost"(which happened to be my boyfriend) which screws up ALOT of things but that is how they get around DOT, or at least that's what I've been told. Seems really shady if you ask me, so glad he is no longer there!!!!

 

2 years gone for me....."YAY!"

 

Im still in shock over the .18cpm part she stated in the beginning....holly "cow"!!!!!!....glad things are looking up for you..

 

....wow! they increased the pay...was 14cpm

 

I do apologize, I did miss state his pay in the beginning, it was .13cpm + .03 per diem. It was quite a battle, especially when we have a family we are trying to support. But as they say "that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!" We are definitely stronger and wiser now! We just want to try and help others not have to go thru the same thing. And this is just our personal experience, there are folks that are at Covenant and Love it. So I don't want to bash them, but they were just not the place for us.

 

I am NOT a recruiter. I'm a driver and have been for 16 years now. I've worked for all the really big boys and the mom and pops and some in between. I have found all the really big ones to be the same. Bend over newbie companies. The really small ones had issues with either pay or keeping the equipment up. The medium sized ones were good but we ran outlaw paper pulling flatbeds and we ran HARD. Last company (following DOT audit that really woke me up) I left because it's a whole new world in trucking, compliance and enforcement. We're all gonna have to run legal and use e-logs so I figured since I may have a million five in the rear view, but I've still got a good two million looking out the windshield left in me so I better get with the program of the brave new world of e-trucking. The company I was with wasn't down with that so I made what I honestly believe will be my last job change in my career. I went with Super Service (Grand Rapids, MI; Somerset, KY; Ellenwood (Atlanta), GA and Lexington, SC). It's the winner of the old Super Service, Gainey and Lester Coggins conglomeration. Super Service was the dog that won the battle and it's all Super Service now. Well the DOT audited Last July and slapped the snot out of them over hours of service and hiring. They got the message and since all the buying and selling was done and they were now the "new" Super Service they re-tooled their entire way of doing things. First: strictly legal and e-logs. Second upgrade all the equipment. About 100 trucks a month are replaced with brand new ones and boy oh boy you don't dare go through a terminal without taking your truck AND trailer through the inspection bay and so sorry if you're in a hurry but if something ain't right you ain't drivin or pullin' it til it is. If you're in that big a hurry and can't wait til it's fixed you'll just have to drop it and grab one that is. Third, re-tool the hiring both the mentality and the intake. Hire experienced drivers with good records and pay them well. Re-vamp the training and hire students and less experienced and even experienced but with a big gap in driving. The training program is shorter than most for students right out of school (5 weeks) and "bench" trainees (little experience or a gap) is 2 weeks; but it's intense. One student per truck (two is absurd - big safety question where's the third seatbelt or does one drive one ride and the other stay webbed up in the sleeper all the time?). They do NOT under any circumstances run team loads on a training truck, even if both the trainer and student are cool with it and it's a sharp student that could actually handle it. They just won't do it. As a matter of fact the student is REQUIRED to do 90% of the driving and trainer is REQUIRED to be riding shotgun the whole time. Their philosophy is you can't learn if your trainer is in the bunk getting his 10. Only time the trainer drives is when the student just needs a break or it's something they're not ready for yet. They pay trainees a straight $75 per day for every day they are away from home including any time spent in a hotel during the trainer's hometime ($525/week no mileage or load or per this or that. It's flat $75/ day including the day you road test for upgrade and get in your own truck. Solo pay starts with the next day's load which will be a go to the house load). Now if they live close and the trainee goes to his own home when the trainer goes on hometime he won't be paid for being at his home but if he has to stay in the hotel away from home yes. I have been told they start students that qualify solo higher than any of the company's that take students but I don't know that, I was experienced and started at the top of the scale. They have bonuses (I love weekend minimum if you are not dispatched over a weekend (which used to be quite often in trucking or it was a short run) or you don't have x minimum miles to go - you get weekend pay.) and benefits like all the big guys. What I like about them is they are big enough to have the good things that big companies do but small enough to be personal and work with me. That and they have been 100% straight up with me about everything and my pay as been spot on perfect. I have been with them since October last year and I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far it hasn't and as long as this is the way things are, this is where I'll stay. To be an 1100 truck company I have been very surprised because they are a kinda big company but they don't act like one. Yeah, the funky stuff happens and I do get off weeks where I wanted a little more but no more so than any other trucking company in America. The perfect company just hasn't been invented yet. What the heck. It can't hurt to talk to them. I don't have the number handy., but Google Super Service. Red with a stylized S like the centerline of a highway; I wanna say Grand Rapids is the HQ but honestly they do some administrative things out of each terminal (except Lexington, that's pretty much a dedicated account place (it's Super Service and we own the equipment and everything but it's all painted bright orange and says Do It Best (hardware supplier) but they ARE a terminal and do function as one for driver needs, maintenance, etc. I use my phone to connect (tether) my laptop to the internet - it's FREE and I can connect to the internet anywhere I have phone signal. Only draw back is the speed is dependent on the bars and I can't play with the phone when I'm online. Big deal. I'll take that for free internet on my laptop anywhere I go. Honestly I don't use my phone all that much anyway. Well, I do now, now that I can use it to hook my laptop to the internet. From what I understand any smartphone can do it and it uses your smartphone's data line to connect to the internet. Google tethering a cell phone to a laptop and e-how will explain how to do it. it was simple and free. Trust me. If I can do it - ANYBODY can. Hope this was helpful.

 

Hi Animal,

My boyfriend has gone with Super Service. He finished orientation and left out on trainer's truck around 11am yesterday. Have had a slight issue with the trainer wanting him to do 4 weeks training even though he is a bench student, but sent an email to Brittany and within minutes she had sent out a message on qualcomm and had the situation handled!! HUGE difference. He is VERY excited(wishing he went there to start with) He says the difference is unbelievable!!! LOL It is quite reassuring reading your post, really helps put MY mind to rest. Thank you for your post, hopefully these posts can help others have an easier go of it.

 

Wow, that's awesome. Well, like I said; the perfect company has yet to be invented. That and it's just plain TOUGH when you start, no matter where you start.

 

.....good for you all...that's always the case with most companys - 50% of the drivers are happy with the practices of the company and 50% are unhappy with the practices of the company. i was in the happy 50% for a little while and i stayed at covenant for as long as i could. but the 6 wks without pay put me in the unhappy 50% and it was time to move on. glad things are getting better for you.

 

Ok Guys, I'm back and in need of some new advise!! LOL Thank God we are done with training and he is on his own! Now I need to know if anyone out there can tell me if there is a good GPS app that we can get to download on a tablet or would we be better just buying an actual Truck GPS unit???