How much experience is "experience"

"Enough"

 

Jim Palmer Trucking has cdl school and I think they start at .40 cpm + incentive pays and accessorial pays. Their truck are stick shift 10 speeds.

 

Take a close look at Schneider Bulk, which I posted about earlier.

 

I think this is a great start for new drivers. Decent pay and you get to learn a valuable skill to add to your driving resume.

 

90 days might be possible, but a lot of companies want 6 months. A fair number want a full year, and some want 2+ years.

Do some gumshoe work. Call a bunch of companies and ask them how much experience they require.

Now, in today's market, some companies might be willing to bend their rules a bit, but if they say they want 2 years, they likely won't accept 90 days, but might take 1 year.

With only 90 days, almost any company that will take you on will want to put you in a truck with an experienced driver for at least a week or two, maybe up to a month!

Some companies will, indeed, buy out school costs.

IF THE SCHOOL YOU ATTEND IS ACCEPTABLE TO THAT COMPANY!

All trucking schools are not made equal! Some of these schools have programs which do NOT meet industry standards!

Call a few trucking companies and ask them if they will hire you after finishing X trucking school. If more than a couple companies say no, then you say no to that school!

 

If you do not have the money or a grant to pay for school (or the GI Bill) then I suggest going to a trucking company that offers in house training. Some of them have better terms than others. More gumshoe work.

 

I have to poke a sharp stick at all schools. At the end of the day, at when the time of the close of the whole three ring circus drama, every CDL Holder must pass one state test to get the CDL. (And endorsements etc.)

The problem is this. ALL newbie CDL holders walking out of that DMV with the hot license minted in the walleet have zero experience in the real world trucking. Their REAL education will be paid for in some damage, blood, sweat and tears when they are given their first load. However long they survive in this industry is up to them. Not everyone will get past the first year. Or make it that far.

If the trucking companies will just stop saying this school, that school or some other school and accept that the 50 STATES decide at a test if someone can get a CDL or not on a common standard as set forth by DOT, we will get moving somewhere. Not all schools are equal.

What trucking companies REFUSE to do, starting back approx 1992 is accept a horde of new drivers to bash the equipment, break stuff, trying to learn this industry getting into a Family Dollar Account that most wiser truckers wont touch with a ten foot pole. (Myself included)

Maybe to be really snarky we need some sort of Commissary type Federally owned Bashit Express so that Trainees will hire on, drive trucks with the idea they need to pay for all damage incurred back to the US Government in some form. But it will be paid. Call it school II. If they by some big miracle managed to make it 12 months OTR or whatever without doing a cent in damage then maybe the actual for hire trucking companies must shut the Eff up and hire these bodies. I don't know.

I also know that trucking companies are allowed to pick and choose. 1000 applications, they will take the best of the litter and send the rest elsewhere.

Experience? HA. Let me tell you what experience is. There you are sitting in the cab of the truck given some situation which is outrageous but is assigned to you to do. You do not like it, your dispatcher does not like it the customers will rather see you burn at the stake than to deal with your bad freight because THEY don't like it. What to do?

What YOU do in a series of decisions to get rid of such a noxious load in a manner befitting a classy trucker without causing anyone any damage or loss and without complaining etc shows that you are on your way.

Or...

Perhaps a situation has developed on Sandstone or some other pass. What you do in the next few hundred feet will decide the future of not only you, but possibly more than one people including believe ir not the ability of your company that owns the truck to stay in business at all. Don't screw it up.

Maybe I am a dinosaur, but Ive been watching this industry turn it's back collectively on all newbies from school while sending most recruiters with two forked tounge and snake oiled song and dance about their company.

ENOUGH. STOP it with the recruiting BS, You are a wolf among lambs you stupid recruitter. What are you doing playing in the sandbox at the kindergarten among people who aint learned a #### thing about a big truck yet. Much less decide what they like or not like about it at all.

And the recruiter is not the worst of it, what does it say to the predatory company (That sent the recruiter to the school) trying to take advantage of these babes who don't even know what to do with a trailer yet? The company should focus elsewhere.

I don't know if this rant will get anywhere. But it is what it is.

And the Cost? $4000 middling dollars?

Assume you take home 1200 a week trucking. You pay that 4000 off in 2 months flat. Done and done. Moving on to bigger and better things.

 

Schneider might pay for private cdl school, then put you in their tanker division.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you live near Greensboro, NC then Old Dominion Freight Line has cdl school there.