first company to go with

I'll give you my opinion because as I see it you are limiting yourself to the bottom when you have a great advantage over most. I too retired from the Navy and I used that to land me the best job I've ever had. I did have experience before I got out and it was actually OTR commercial experience and not military experience. I was an EO in the Seabees so that helped too. So I had that going for me but the company did like Vets.

Your selection looks like bottom feeders. You'll have to do some research at this site to get a better idea. Those companies you listed have the freight but there are many drivers that say that they only make $200 to $400 a week. To me that's less than you can make flippin burgers. It looks like you're starting at the bottom and working up. I personally think this approach is wrong. I feel you should apply at the top and work down.

You being retired from the Navy gets you a small income coming in. That should help for the periods you go without pay. I would get away from companies that train you and then you sign your life away to them. You can find a good school and get help paying for it from the government. Then you come out of school free to go where you want. Schools are there only to get you a CDL. The real training starts when you get out on the job.

Your hardest hurdle is going to be finding a good company to work for. Ask yourself this. Is a good company a company that recruits most of their drivers from a school? Or is a company a good company that has no need to advertise? The company that is not constantly looking for drivers is the better. Those companies you listed have a hign turnover rate because they can not keep drivers. That should be a red flag for you right there. For every 1 driver that likes the mega carriers you'll have 10 that do not. So why bother?

Go to school get your CDL and then look for a job. And when you look for a job I don't mean just sit back and apply on line. I mean hit the bricks, go out and find the drivers that like the company they are driving for. Then check that company very thoroughly for driver turnover,pay,benefits,safety,dispatch, and so on. You might say you do not need benefits since you're getting benefits already. Believe me it's much better to build a nice nest egg when you hang it up.

I also believe you should sit down and make a list of goals. List where you want to be in 1 year, 5 years, and so on. Do you want to go specialized? If so make a path to become qualified. You can do that now. Get a copy of your DMV report. Is your record clean? Or are you limited right from the start? Just remember, this industry will give back as much as you put into it. If you take an easy route then you can expect a job you may hate. It's all on you. Good luck and there's many that will help you along on this site.

 

Hey CD, Just a few things. I have 18 years military combined Navy and Army when I got out. Most of it in Reserves. I have 1 post 911 depolyment. I got my CDL through a GI BIll approved school, and with one deployment it paid 60%. More deployments will take that percentage up and you will not be tied to any company. You are eligable for VA training pay, and as of now I know of three VA approved companies, Schnieder, Werner, and Con-Way. The additional pay is on a graduated scale, usually starting at around $1000.00 per month and decreasing over your first year. This will ease the pain of starting out in the industry.
Each of those companies has staff that deal specifically with vets if you ask and they will direct you to the right places. Con-Way would be my first choice among them, but make sure you pursue it. Werner I would avoid.
I am still in my first year also and happened to land in a local job close to home, which made my family happy. Good luck in your search, but please do look for those VA approved companies and coordinate with them and VA for that extra pay and use your GI Bill.

 

Just stay away from CRST.

 

of the 3 you mentioned i would say schneider is the better of them. but for a guy like you with your history you have so many more options then most students i hope you will do some more research. also as for Schneider as a recruiter for another company i am not aware of them doing much in the slaming you into a lease purchase such as trans am and Cr England do. thas my 2 cents worth

 

CRST is ONLY team. The only way to go solo with them is leasing a truck and then you will end up being trainer

 

I'll take a different tack than Gas Hauler, altho he makes very salient points.
This industry is controled by the insurance industry. They require experience before they will insure a driver, or their rates are thru the roof. So most good companies will hire experienced drivers only.
Starter companies are self insured.
Most people coming into this business know almost nothing about trucking, so we all start at the bottom.
Pick a company that will teach you the basics, has good training and will equip you best for your NEXT company.
Each driver has different needs and wants.
Think carefully about team driving. You are generally placed with a person you don't know and it's not unusual that their personal habits may drive you crazy. You are in a space not much larger than a closet. What are their music tastes? How about personal hygiene? Politics, opinions...all of us can take much of that kind so stuff for a short while, but to be locked up with a person that lacks (in YOUR opinion), is intolerable.
The trend in the industry is to get drivers into leases or O/O. Make sure that whatever company you choose will not hold your feet to the fire to push you in that direction. Some are worse than others.
Get your license independent of a company. It allows you much more latitude into where you can go and where you work. It's also much cheaper, most of the time.
How good a company is can greatly depend on your trainer. And that's usually a crap shoot.
I work for a training company and I can tell you we have some excellent trainers and we have some dogs.
Find out how hard it is to switch trainers if the one you get is just not a fit. All training companies will push you to stay with your original trainers, but some won't let you change without your starting all over.
Look for company backup and help. Is there ongoing training (classroom, etc) for 6 months down the road? I know this sounds silly to most seasoned drivers, but for newbies, a class on winter driving can be a real help, as an example. An hour telling you how to recognize winter hazards, what anti gel is and when to use it or when or when not to use chains makes for good time invested.
Virtually all large carriers have gone to or are in the process of going to elogs. It's the wave of the future and eventually (in my opinion) the government will require all carriers to go to elogs.
Find out what expenses the company covers. Weight tickets? Tolls? Anti Gel? Oil? Coolant? Lumpers? Sounds crazy, but some companies shove that cost off onto the driver. Some companies are slow about reimbursements.
I don't know a fleet out there that won't supply a fuel card and route you to mandatory fueling locations. Find out how that is handled. What is the penalty for fueling out of route? Does the company require you to run a certain route? Do they penalize you for going out of route?
I know one 'training' company that will penalize a driver for going out of route without permission by not dispatching them again. The amount of time depends on the dispatcher's mood and how far you went out.
Now every company brags about how much freight they have to move and how good things are, but the plain dirty truth is shippers and receivers abuse drivers constantly. Not all, but many.
I cannot begin to tell you how much time is wasted at these places as you wait to be unloaded, or loaded. I have personally sat at major shipper and receivers long enough to get a full 10 hr break, before they are done!
Does the company pay detention time?
What kinds of freight are you handling? How are the appointments set? As an example, if you're hauling loads with 5 pickups and 5 drops, are they paying you extra for each of these? Can you reset or set your delivery appointments yourself? A load with five drops will almost certainly be out of time by the 4th or 5th drop due to traffic, weather or previous receivers taking too much time. If the company sets your drops, you may find yourself sitting at a truckstop for a day or two until the next appointment is available.
An example is Walmart. If you miss your appointment by 15 minutes, they require a reschedule. That's done thru the internet and can often take another three days before they'll recieve you. You'll be sitting at the local truck stop watching reruns of Law and Order and earning nothing.
I can almost guarantee you that your first job will be your worst. It's like going thru boot camp all over again. You'd never choose to do it again,but when it's done you'll be glad you did.
As for pay? It all ends up being about the same when the day is over. Some companies pay more per mile to start, but have less miles to run. Others have less per mile but pay drop off, detention, etc.
Best advice I can offer you is to go to the local major truck stop and ask the drivers at the fuel island what they think of their company and why. Tell them you are considering their company to start with. Most will give you a straight up answer. They'll bring up points you won't see on the board or will not have thought about.
What's important to one person isn't to another. As an example, hometime is a major point to many drivers. It doesn't sound like one to you. Others are very concerned about benefits like insurance. You have your retirement insurance and may not care.
Still others don't want to chain or drive certain freight corridors.
I can tell you personally if I never throw another set of chains, it will be too soon!
I didn't feel that way when I was 30 or 40.
After a year or two with a starter company you will be able to make a good move to a much better company. One that fits you better. You may decide to pull a reefer, a dry van, tanker, flatbed...each person has their own interests. But it's that first company that will usually set the stage for how fast and how well you can move to the second.

 

Don't count out Roehl or Millis!!!

 

Consider Central Refrigerated as well