Getting a job

Interesting, I've actually been trying to get out of trucking and into Tech work, but aimed more at programming than tech support. B

 

I say..... Go For It!
Jobs around where I live are awful. Just plain awful. From the time you walk in the front door. They are trying to fire you. They don't have the slightest idea of the definition of a company. They're not working. They're fighting. Deceit, manipulation, destruction, is all they do. They lock into any hint of conflict. Run off on a tangent. They can't do anything else. It is their hell. They will have to live with that mindset for eternity..... People who are like this. Often times it is because they have a much larger problem that they cannot solve. I say the problem is that they are incompetent.
I had a decent trash truck driving job. A decent owner of the company. He couldn't go on forever. He sold the company. New idiots got rid of me. I can't find any job around here. It's called age discrimination. I could work miracles for them. They don't care. One look, and the answer is no. But in OTR it's the opposite.
I have to tell.... I just got a call from unemployment. I got my Grant! CDL school is paid for! Also means guaranteed unemployment while in school! ... I'm confident I will be at a company immediately after the first of the year.
EDIT: Not getting that grant didn't mean not going through with driving. It meant a much greater possibility of foreclosure on my home and bankruptcy. My finances are going real good now. Through training and all. Driving pay is much higher than pay around here. As far as pay. I live in a State that's thinks it's a third world country.
I may have another surprise? I check with Old Dominion. They have a terminal, one mile from my house. They keep advertising an LTL job here. They seem to be keeping my application on "review status". Maybe waiting for me to update info with Class A in hand? I know they have training. Might just surprise me.
I have other very good possibilities also.
Trucking looks to be my salvation in employment. I say go for it.

 

Good luck with Britton-they're a solid company and really seem to care about their drivers. They're husbands first company and although he's run into typical OTR issues, they've always seemed to try to help when they can.

 

If you're serious about driving there's a way you can apply that will beat most. You apply in person first, you submit an application in person second, then the last would be send in an application by mail. Most of the mega fleets will take your application by mail then train you their way and you might get cheated out of driving professionally. All companies will train so you have to know what you want and need from that driver. If he or she just crawls in the sleeper and says go for it you're missing out and you should ask for another trainer. With the mega's they go through so many drivers the number would spin your head. Sit down and make a list of what you want out of trucking. For example do you want OTR, do you want dedicated, or do you want to be local? Do you want to drive general freight, or maybe flatbed, or tankers? It's your list so shoot for the moon. Just don't look at pay but really study the company. Ask if they have drivers that retire. Look at the safety record or talk with their drivers. Ask them as many questions as they will let you. Be sure to ask more than one driver so you don't get a negative report from a driver that's pissed off. Just explain to them you're looking at their company and would they answer a few questions. If you're at a truck stop buy their coffee or whatever. After you have a list of companies arrange them in order you'd like to work for. The best company should be the first one. Do not pay attention to experience required because most big companies are self insured and can hire anyone they like. It never hurts to apply.

Now if you get in the door and have an interview there's a couple of questions you should ask. The first and most important is " What can I do to get hire on your company"? Let them know you're really interested even if your not. If they flat turn you down and you really want that job ask them do they know any company that you could drive for to gain experience to move over to their company. Most companies know.

I personally prefer the face to face interview. You can get some kind of idea on how this driver looks and acts. If you think about it the face to face interview is the best for the simple reason the company first gets to know you. If the company is hiring just say one driver and has a stack of application what information can they gain by reading. I'm sure you'll have many drivers that have the same record as you so what does the company do to hire one driver. If you're lucky you'll win the coin toss. Now if they have the same stack then they know you and will take a risk knowing they know just a little more than the other guy.

Once you've gone around to companies and maybe all you got was "We'll look it over" give them about a month and go back in to "update" your application. That shows them you're just not dumping off applications at companies and you really are interested. We hired a driver from Mobil Los Angeles to drive in Las Vegas. Every month he drove up to stop in and check. We were an extremely hard company to get hired but after about 7 months he made the move and drove for us. Make yourself known.

That enough to start off with. Just remember you can always go to work for the mega's but IMHO they are the lowest and can ruin your career in a heartbeat. Start now.It's going to take some work and know this, "The more you put into this career the more you'll get out of it". Good luck.

 

the company you apply for a job with will do the maths if say you left school at 18 yo and your now 28 yo and you say you've been at one company for 10 years its kinda obvious where you've been ain't it?

 

The question you asked and the responses you have gotten do not all seem to match up. Trucking companies hire all the time. There is a very high turn over rate in this industry. To that end companies hire recruiters to encourage you to sign with them. Beware of recruiters. You can expect to make between $30,000 to $50,000 your first year. The lower dollar companies will train you for "free."

Trucking is like any job. It is what you make of it. I personally have never stopped to count the number of companies that have fired me. Let me do that now. 1 Shelter, 2 Keystone Auto, 3 Transport America 4 ACT 5 CJS 6 Some company in Kansas don't remember name. 7 JVT 8 KandB 9 Hirschbach. I think there could be more but I am forgetful.

After being fired the last time, I bought my own truck. Then went to work leased on with a company out of Henderson, NV. I lasted two weeks there.

I got my own authority after that. No more firings. I now have a second truck and drivers I can fire. But I won't. I treat folks like I should have been treated.

The driver is the only person in the company who makes money for the company. Everyone else is paid out of the money the driver earns. The larger companies forget that. But you have to start somewhere. Just remember that Pam may pay only 28 cents per mile but it is a stepping stone not a grave stone.

Enjoy seeing the country. Take time to go to Disney in Orlando, see a play on Broadway in New York, go to the Custer Battlefield in Montana, see Yellowstone. Do things. Most companies want you to do 500 miles a day. Get out of the truck and do things. Carry a bicycle or call a cab.

The lifestyle is fun if you are a fun person. It is boring if you are boring.

 

Don't tell the Indian's that. Although it's very close to Montana. The Little Bighorn Battlefield is in Wyoming. It's on the Crow Reservation. More interesting is the Crow's. Those people used to spend their summers at 10,000 feet, in the mountains. If you spend a day at that elevation. You find out that you get sunburned, fire engine red. The Crow's are permanently fire engine red. That's where they get the term: Red Skins. ... And the Crow's used to spend their winters down around the Bighorn/Little Bighorn rivers.

 

The problem with cement trucks is stability of work. It will have it's low's. Might starve during winter. Then...whenever loads come up. The new guy gets them last.