Getting your foot in the door as a new driver

Well driving school won't count as experience so no employer will ask for that, someone else posted a similar topic recently the con's of paying for your own CDL training is that the training school won't really help you with a job, so it's almost like potential new drivers are being forced to sign up with a company that will train them so they have a guaranteed job. Which turns out to be a cheap way for companies to hire team drivers. The great part about the internet is you can sit down and do your own research, go through a list of potential companies and look to see if they hire recent grads. Other factors that can influence who you work for is your location. Some companies may not hire in certain states.

 

Are you willing to do OTR?

 

I’m a recent grad- I interviewed with a few LTL carriers already. You don’t “have to” start with a mega carrier- but, just like the military, ( Navy veteran here )- it seems that those giant mega’s will take anyone and they’ll ship you off to orientation yesterday if you’re ready. The local / home daily stuff seems harder to get. Plus many seem to expect you to pay your due diligence starting for them working on their loading docks when you’re not BTW. I might already be “too old for that sh-t” LOL - I basically just did that for a decade as a warehouse supervisor. Mentally I’m still capable of it, but physically? Ehhhh LOL

I probably will end up getting my 3-6 months experience with one of the Schneider, Swift, Werner or Western Express “mega” carriers. I’ve already had a few send me conditional offers , but was trying to avoid them if possible.

Kinda sucks when you’re an older ( 54 ) happily married ( and want to stay that way ) man with absolutely no marks on your license or record - haven’t even had a drink in almost 20 years - one day at a time.

I definitely knew starting out like that is an almost unavoidable thing before I even decided to get my CDL though.

 

In the Phoenix, AZ, ...will be graduating from an independent CDL school... looking specifically for 12 months+ of OTR experience. Thinking of going with Roehl, as they will take on new drivers with CDLs for their OTR training program with a 40K miles contract. Any other considerations from the Guru's out there?

 

I second the garbage truck motion. Depending on where you're at, they pay pretty well with good bennies and daytime hours. Some places you still have to toss cans but others are fully robotic.