CR England or Dart, just starting out?

I hear Henderson has a really good program and haven't heard anything bad about the company.

 

Hello everyone. This will be my first post. just got my Class A Jan 30. However I've been around trucks my entire adult life. I am experienced operating them. Tight backing...no problem. I didn't go to any schools. I just studied, tested and got my liscence. I want to be an Otr truck driver. I know I am a rookie and will have to go thru a training period before a company hands me keys to there equipment. Since Jan 30 I've been working for a construction company hauling equipment around with a Freightliner and flat bed trailer. My question is: since most company's require recent verifiable Otr experience where should I try to break in at? I've read so many horror story's on the Swifts, CRE, JB Hunt. I'm in Houston Texas and I'm ready to get on the road asap. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Hmmmmm ------ :smt017:smt108
Politicians and C.R. England mentioned in the same post.
Appropriate. But hardly reassuring. If any organization
is less trustworthy, than the Sons-0-Chester it'd be
politicians. Big truck truck drivers and voters, ---
exactly the same,
only different. :smt112

 

Well you have to start somewhere,just not CR England. Believe that Ive heard "horror stories". Everything from being held captive in a truck for 6 months at a time,to getting a KFC paycheck.

 

Well only fools rush in! Why the hurry? You got your whole life ahead of you to be billy big rigger!
And why on earth do you want to drive for England? Just because they have shiny new rigs? You do know they pay .24 cents per mile? Where as May trucking pays .34 cents per mile, Schnieder pays 32 cpm magnum pays 34 CPM. That was top dollar starting out 13 years ago. hell navajo even pays more and treats their drivers with respect. Yes we all have to start some where. But no one should ever drive for England. ever!

 

CTL Transportation would be good; hazmat/tankers and lots of Houston/Southeast Texas loads, and it's also OTR. You will need the hazmat/tanker endorsement and TWIC ID Card. Stick with this company a year then move on to the big bucks with Trimac or other hazmat/tanker companies. Most tanker outfits you can make $65K per year and with Trimac can work up to $100K+ per year.

If you don't want tankers then look at these that have training programs:
FFE
Celadon
Earl Henderson Trucking
Midwest-coast Transport
Roehl Transport
Dartco

 

Youre going to hear horror stories on all companies. For every 7 pissed off drivers who say something, you're going to have 1 driver that will have a good story. Keep this in mind as you go searching.

All of the megas are going to have someone more than willing to throw them under the bus. That being said, look for the companies that have unsolicited good stories. You'll find them here. Use common sense and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Low wage right now, based upon what I've read here, is anything under 30 cpm for otr work; but don't forget that even if you're going to get paid 1$ per mile, you still have to have the miles.

1$ per mile sounds great, but if you're only getting a couple hundred miles a week, that's not worth much.

You're better off going with a company offering 30cpm but giving a guarantee of 3000 miles a week.

See how that works?

That being said, and please take my recommendation with a grain of salt (I work for them), I would say that if you want to start off with a mega right now Schneider is one of the better ways to go.

 

Most of those "horror stories" are just that... stories. There may have been an element of truth to them years ago, but companies do change. JB Hunt was The Worst several years ago, but they've changed. It wasn't long ago that the term "pumpkin puller" was a derogatory term for a Schneider driver. Knight held the bottom spot for a while. Prime, which is now considered one of the best companies to start with, was quite the opposite for a while. And finally Swift, who held the title of lowest paying starter company for years, has really turned it around in the last few years. Now their starting pay is 33 cpm, going to 36 cpm next month... and you won't be driving a beater truck while making that.

Bottom line: Do your own reasearch. The bigger companies have their own sections here on TTR. Get in there and ask the people who actually drive for the company what they think. You'll typically find that it's not nearly as bad as public opinion.

Except for CRE. The CRE drivers themselves will tell you to stay away.

 

Also, keep in mind that most companies that pay to train require you to drive team with another rookie for 6 months. That was a big no go for me. I have decided against going OTR for the time being but there are a few that don't require that. Something to think about.

 

When you say "public", to me that suggests John and Joan Q. Public. Were as we are not the public at large, but a group of people IN the industry we know more about than aforesaid couple.

When someone listens to "John & Joan", can they get a better idea than those that live in the world we speak of? I think not.

No company is perfect, only slightly better than another. And it does not take too long or too much for a climbing company to fall back down again. The horror stories can be just that, stories as you say, but when so many speak of them, where do you draw the line and start believing them?