good company to start?

find a company that meets all of your needs, than go talk to the drivers that drive for them to get the pros & cons of the company.

 

when i started out i was prehired from Werner TMC CRST Trans AM and Swift.

I wanted to go to TMC but my instructor told me that while I am great for a beginning driver TMC will only take the best of the best, any flaws and your kicked... my flaw is my handwriting is atrocious. My instructor Told me to go with Werner he said they may not be the highest paying or the best out there but he says they have to work that will get you the experience needed to get a better job down the road.

 

Your handwriting is not a reason to fore go a company. Print if you have to. I would certainly not go to Werner. Slow down and print if you have to. Leads me to believe a kickback may be involved if your instructor is recommending Werner. My instructor specifically warned me away from them. (As if I needed it after reading here.....)

 

The best starter company is ANY COMPANY that will hire you...
They all have strengths and weaknesses...
And something like 90% of newbies will stop driving in 2-3 years if not more...so every starter company has haters....
I went to a smaller starter company, and have been treated well. I am a name, not a number, are treated with respect, and get $650 a week takehome average plus $200 a month towards my schools costs...I also have reset at home every reset except one time...on the weekend...not bad...I am running regional...
good jobs are avalabe for starters...but you must look....and have a clean record, and work hard.
The company is H O WOLDING....some of the trucks, like mine are kinda old, but heck, they run, are safe, well mantained, and like the old saying....all the chrome don't get ya home.
Remember, places that brag about new equipment must pay for it somehow...and newbies are nototiously hard on stuff...so many places that hire newbies pay very little to make up for it...
When another carrier in a nice shiney truck is parked next to me, sure it is pretty, but I get hometime, miles, and a decent paycheck...
Remember, recuitrts seem to lie if their mouths are moving....just remember that...just like buying a car...if it is not in writing, then it does not matter.

 

I am not on the payroll yet, but am in the training program here at Prime Inc. It is an apprenticeship program, not a "school". I started on Tuesday with my orientation. This is now Saturday night and guess what? Tommorow or Monday I am going out on the road with an instructor so I can learn how to pass the CDL test. Yesterday I drove for the first time, ever. Until Thursday I had never even been in a big rig, today is I bobtailed out on the road in Springfield, MO. Prime has a shifting range in an industrial park. It is a great place to learn how to shift, that is the whole point of it. You also learn how to control the trailer. Some may say the program is not enough, because we do not sit and study for weeks on end. I will be studying weeks on end though, out on the road. You cannot properly learn how to control these 80,000 pound weapons of mass destruction sitting behind a desk. I know the basics of controlling the truck. I am working on learning to back the truck up on the backing pad. Prime has an excelent program, it is hands on. You learn by DOING. No company is perfect, but some are better than others. The training is one of the main reasons I chose to come to Prime. Check them out.

 

Ditto on what he said. Werner will kick you to the curb after they use you up.

 

Class A CDL School graduates accepted from H.O.W-approved partner schools. Placement must occur within 30 days of graduation date. No refresher course graduates accepted.