CDL School vs Community College

Just a little more on turnover . Say a company has 1,000 trucks . That means 890 drivers are replaced a year . More than likely half the trucks have drivers that have been there more than a year . That means the 890 drivers are in 500 trucks or less . The 89% is an average for all truckload carriers . The training companies are probably over 100% turnover .
Now tell me what is false about saying most newbies don't last a year .

 

I know you didn't mention Swift but

How many CDL mill graduates get accepted a flatbed companies ? I have never had anything negative to say about flatbed companies but driving for them is too much work for most wannabes .

 

The school I went to places primarily with flatbed companies because they offer the best pay and the best home time combination. They are harder to get on with, you must have a clean record and most flatbed companies reject drivers that many dry van carriers will take. But the school I went to qualifies every single student before they even enroll. If a student isnt qualified for work, they wont let them attend the course.


Youre right, most guys cant hack flatbed. It is hard work. But that isnt the industries fault. Thats the nature of the beast. Coal mining is hard work.....so is oil field work. Commercial fishing is brutal.....there are many jobs that put flatbed work to shame with the degree of difficulty and for less pay than flatbed companies pay.


Again, thats a problem with the student and the lazy American workforce in general.

I work my butt off to support my family and Ive never taken a handout to do so. I was taught that hard work is the key to success so nobody is going to scare me off a good solid paycheck with a little sweat and skinned knuckles.


Turnover is the employees problem, not the companies. Unless they are not paying employees for the work they provided....otherwise if the work is hard and the hours are long...oh well, should have went to college and become a lawyer.


The jobs are out there and they pay great, if a student chooses to take one and keep it is up to them.

 

O.K. , we're coming to agreement on some things . Your case is an exception from the school to the employer . While turnover is the employee's problem to a degree many of them are starved out .

 

How can that be? How's the math on OVER 100% turnover rate work?

Look, the truth is training companies like Werner, Schneider and the lot know they are stepping stones. They fully understand that the overwhelmingly large portion of their drivers are gone within the first year and they build it into their business plan.

The biggest reason for turnover is because one time student drivers now have the experience to leave and go work for better paying companies that have better home time options.

Not because they leave the industry.

 

I would have to agree if you are talking Swift, CRE, Prime, PAM , USA Truck....I meet those guys all the time living off Ramen noodles.

Contract training in general destroys people. Those carriers prey on the bottom of the barrel. People at the end of their rope with no where else to go and they dont read their employment contracts.

We have no disagreement there.

 

Have you been reading the posts here by people that said they left a company and got a negative DAC ? Where do you think they are going ? What about others that leave with less than a year's experience ? Who is going to hire them ?
Not many are going to better companies because drivers that have those jobs aren't giving them up .
Many that leave training companies leave the industry because they think it will be more of the same with another carrier .
Doesn't really matter how turnover works . The statistics are there and have been consistent for years . But you know carriers have drivers that have been there for years so not all drivers quit . A certain percentage of trucks have multiple drivers during the year .

 

Just a thought here. Why not pay more and keep the people out of the schools that do a good job? Why not have increases at 3,6,9 months and on up to keep the good ones? You can weed out the ones who have bad arrival times, tickets, accidents, etc.. But keep, and pay, the good ones. I know it is the companies, but is it worth all the ups and downs of hiring the drivers knowing they will be leaving once they get the OTR experience needed to "move on"? I don't know anything about the industry except what I have learned in reading and visiting 4 different trucking schools. So I need more input from those who have been there. Even if it is just the experience of schooling.
I would appreciate any input.

gary

 

Are there companies that pull dirty tricks like dinging your DAC out the door? Of course there are. There are ways to protect yourself though.

Dont let them know you are leaving until you already have a job. Let your new carrier pull you DAC ahead of time and see that there are no blemishes.

Then if the current company hits your DAC after you turn in your two week notice, file a complaint with Hireright. You already have your job in hand and its obvious that the reason they did it was to screw you out the door.