Folk's, it's really simple!

Of course many good jobs are not advertised but most new drivers don't have the time to wait around for a position to open up, because when they leave their CDL school they have to get behind the wheel or the company's will say they had to much time since their initial training and won't hire them.

One tip for drivers would be to work at a temp to hire agency that hires out class A drivers while you are looking for that perfect company or maybe you will find it working at the different assignments they send you on. Thats how I found out I did not want to work for Mohawk. Something about working 12 hrs a day 6 days a week and tyeing carpet rolls to telephone polls and driving away did not appeal to me.

 

I can't post the link here, I don't think, since it's on a competing board. But there IS a list available that shows a bunch of carriers and whether or not they hire newbies.

Personally, I drew the line at 1000 drivers. Any company with more drivers than that didn't get an application from me (well, one did, but that was a "just in case it all falls apart" application)

 

ragtop, does it really take an experienced driver to make the statement that I made? I said something along the lines of, 'no matter where you look, someone is going to complain about every company out there.' That goes for trucking companies, grocery and electronic stores, and the like.

Some drivers complain about 'home time', others complain about miles. Every driver I personally talk to, some have great things to say, some don't. Guess what, just because 50 drivers (just saying) complain about Company A, and only 25 complain about Company B, but company A is twice the size of B, that really make A worse than B?

It all comes down to your additude. If a newbie driver (such as myself) were to go into training thinking "boy i am just waiting to get screwed over, because everybody on that truckers forum says I will...", guess what....odds are, i'll find a reason to get all upset thinking just that. If a newbie goes into training with an open mind, eager to learn all s/he can learn to make it thru the driving test and the 4-6 weeks thru the trainers truck, and just work work work, how can you go wrong.

I kinda laugh because one of the big complains is that "i'm just a number, nobody knows my name..."...well so what.

like i said, the company doesn't work for you, YOU work for the company. I will be sure to update you just how training is going. And be sure to let you know when i pass my driving test, and get to earning a paycheck.

 

It all comes down to your attitude. If a newbie driver (such as myself) were to go into training thinking "boy i am just waiting to get screwed over, because everybody on that truckers forum says I will...", guess what....odds are, i'll find a reason to get all upset thinking just that. If a newbie goes into training with an open mind, eager to learn all s/he can learn to make it thru the driving test and the 4-6 weeks thru the trainers truck, and just work work work, how can you go wrong

My friend you can make what ever statements you want if they pass muster with the mods. But let me tell you as sincerely as I can that many of these OTR company''s are meat grinders that spit out thousands of drivers every year that worked hard and had good attitudes.

I was a thorn in the side of US Xpress for 6.5 years fighting them tooth and nail for every mile and every penny earned but they did not fire me till I went local for them because as a OTR driver I was a star who made them money no matter what.

And thats what they want, money makers, not people who want to be treated fairly in pay,hours, loads or hometime. They want drivers who will stay out for a month at a time and will run whatever they throw at them and service the customers and to hell with safety or the law as long as your lines are neat and strait and the rubber stays facing the road.

If I ever turned in a log book that was not doctored since 91 it was certainly a bad revenue week for me. Go tell your OP's manager that you want to run legal and log legal and they will say great to hear and well thats what we expect you to do etc... As soon as your out of ear shot he will be telling the crew to put yet another PITA on the B team.

I had a good attitude and work ethic at every OTR company I started with and after about a month realized one thing, None of them cared about me or my attitude . All they cared about is that I made them money and serviced their customers. I went through dispatchers like a hot knife through butter. The sheer thought that I might waste their time with dozens of qualcomm msgs or phone calls was enough to keep me rolling alone. The nice guys with good attitudes? They were sitting in the driver lounge or in their hot bunk at the T/S


Here is the main factors that will take you to the top 10% at your average OTR carrier. Your ability to doctor your logs to be legal so you can run when they need you to run, not when the law says you can run. Your ability to work for free at least 1/3 of the time and keep it off your logs.
Your ability to stay on the road 3 weeks or longer and not go home if you had any layovers that many company's don't pay unless it is over 24hours. Your ability to keep your truck out of a understaffed and ill trained shop that most OTR company's have. Your ability to get your dispatcher to notice and care that you need a load and that the load is scheduled to make it worth running ie at least 500miles per 24hr period of log time. Your ability to make it in the company's best interest to keep you rolling because not roiling you will make their job even harder. Your ability to work long hours with half arsed sleep at all times of the day and night. Your ability to make it through the winter months with you and your truck in 1 piece. Do these things and you will be a success in OTR trucking

 

bigblue what you said is exactly true snowman i thought what you do now i was all gungho by the book that logbook was to be legal but it is very hard to go by the book all the time the co will say one thing to your face and then under there breath they expect another. everything bigblue said is true as far as thats what i have ran into. your dm only sees one thing and thats pickups and delivery hes does care how you do it just do it.

 

Hey Guys and gals, it may be time to think about something. You just got your CDL, you have compleated training and your looking for your "perfect" job. Well your chances are better that you will get hit by lightining!!! I would be willing to bet that you are going to have to work at a less than perfect job for a period of time till you have the experence that is needed for that job. Yes, you may actualy have to work for swift, big orange, or another similar company maybe for a period of years before landing your dream job. Daunting isn't it! But thats the way it goes. for some reason no one wants to hand over that 200,000 dollar un-goverened large car to a driver with less than 5 years experence! In most cases it will be more than that! Darn it.... Go put in your time, get the experence,go down the road and make the mistakes you are going to make in one of the big fleets trucks. Your going to make those mistakes. Ten years from now you can go out and pick your job, right now, you take what you can get, you will not be appreciated, you may not even be noticed,(which in most cases is a good thing) but as long as you keep your nose clean and don't tear things up too bad its experence and you will need all you can get. If you find yourself at one of the "Big Ten" and just can't take it, better to find out now. Good luck!!!

 

Good companies/Bad companies, they also change as they grow..What may have been a great company 3 years ago may change or we may
change and our personal goals may change.. Then again some of us just have to learn some lessons along the road.. I would never, EVER do another lease purchase thru the company i work for.. When you do you have locked yourself in for the time of your contract.. If changes occur you are the loser, big time..I love being an owner op...and will do it again but never again to be tied to a company with that string!

 

Wow 074344, The post is right on the mark. I just got back from a run to colorado. Hourly pay thank you. I always get those books when I am in a truckstop for entertainment. I don't know how people put up with some of the shenaniguns that these companies do to the drivers. Yes the turnover rate is huge in this industry of otr trucking. The only reason you see the same adds is because drivers come and go like crazy. The reason is THE COMPANY STINKS! For a lot of different reasons. Low pay, High benefit cost, Unpaid working time, Lies from management, Being away from family for WEEKS AT A TIME are just some that I can think of! Companies would not have this problem if they just paid there drivers right. And pay them for all of there on duty time. Unfortunately like you said, there are to many drivers that will go to work for these same companies. They will quit and will be just as many behind them. You posted this 4 days ago. Look how many different comments have been posted about other companies since then. The list will keep growing and growing unless people wake up. For new drivers, you need to start somewhere. Do the minimul amount of time and GET OUT! Don't sign your life away to a starter company. You know the ones!

 

Even at companies where they say, "log it like you drive it, 100% legal", you'll eventually learn through experience where you can bend the truth to make things work. Either that or be late a lot and enjoy your 1800 miles a week.