Are there any GOOD southeast based companies that hire new drivers?

KLLM, Jackson MS

 

Doesn't matter where the company is headquartered; the hometime is set by each company. Sometimes you will get more hometime if the type of freight runs through your area often.

Howard Transportation would be a good one because they are headquarted in MS and have factories there. They haul their own products. They hire new CDL grads.

SVTN (terminal in Saraland, AL)
Tyson Foods (KLLM that fr8te_sh8ker mentioned has a big contract with them)
Ozark Motor Lines(headquarters on the MS/TN line)
Navajo (terminals in Jackson, TN & Atlanta-should run through MS regularly)
Superior-Carriers

Check all these websites. They all hire new CDL grads.

 

for right now, you should focus on getting through the school. t.d.i does do a really go job at training drivers. there's not really any good trucking companies. so you will have to do what you think is best for you. and you have to make plans to stay with that company for atleast 3 years. sounds easy until you try it. it works out to be a challenge.

you may want to apply to south eastern freight, davis express they hire students. cypress truck lines hire students, arnold tranportation hires students, oakley trucking hires students. heyl truck lines hires student drivers. they have a terminal in zypherhills,florida.

what you need to understand. when you are filling out the application. you only have to show the last 3 years of employment. not 10 years. your starting out as a new driver. you will also need to get your mvr record, criminal history, accident history, what you should keep in mind. many of the trucking companies now are requiring drivers to go into canada. sounds exciting going to another country. alot of the crimes and other things like child support. is considered a felony i n canada. and drivers do get sentced to 2+ years in prison by canada. so getting your criminal history from the county court clecks office. is extremely important.

your living in old miss. alot of trucking companies have terminals on the south side of memphis,tn. so honestly you shouldn't have much with getting a job. the other benefit you have. is you live right there where you can be loaded east or west. drivers that live farther east. end up running the mid western and all the eastern states. they rarely in most cases go past texas.

some other good advice. don't fill out the one for all applications. research the companies you are interested in. and apply directly to them using their application. before sending the applications try talking to the recruiters for the trucking company first.

other then that. I wish you luck.

 

Could probably give you better advice if we had your age and what infirmity other than money is drawing you to the job. Looking at your bio I doubt you will like learning the biz with the typical otr slave labor route. Being close to Jackson probably opens up a lot of non traditional avenues.

 

As you were smart enough to ask before you finalized things I will see what I can find out. I am a long way from there so will take a bit to touch bases with some old contacts but I was thinking along the lines office work. Compliance, safety, log auditing, driver management about anything will pay the same or more as what a driver makes the first year. Having a CDL puts you a leg up. I went to community college with a retired company exec who thought he was going to run the big road and bailed after a short time but went to a large trucking company the next town over and got an office job. Down the ladder you have recruiting, driver orientation et.... I see CDL instructor in your future if you like the driving part. The better ones want someone that can do the lesson plans and paperwork. I just saw an ad for one that did the school buses.

As for the down and dirty with the business, having a CDL is good but being too much of a driver can be bad if you are going to management.
As for income, I bet not more than 10% of first year drivers make 50k. Only about 33% of drivers stay a year at any job. (I saw a number a couple of years ago that 50% of the OTR drivers had less than 6 months experience) if they do the otr slave route which is why companies try to come up with ways to keep them like bonuses and school debt et... This very site was not started because the companies were treating their drivers well. It was originally "Report a bad company here".

With the holidays coming up we have some time hopefully to chat around and see whats up. If you don't hear from me by Dec 1st or so PM or reply here.