I am being turned down more than I thought I would...

As Mustard said, you can't really be picky right now. There's a lot of drivers with lots of experience looking for jobs so for these companies the pool of drivers is much bigger and it's them that have become picky. I'd get the mindset right now that whatever company you end up at you'll be there for a solid year no matter what and expect to be out for 4-6 weeks at a time. Once you get a solid year in with a clean record, then you may want to start looking around. I'd actually suggest two years but that's easier said than done, I know!

At any rate, we all have to start somewhere and the newbies just kinda have to suck it up for a while. Hell, I was in the Navy on subs and have 21 months underwater. I figured I could be out on the road for a month at a time with a cell phone and a new city to see every day.

GL

 

I've had same experience as you with Werner. Before giving my school $5K I got pre-hire. During school got 3 calls and 3 postcards from them.
After getting my CDL I called Rod about orientation. He looked at my app and first words out of his mouth was "oh, I see your last job was Nov 07." Explained had 3 operations, was in Michigan where IT sector is terrible, and faxed him documentation from unemployment office. When I called back a few days later, said his review committee turned me down.

They should have reviewed my app before giiving me the pre-hire- then I wouldn't have lost $5K.

btw, got a call at 8:30pm last night from Rod, asking if I started school. He totally didn't recall that he told me I got rejected couple weeks ago.

 

Personally I wouldn't be picky but I also wouldn't sacrifice myself either. Plus the more job hopping you do the harder and harder it will be to get a job.

 

Hey Mike' I live in Toledo also. I went to Trainco for my testing, I didnt use them for the classes. However, I am aware that they have "lifelong employment help" if you take their classes.... Why arent you taking advantage of that?

 

lol...

I am working for Builders Transportation out of Memphis, and I just thought it was funny going back and reading this thread. When I posted this I thought I might not get hired, and just a month later here I am sitting in a truck.

They will help you get a job for life though. Good point. Thanks for the comment.

 

How's that working out for ya?

 

Congrats Mike...so like wulfman said hows BTC treating ya?

 

I actually really like Builders. Just about everybody there actually treats you like a human being, and gives a #### about how you are doing.

I am in a hotel right now because my truck is broken, but that isn't a big deal. I have an '06 Freightliner, and it is in pretty good shape for having 600k on the clock. This truck is getting traded in this summer, and I will probably get a new(er) Mack then.

I was climbing a hill...a really steep one coming up to a stop sign, so I had downshifted to 3rd at the bottom, and just crept up the hill so I wouldn't have to stop. I had 2 coils on and I weighed about 75,000 lbs, so I really didn't want to stop at all to be honest. This hill was probably 10-12% grade, and it was a T intersection...well, just before I came to the crest of the hill, a car came flying and cut the turn short so I had to stop. So, I put her in low and set the trailer brakes so I didn't hit the car right behind me and when I felt the clutch start to grab, I released the trailer brake, and waited for them to let go. I made it about 10 feet and there was a serious kaBOOM... :-O

They brought out a 35Ton wrecker to pull me up the hill and drag me and the trailer to a safe spot.

I would seriously recommend ANYBODY that wants to pull a skateboard to come to Builders. No hesitation.

Also, they have already fired quite a few of the people that contributed to the low CSA score, and they aren't playing around with safety. They may have been lax in the past, but they are taking safety and CSA scores very seriously.

 

The Mack is awesome!