few questions for my veterans out there??

1. Confidence in doing something I had never done before...Desire to do well and get to making money helped me overcome it...

2. I believe, but am not positive, that you choose your team...

 

Are you sure you want to run teams?

 

If you mean pairing up new apprentices with trainers ... I suspect that there is not a whole lot of thought goes into the process. You are paired with whoever is open that week to accept a new trainee and that pool is not typically full of "lots choices and options". Not trying to be negative, I just want you to have realistic expectations and be prepared if things don't work out "peachy".

 

true on that reply,trainies dont get choice on trainer's.but you can usually change trainer if there is a personality conflict.there are many obstaciles to face being a new driver, you gotta keep an open mind,you will get the crap loads to start out with,it's a test to see how much you will take and how much patients you have,dont complian alot. Take advice freely,we old timers dont mean to sound mean when we give it we have just dealt with so many no-it-alls,that somtimes we forget what it's like to talk to somone who really wants to know.you will find that it is a great thing being a driver if you love what you do.I am a flatbedder/ heavy haul driver and wouldnt do anything else. open mind-ask questions-enjoy your job-respect other drivers. you will do fine. good luck.

 

It all depends on what company you decide to go with. I started with us express in '08 did my training with my trainer and competed that so I was like hell yea I'm going to get out on my own...oh no that wasn't the case they were going to make me team with another student driver for 6 months I didn't feel that was very safe. IMO you have to trust someone a whole hell of a lot to let them drive while your sleeping. So after that my buddy had 4 trucks and his own authority so he trained me on a flatbed and turned me loose. My advice is to know what your getting yourself into before you do it. I've worked hard and now I'm hoping to get my start in heavy haul

 

The biggest obstacle to new driver, whether rookies or starting a new job is...

Lack of pocket change. Direct deposit takes a few weeks to get set up, and it takes a while to get rolling and in the groove. Lots of guys send every nickel they can scratch up to the house and that paid training for rookies is peanuts. So new drivers are normally starving.

I remember being in that situation.

Sometimes, loading an oversized load takes days. You see a gut wagon roll in and the new drivers trying to scratch up enough money to buy some peanut butter crackers. I'll buy their dinner for them. Some of the guys refuse at first because they're so used to doing for themselves. I'll just tell them to help another driver out when he gets the cash flow rolling. You gotta feed the machine.