Is ANYONE happy?

NO #####.......that's absoultrely hilarious......

the ones I saw on there during my job search were mainly container outfits, a company hauling mattresses that were ripping guys off and not paying them, one flatbed outfit that later had a lawsuit filed against it.......

that;s just too funny.....but I guess it also depends on when you look there too as the posts change so frequently as well.....maybe I just got through a bad batch of postings when I was looking there as well as the guys I know that went there

that;s too funny......that made my morning

 

Melissa Davis told me at the time EPES frequently posts ads on craigslist when they want to hire drivers who live in specific areas. Craigslist is also how I found (in a roundabout way) the Knoxville based company I work for now. My company has very little turnover and don't even have a recruiter on the the payroll. We only have about 60 trucks and I am extremely glad I found them. It's a totally different atmosphere working for a smaller company. Once you get that magic 1 year OTR it opens a lot of doors to you. I swapped loads with another one of our drivers last week on Thursday in Dickson, Tn and he already had 2900 miles for the week and said he would be home at 10 am Friday. I stay hopping and honestly run more miles than I really want and we do not run the northeast. When you get 1 year down look around and you will be surprised at what you can find. Don't get me wrong, I really like EPES and it is a great company to start with, but I average bringing home $300.00 more per week than I did at EPES and am home a full 48 hrs every weekend and usually get one 10 hr break at home during the week. When they hire a driver they do all they can to make sure you stay. Anyway, craigslist is a good tool to use to find a driving job. It's worked out twice for me!

 

Ahem.... I'm standing right here.

I've found not one, but two trucking jobs from Craigslist. Neither were scams and in both cases, the jobs turned out to be more or less as described.

You need to remember two things about craigslist. First off, ripoff artists are going to advertise their wares everywhere, not just craigslist. There are definitely scams on craigslist, but there are scams everywhere. You need to be careful and look with a suspicious eye anytime you answer an ad no matter where it was placed.

Secondly when giving advice on a forum such as this one, you need to remember that while this one forum covers the whole world, craigslist is divided into hundreds of different regions. And there is variation from area to area when it comes to kinds of ads you will see.

In my area the selection seems to be about 50/50 between local companies looking for drivers (local, regional and OTR) and larger companies looking for OTR and regional drivers. I've answered quite a few ads from local companies in the past 1-1/2 years and most that I communicated with seemed pretty legit. They weren't always jobs I really wanted, but they were usually pretty up front about what the job was.

But like I said, that will vary from region to region. In other areas, legit local companies might have other avenues available to bring in new applicants and will therefore be less likely to put their ads on craigslist. So in those areas, the ratio of bad companies will be higher because the good companies tend to use other options.

I've had great luck with it and I won't hesitate to seeks jobs there in the future. You need to be careful and be wary of scams. But in trucking, you need to be wary of scams and liars ANYTIME you go to work for someone new no matter where the ad was placed IMHO.

 

Craig's List, just like Yahoo is a cesspool of spammers, predators and pedophiles.

This does not mean you can't find a decent job there. It just means if the short hairs on the back of your neck aren't standing strait up while you are on there you could easily get scammed.

As for being happy..........a really bad day in a truck beats a great day in an office or factory.

 

Maybe so, but my original statement stands.....because I haven't MET you lol......in an online forum like this you're just words on a page.....

and yes, with so many different areas of the country you get totally different things with C/L.....

around here, it's just junk and a waste of time

I'm sure there are success stories from c/l, but I haven't personally met any and my own experiences with it have been nothing but a waste of time

 

"Happiness" is a state of mind. Of course a good job helps too.

At the moment, your location makes it difficult to determine your chances of local/regional. But all the news points to a huge increase in freight coming into the ports within a few years. Pay will improve once demand exceeds driver availability.

$50k a year should not be an issue. The "happiness" may be.

 

I found my old driving job on Craigslist,Pulling a Nascar hauler.
Stayed with them for a long time until Nascar had the big down sizing.
( Petty bought out Evernham )
It was a salary job and tons of perks but stayed gone forever...
Trucks were spec'd out awesome!

The job i have now was on Craigslist for one day.I called,sent in application,copy of my MVR and was hired the same day.

You just have to weed through the hundreds of BS ads to find a good one.

 

If you are going to take the leap then I would recommend doing it now. Its better to be with a trainer and learn how to drive properly in the winter then being by yourself next year when the winter hits.

 

Ain't that the truth!! I was with my trainer and up north somewhere... it was cold (30's) windy (when isn't it) and there was snow blowing on the road, but it was a sunny/clear day - I was pulling an empty trailer and going about 65 - I 'thought' I was doing great - he was able to point out that I should slow down - LOL! Lot more to consider what with a long trailer, engine brakes, effects of ice/snow, chaining, blizzards/white outs - yeah - glad I had a touch of winter when I was training!! Now I'm going to get to 'enjoy' winter with my husband - LOL - good thing he knows how to throw chains... I'll just make sure to have a hot cuppa ready for him when he's done

 

There's a section on the TTR homepage that lists average pay by state and also by industry segment. You'll notice LTL at the top of the list in money. That's no joke. Get a year in and look into LTL/Linehaul. That's real good money. Long hours though.