Good company to start with?

Good morning and welcome to the forum! I'll be headed to a community college in about 3 months for school myself so we're kinda in the same boat. I don't have the need for hometime like you do but I'm sure that if you begin your search early enough (like right now) you'll find what you're looking for. Good luck!

 

I have it narrowed down to two possibly three. I'm really looking at Prime, Crete, and possibly Werner, but more favoring Prime and Crete. Out of the two, I think Crete is a hare closer to my home (headquarters) but I don't think by much. I'm reading alot of stuff about the companies here in the forums and Prime seems to be decent, but yet so does Crete so I'm still not sure out of those two. I heard from a family member (who happens to be a trucker himself but I won't say for what company but it's none of these) not to give Werner the time of day, so not sure yet. Thanks for the info.

 

You might not want to do too much "narrowing down" until you've talked to the horse's #####, excuse me, I meant horse's mouth (recruiters) at these companies. I've made several calls to companies I've considered only to discover that they are not taking new school grads, or they are only hiring teams (one recruiter went so far as to say they were only hiring husband/wife teams), or they're not doing this or that. Get on the phone with, or email, recruiters! Tell them what your plans are, tell them your situation, unload on 'em. Some will talk to you, some won't! This forum is extremely helpful and the members will give you good info, but some just want to rant about a company that sent them packing. It never ceases to amaze me how so many of the "God's gifts to trucking" get the boot after doing absolutely NOTHING to deserve it. I haven't been in trucking yet, but I didn't just crawl out from under a rock either. I've been in both real estate (when interest rates were 20% - early 80s) and construction (within the last few years). Times are tough all over. It's more important than ever to make good, well-researched, practical decisions. Do the homework.....you'll be fine!

 

Skinney,
Start by going to HireRight, they run the DAC service and I put the link below. It takes s about 10 days to get it via USPS and it will list everything on your DAC. When you receive your report it will come with instructions on how to dispute any information on your DAC. The carrier then has 30 days to respond to your dispute from the date your dispute is filed. NOTE: The day you mail your dispute is not the day it is filed. Typically it takes about 10 days after you mail your dispute before it is filed but you should wait about 2 weeks before you call their 800 number. If the carrier refuses to remove information on your DAC they then must provide documentation for example, if you rear ended someone on I-5 during rush hour (When is it not effing rush hour on I-5) then the carrier would have to provide a copy of the police report. HOWEVER , and this is a secret that big carriers keep and really don't want drivers to know. IF the carrier does not respond within 30 days of the dispute being filed the disputed in question is automatically removed from your DAC. Most carriers will not fight you on minor infraction because it has been proved that no serious harm has come to the carrier for minor infractions but, willful negative reports are direct attempts to impair your ability to work. Which opens a carrier up for a whole host of liability that bought and paid for lawyers have already figured out for them that it is not worth it to pursue such litigation, after all at the end of the day it's all about making money and personal grudges against drivers cost them money.
Try taking care of it yourself for free first. More often than not they will let it drop because carriers know that it can take months to remove something from your DAC and they know most drivers don't have the $2,000 or so for a refresher course. Just FYI a lot of carriers will want a driver that has been inactive for 30 days or more to attend a drivers refreshing course before they will hire them. It's all neat and tidy. A carrier can effectively ruin your career without the liability because if negative information is no longer on your DAC you are free to pursue other work and the carrier is off the hook.

Hope this helps,
S.T. E.

 

Here is the link

http://www.hireright.com/Trucking-Background-Checks.aspx?apsi=2

 

how much do they charge for the report ?

 

I don't think they charged me but, it was several months ago when I got it and I was fuming at the time and probablely would have given them anything.

 

Someone posted elsewhere that you can get one free copy, per year. I do think you have to request it by mail, though.

 

Hows it goin all?? Been reading here on the board for a few days, and figured Id finally register.

Quick intro. Names Justin, living in SoCal. Had my class a for about a year now. Pretty much grew up in the construction industry, pipeline to be specific. Been out of work for about 4 or 5 months, following some real hard times, and things are REALLY tight!!!

Now for my main questions.

For all of you experienced guys out there, what company would you choose for a relatively inexperienced driver??? ive got quite abit of experience behind the wheel in large trucks, but only about 5 months of tractor/trailer. And no OTR experience. Only cross country run Ive done is transporting a truck from Ca to KY. Everything else Ive ever done has always been local work, usually around 200 miles in a week if that. It was just the nature of the beast, for what we were doing.

Right now Im lookin everywhere. My problem is my lack of OTR experience. KLLM, Crete, and Schneider all would have hired me if I had more OTR.

Ive read about thru the "bad companies" forum, but how are CRE, Werner and Swift for getting some experience. Im looking at it from the perspective that if i can get 6 months, or even survive for 12, then that will give me the road time to apply at a decent company. I just need to bring home at least 2000 a month to be able to pay my bills. Im single, no wife/gf/kids, nothing. Can park my pickup at my parents house, and would be willing and able to stay out on the road a long time. If I could get home at least every 6 to 8 weeks for a couple days to see the family and friends Id be happy.

And Im definately not interested in buying/leasing my own truck. At least not for another year. When my pickups paid off then Id maybe look into becoming an 0/0.

What do yall think??

Thanks.

 

welcome to the forum. i just recently moved from palmdale to arkansas. i cant wait to get back home'