Contract Freighters, Inc. - Joplin, Mo.

CFI is a very good outfit.Best of luck!

 

CFI gets more good than bad, from what I've seen. But, there is no company out here that will pass 100% for every driver who works for them. This is why I continually stress that finding the right situation is essential for the person who is seeking it.

I've checked out CFI, and they didn't meet my needs, so I personally wouldn't apply there, but as we discussed earlier in the week, even Swift might actually appeal to some people....okay....I'm having trouble typing that with a straight face...but you get my drift.

 

I worked for them for 2 years in the early 90's and they were very good to me personally. At that time all dispatchers and managment had at some time been drivers. But you could not pull the wool over thier eyes either. but if i had to go back to driving would be no complaints.

 

CFI, In my experience was a lot better company than Werner (where I got my start) They "seemed" to care. After giving them 3 yrs of my life though, I came to change that opinion.

Sure, they are a good outfit, only advice I can give you on them is just watch your back (true of any outfit) but they sure do like to keep a folder on you, and when you screw up (who don't?) the least little bit, they sure like to bring up all the little past and throw it up in your face.

Also, going to Laredo was good miles, but at that terminal, unless you really been there awhile and got to know the peeps there, they liked to play "favorites". Might have changed by now, since I left there in '97.

But, as somebody posted earlier, everybody is different. I've come to realize that all of these companies are the same, just depends on what kind of BS you can put up with to stay with them for any amount of time.

Have Fun driving your red racer!

 

Well, come September 20th my wife and I are on our way to Central Tech in Drumright Oklahoma to start our new career as team drivers for CFI. My goal in writing this post is to share our experience (both good & bad) with others who may be thinking of teaming. And to share our reasons for choosing CFI to start our career.

First let me thank the hundreds of you who through your posts to these forums and private messages to me have helped us. Especially Orange Boy, General Lee and Joanne at ***********. Also to Skywalker and Couch at ********* and all those at ***********. Not to leave out Red Roller and Bandit58 at ***********. If you are thinking of trucking these sites are absolutely invaluable and these people are great.

A little background, I am in my early 50's my wife late 40's. We have raised 3 children and have 4 grandchildren with 2 more on the way. My wife was a stay at home mom for the first 15 years of our marriage then went back to work first in a bank then for an attorney. I am a former US Marine who went to work for Xerox, left to start my own company failed and have spent the last 20 years or so in management and sales. We are both deeply committed to God and family.

Ok, why CFI? Well there was no single reason, we have interviewed with CFI, Schneider and Roehl. I believe all to be reasonable, good companies to start with. For us it was the little things that made the difference. First, while it may sound stupid, CFI is the only company that has real people answering the phones, not only to direct your calls but they come back on the line to ask if you want to leave a message or call back when the person you are calling is not available. Second, Christine at CFI is terrific, and she has actually been out there driving so she has some genuine insight into the job and teaming and is not afraid to tell you the truth. With SNI and Roehl it was all machines directing your calls and recruiters who didn't seem to have been in a truck much less driving one. That's not necessarily a bad thing but for us not as good as someone with experience. Third training, for us a really big deal, not only do we want to be well trained and safe we want to become the best we can. I believe all 3 companies will train you well. We chose CFI because of the level of training and the lack of a commitment after training. Lets face it, when your new, your head is filled with expectations that may or may not be true, if we entered into a commitment as the result of training and did not like the job / lifestyle we are obligated to fulfill our promise to the company that trained us. CFI is taking a chance, they are helping with the tuition, and we are paying the rest ourselves. To me that says we think you will do the job and be an asset to our company and we're willing to take a chance and invest some money in you. Our part is to pay the rest, do the best we can and work hard every day. Seems like a fair trade to me, we both take a chance on each other. Fourth, home time. The standard for this industry seems to be 1 day home for 7 out. That's ok, why commit to an OTR job and then expect to be home every weekend? The thing that made a difference for us was the upcoming arrival of our oldest daughter's first baby. Due in March of 07, it is important to us and my daughter that my wife be home for the birth and to offer help if our daughter needs it. A real tough one right? Not so, CFI has a policy that will allow my wife to resign for up to 30 days for this major event then return to work with me without any hassle or orientation required. We expect that she will be off about 2 weeks; this policy spoke volumes to us regarding the reasonable nature of CFI towards their drivers, teams and family's. In return, you won't hear us complain if we miss holidays or other events because CFI needs a load delivered, that's our part in this bargain. Another major benefit for us is the CFI policy of allowing us to "bank" our home time. That is we can stay out longer or shorten our home time and bank the non used days. We don't lose them. Last, but not least, we chose CFI because they pay Practical Miles and start us out as a team higher than any other company we found.

For our part, we are going to commit to be the best, to learn all we can, to listen to and learn from our Finishers and to do the best job we can for CFI. We expect to work hard to fulfill our obligation to the company. We are very excited and anxious to start our new career and look forward to meeting all the good people out there who do this job. I'll be updating this from time to time to share our experience in school and finishing as we go through. Sorry this is so long, I promise to shorten them up. Thanks again to all the great people who have helped us in making this decision. Can't wait to get started!
:smt033

 

The best of luck to you and your wife, I hope all goes well and that you can find the time to keep us up to date! It sounds to me like you both researched your options and found the best ave. for you to enter the industry. take care and be safe....we look forward to hearing about your schooling/driving adventures together.