I am about to give up!

My husband and I completed cdl school 2/4/09, had a pre-hire with a company that I am not going to name for good reason, went to orientation on the 16th and were sent home on the 19th because we weren't fitting into their "little box" of qualifications that they are looking for at this time. At that point, we had taken 2 driving tests and an obstacle course test and thought that everything was going good, only to be sent packing.

We have no tickets, no accidents, no arrests, completed an 8 week cdl class successfully and want to drive as a team. To put it mildly, we were extremely shocked and devastated when we were sent home.

I hear about trucking companies getting federal funding for hiring student drivers and I have to wonder if that is why they even bring you in to the orientation. I know at our orientation, we were more or less "forced" to complete a form 8500 (or something like that) and we were told straight up that it is a form that allows the company to get a "tax credit".

I know one of the questions that we were asked several times was..have you been to any other company's orientation before coming to ours? Makes you wonder about a prior poster mentioning that Covenant won't take him now because he had been to Werner already. Maybe there is no government money in the deal now for Covenant, since Werner already got it.

Needless to say, hubby and I are shell shocked at what has happened to us. Our dreams have turned into a nightmare very rapidly. What's worse is that I immediately got on the phone and started calling other trucking companies and am being given the same answer by all whom I've called....We are not hiring ANYONE at this time. No teams, no students, don't care where you live (I told them i would be willing to relocate in order to be hired).

I feel so humiliated and embarrased to have been treated this way after putting so much time, effort and money into this.

Honestly, we feel so disillusioned with the entire industry that at this point, we no longer know if we even care to be a part of it. It's kinda hard to just give it up after getting to this point, be it looks like it may not even be our choice since it doesn't look like anyone is hiring now anyway.

Sorry for the long rant, just had to vent.

 

I don't know a lot about the funding but I know that if you apply at more than one carrier you probably won't get any money back, that is if you paid for your own schooling. And, again, I am not sure since I think it depends on the carrier. The government thing I am not clear on. One thing I would do if I were the two of you is to look up your DAC reports and see if there is anything on there. Do you have any felonies, etc? Did you refuse to go with a trainer seperately? If this is a dream or profession that the two of you really want to pursue, don't give up but please make sure that you are cleaner than anything when it comes to DAC, etc. Try local companies and see what you can find, you may have to go solo for awhile, but anything is a start.
I can't tell you that I know how you feel, I can only imagine. I may be in your shoes when I get out of school. Take care and don't give up... Good luck.

 

I'm not sure that no gov't money is the reason Covenant isn't taking the poster that was sent home after Werner orientation. My son was kicked out 3 days after Werner orientation was completed, but Covenant picked him up. He had a license suspension for driving without insurance that was taken care of before starting school and Werner knew about it...but let him go for that (after successfully completing their orientation). Covenant hired him 3 days later.

Of course, that was 11 months ago and my son is pretty much stuck with Covenant and with teaming (Covenant isn't letting people go solo) for at least another 2 1/2 months until his 1-yr OTR is completed. And then, he might still be stuck there unless he can find a small company to hire him because all the big companies in this economy are looking for spotless records. He has no accidents or incidents or safety dings since starting at Covenant, but he has a 15 year old misdemeanor and the license suspension that is now 2 years old and has been 'off' his MVR for a year.

I think he was just lucky to get into the industry when he did last year and is lucky to still be employed. Hope it stays that way. And I hope you are successful getting employed, even with the economy the way it is.

 

Allmost nobody is hiring anywhere in this industry,right now.In fact,many carriers are laying off,downsizing,consoladating,closing,ect.Its the worst I've seen it in 32yrs.The companys that are hiring,are only interested in the creme of the crop.This is a bad time to be trying to enter trucking.However,don't give up so easy.Someone will eventually hire you.Just bear with it,do your best,establish a good reputation,and get your 1st year in.Than you should be able to find a good co to hire you.

 

We have nothing on our DAC, and I know this for a fact because the company we went to pulled it up right in front of us, which I thought was odd since we have never even driven commercially before. We are 2 of the squeakiest clean people out there. My husband had a speeding ticket many many years ago (over 10) and an accident in his personal vehicle over 10 years ago, other than that, we have absolutely nothing against us. I thought we were a shoe in for the job considering our clean records and being a husband wife team....so much for that! Just makes me wonder how anyone can expect to get a job these days.

 

Isn't it funny how much things have changed? A year ago, people only went to Covenant who couldn't find a job anywhere else, now, people who have a job with Covenant consider themselves "lucky". Covenant is the first one I called after being sent home from orientation. They didn't even seem to want to talk to me. Just gave me a curt "we're booked up through May, not taking any more applications at this time". After reading so many bad things about Covenant, it felt like a really low blow to be denied even an opportunity with them. Which is one of the biggest reasons I'm not sure we even want to continue on with this industry. If I have to beg and plead to a company like Covenant who is notorious for abusing their employees....I don't know, I just don't know....

 

i know i guy im not going to say who. but he was in jail for over 10yrs for GTA and he tryed and tryed to get a job hes got a file with all the people that told him no over a 100 but he got a job and its all good for him now.DONT GIVE UP

 

You are right on about the companies downsizing and closing. I suspect that that has a lot to do with us not being hired. In our orientation class, there were 8 of us. 4 of us were already experienced truck drivers, 4 of us were fresh out of school. Guess who stayed and guess who went home? I don't care how good of a student you are at truck driving school, you really can't compete for a job against an experienced driver. I was really suprised to see the experienced drivers in our orientation class. Apparently they failed the exp drivers road test and were told that they would have to complete the orientation with the student drivers in order to get a job, and they have to go out with trainers for 3 weeks after the orientation week. I'm sure that their pride was damaged, but these days, a job is a job and people are doing what they have to to get the job.

 

please dont give up... keep applying and do it everywhere, if they say we are full until whenever, call back then and try to get on with the next group.

 

It's tough everywhere. I've got ten years in at JB Hunt. I was making .45 a mile. Right around the middle of January my miles started falling off drastically. 1100-1400 miles a week tops. $300-$400 paychecks when I'm used to $900+ a week. They called me up last week with their offer for a dedicated run, and as usual, the job only pays .32 a mile, at around 2800 miles a week. A year ago I'd have turned it down. The pay rate cut is too much. But that was back when I was averaging 2200 a week. I jumped on it. When I started I found out I was running freight that I thought we lost 6 months ago. JB is taking freight from the OTR division, and compartmentalizing it into "dedicated" divisions that pay the driver less. I recognize it for what it is, a scheme to make us take a pay cut. But I had to accept it. They were starving me out. I had all read accepted the fact that I was going to lose the house. I'm ending my first week on this "new job" with 3700 miles by the way.