I am thinking about being a truck driver

The company my husband works for, was a company that sent a recruiter to the class while he was in school.

The only reason he put in his application was because it was the only company hiring local drivers. As I stated before....for him to persue something on his own, the companies (around here) won't even take your application without at least 2 years experience.

And I need to correct myself on what I stated in a previous post that my husband earned 40.00 per load....that was incorrect. It's actually 19.23 per load. We calculated what he makes per day and it's roughly 79.00 per day. Which...if you consider he starts work at noon and gets off at around midnight, he's working 12 hours a day...which makes him earning around 6.58 an hour...that's just under minimum wage for our area.

Right now, he's talking about taking the loss on the tuition he paid and just seeking employment doing something other than driving. I myself make minimum wage with my job and between us both, we're not making enough to feed a stray cat. Right now we're draining our savings little by little...but once that's gone...and it's down to less than 5000....we're s.o.l. Two kids to feed....our future is not looking pretty.

So...hopefully, people out there, thinking about going to school and making big bucks right off the bat....it may not be what those recruiters are promising it will be.

My husband was told by the recruiter that the first 3 weeks, while riding with a trainer he would be making 80.00 a day, then once they set him loose on his own, he would be making anywhere from 125.00 to 150.00 per day. He's making 79.00 a day...less than when he was in training.

 

I'm sorry to hear your story that seems to be a common experience with alot of new drivers. I believe that if you need to make money to live then starting out in trucking is no way to go. Alot of people jump at these companies that pay for school and end up either hating their job or quiting all together. The companies clearly take advantage of someone that owes them money for school. These companies could care less about your future and only want the best return on their dollar.

I've said it so many times before that a recruiter should raise a flag right away. Why would a good company need recruiters? They don't. If you find yourself in this situation the best you can do is try to stick it out until you're free to go somewhere else. But above all you must keep your record clean and your reputation positive. Then after a year or two you'll find that the companies want you. However, you'll have to go out and find them. I don't know of any real good driving jobs that advertise for drivers. They select the next new hire from a stack of applications that good experienced drivers apply for.

If I were your husband I'd still go out and look for a good job on the days off. Even if they say they want two years experience sometimes they can waive that. Especially if the company is self insured. I know when I was running the terminal I always wanted to see a clean cut driver with a positive attitude. One that keeps checking for openings and keeping his or her application current. We had a driver from another major oil company that wanted to come over to us. He kept checking every month by just coming in to say hello. That showed us he really wanted the job and after some months he got hired.

I'd download the list of trucking companies in your area then weed them out. Select the ones that you would want to work for. I believe that a company that does not make their revenue from the truck is better to work for. IOW's a company that is hauling their own product to market. Check around and see if you can talk to the drivers. Find out how many years some of the drivers have with that company. Then when you get 20 or 50 companies start going to them face to face. Ask to see the terminal manager or the person that does the hiring. Express to them that you would like to make their company the only company you want to work for. Tell them you plan to retire from them. Show them you're real interested in their company and you'll do you best to get hired by them. I'll bet if you do that you'll find a much better company than any recruiter could find for you.