Folk's, it's really simple!

let's see ... this is coming from two truckers with 10 / 20 years of experience. what about the rest of us with NO experience & NO CDL ... what are we supposed to do? go to schneider or watkins & shepard and say "yeah, gimme a cdl and a salary too #### it!"

no, i think it works like this: get cdl through company, make peanuts, get experience, get better cpm, get more experience ... repeat as necessary.

of course, i'm looking at this from an otr standpoint ... i guess one could get out after a couple years and go to work for ups, get that good hourly pay and be home every night. not to mention union benes, pension, etc.

 

great post ragtop, i was sick of reading what he writes.

 

I agree with you 074344 that the companies are out there. I just don't understand why the majority rely only on recruiters, the computer, and phone to get a job. Years ago we didn't have the internet and we had to find a job the old way and that was to get out and look. Sure you'll want to use the computer and phone to help but just don't stop there. I know when I was in the hiring position if I got a phone call to see if we had any jobs I told every one of them no even if we did. I figured if you couldn't even get out to see the terminal why would I hire you?

I would suggest to every new driver search and download "trucking companies" in your area and start there. You can weed through them and eliminate the ones that don't fit your needs. Then go see them and ask if you can fill out an application. I'd even go to the ones that say they only hire experienced drivers. You can ask them what you can do to make it easier to land a job there. IOW's you're showing them you really want the job. Keep your applications updated and if you find a golden company go back at least once a month to show you're still interested. You do this and I'll bet you find work. It may not be the best to start out with but atleast you'll find out what companies you might want to have a career with and you won't be stuck. Remember download trucking companies and not trucking jobs. You should do this way before you talk to any recruiter and you can do it while you're in school. If you've signed on with a company to get your CDL then it's too late and your future is sealed. All you can do then is do your best to protect your record so you can move on just like the rest did.

And 074344 you're 100% right about the companies that advertise and have the high turnover rate. Through the years I've found the best way to tell a good company is find out if they have drivers that retire from that company.

 

The way I read into this is that drivers should be paid by the hour. I agree. anything less is foolish on the part of the driver. No offense to others. Why don't you people want to be paid for your time. I have no arguments to any of your questions. I don't think there are any drivers out there who would challenge you. Lets give it a week just to make sure. Im not going to hold my breath.

I have read post after post from drivers who think they are doing great being on the road for a month at a time pulling in $600 or $700 a week.
With that kind of roll over and get on all fours attitude it is no wonder the OTR company's will not allow themselves to actually be stand up operations and pay what they should for the hours a "professional driver" puts in.

The company's puts what a couple of drivers made running illegal as your potential pay in their advertisements and the newbies have no clue that they will be making about half that if they run legal. And maybe 2/3 of it if they hardly go home and don't get a clunker for a truck and a dispatcher.

My spouse works between 40 and 50 hours a week and pulls in around 52k a year. And she is not even called a professional anything, just a technician. They call you a professional driver yet you will not even come close to 52gs working 40-50 hours on the road.

I agree with you 074344 that the companies are out there. I just don't understand why the majority rely only on recruiters, the computer, and phone to get a job.


A friend of mine got a job delivering sheet rock and they trained him how to drive and paid for him to get his class A CDL with doubles endorsement and after 3 months on the job and his CDL he got a raise from $13 bucks a hour to the $17.50 he now makes. No school NO debt and no months away from home getting paid for half his work.

 

Where is a list of the good companies to work for?

 

Problem is, its the BIG companies that will remain here forever, and the smaller ones dwindling out. The BIG companies have companies in other Countrys (Mexico,Asia, ect.) and they also set alot of our laws here in the US. I heard that when somebody in Washington DC wants information or advice about trucking, they go to Swift, CR, and the other big boys, they dont go to the smaller companies.

I say, put in 6 to 12 months with Swift or Schneider (regional or OTR)and learn all you can, it will be a lot easier to choose that job you have been looking for. Whether its a local job or OTR or Union, everybody wants that 9 to 5, mon thru fri job that pays 25 bucks an hour, and if you have zero experience, its gonna be tough. I also think those jobs are dwindling, especialy when the economy slows.

 

What an excellent post. This needed to be revived. I to look at truckstop magazines. It is such a good way to find bad companies. They are there right in front of you for you to see. I guess we should all thank them for there advertising. Have you looked at the safety rating and turnover for these companies. It's astounding!

What bothers me is that so many drivers still apply to work for them. Those same companies keep advertising because drivers leave at an alarming rate. Yet there is a huge pool of drivers just waiting to take there place. This will repeat over and over again. We have no one to blame but ourselves. What a sad joke.

I am not advocating working for a union. I am happy not belonging to one of them. I am advocating working for a company that makes you happy and provides good pay and benefits for your family. Like 074344 said, there are good companies out there.

I hope you all find an employer that makes you happy and one you can take pride in.

 

Well, you have to figure that if your normal job was McDonalds or Taco Bell and you are barely old enough to be on your own, then $600-700 is great money to those guys since they are used to bringing home about $200. And in most cases that was about 3 weeks ago. In the driving school that I went to, I got lucky, I was 37 years old and I was one of the younger ones there, most were right around my age or older. And my trainer driver at the company that hired me out of school was my age--he had been driving trucks and heavy equipment for 17 years, but had only been driving a tractor/trailer for about 2, so he understood what I wanted. I had been a machinist for almost 15 years prior to that, so I was used to making half way decent money.

I had a Swift driver go on and on once to me when I first started driving about how he was making his big whoppin $.22 a mile and was running 1900 miles a week, so I asked him how long he had been there and he said about 8 months. I then said I am making $.29 a mile, run at least 2600 every week and I am home every weekend, and by the way, I have been here about 3 months(about 1 month on my own)--I walked away while he still had his mouth hangin' open-that was 7 years ago. He settled for something that he thought was great, and it probally was more money than he had ever seen at one time, not me, not then, not now -7 years later!