Just starting out.

i am on my paid time off after completing 4 weeks and about 165 hours toward my 300.it is monday and sooo good to be home.i am to call my student driver manager tomorrow to see where i go for my remaining hours of training.when contacting my sdm for my hometime he says he will sched a bus ticket from indianola ms to my home term in lakeland fl. that was done and i was given a number to greydog to confirm.i then call and find out it is a 26 hr trip if there are no delays.to that i say no way and start searcing for a rental car.by the way the bus ticket cost werner 149 and i found a car from avis for 93 total +g as and still turned out cheaper than bus. back to my sdm and he agreed to re-imburse me up to the cost of the bus ticket.got home in 15 hrs not to mention a lot happier.also if i had taken the bus i would have spent the night in lndianola at the hotel.thus saving werner the cost of the hotel.my point is don't just roll over and take their bus ticket. if i had i would have gotten home 18 hrs later and much more p... off.now if i can just get a decent trainer for the rest of my training i will be lucky again.

 

Very good move. You should be thankful you have a credit card that still has credit on it. When I started, I didn't even have a credit card. But after a few of those bus rides, I got one as soon as I had a decent money cushion. It's especially important when you're still relatively new to the industry and switching companies, etc. That's one thing these companies love to do when you decide to leave, put you on the bus. It really hacks them off when you pull up in a rental car and put all your things in it. They were counting on you having to leave some of your goodies behind as punishment.

One thing you need to look out for with the rental cars, though, is if there is a "drop-off" fee on the one way rental. If you live in or near a big city you're usually ok. But sometimes there are big drop off fees on one ways. Also make sure the mileage is unlimited.

 

thanks zero. i did ask all the right questions b4 accepting the car.i did have quite a hard time locating a car nearby but was lucky to find it in greenville ms.

 

HTD...
Best of luck. It seems that even some of the typical "newbie-start up" companies are holding back on orientations and classes. Hopefully (my wife says hope is not a strategy), we are at the bottom of the current economic mess and we will see things start to improve soon. I start orientation at USA Truck on May 4. I spoke to one of their recently graduated drivers at a local ts and he said they are keeping him busy. Avg: ~3,000 miles a week.

 

I am an unemployed guy. I spent 28 years working in the same industry (poultry processing). My industry, like so many others now seems to have fallen on hard times, hence my current situation. I was laid off (job elimination) 6 months ago, found another job after a month, then got laid off again (plant closure). Now here I am again, another month of unemployed bliss (tongue in cheek). It doesn't seem like my personal stock value is very high, not getting many offers. So I am now looking at changing career fields. I have long thought transportation was appealing because I enjoy traveling, love trucks, and have been generally impressed with the courtesy and professionalism of the drivers I have met. I have spent considerable time reading the threads in this bulletin board. I have seen the negative and positive comments. What I have gathered is this business has its ups and downs like any other. I have recently discovered there is grant money available that would cover the training cost. That makes this an even more appealing prospect. Here is my personal situation, I am 53y/o, my wife and I have been married for 34 years. She has recently found her calling in the teaching field and is deeply invested in doing a fine job with that. The last six months involved me living away from home and we handled that just fine. All our children are grown and gone. I do have 1 speeding ticket (nine years ago) that was 15or more above the limit in another state. A temporary moment of stupidity due to the excitment associated with the birth of my first grandchild. My daughter-in-law had gone into labor, I was four hours from home, trying to use my pickup truck as a time machine I guess. To get to the point, Mr. Smokyjuan here was the first to say anything specifically about income. My questions are, 1) Can a new graduate out of driving school still get a job these days? 2) Would a reputable company hire a guy like me?, 3) Has the earnings of a typical driver held up since 2005?. I would really appreciate and respect any feedback about this, my local employment office is having a meeting about this friday, and I am trying to decide if this is worth pursuing. Not that I have many other options at this time short of stocking shelves at Walmart or working for the local gypjoint credit companies. Thank you for you patience if you managed to read through all this dialogue.

 

cshifter,
I too am new to this industry. I have already gone through the school part and now have my CDL. Since you are truely at the begining I would suggest calling a few of the companies you are aware of to see if they are still hiring from your area. Since I am more "the glass is half full" I believe the economy and the associated freight will increase by year end. You have at least four weeks of school then a week or so before you have your newly minted CDL in hand. So, it will be early June, at the earliest, before you could head off to any orientation/training class.

If you have decided to adopt this lifestyle change, I suggest:
1. Call a select few companies to see if they are hiring (you can certainly use this forum to research who to call/not call).
2. Apply to those that seem worthy (yes, do this before you even start schooling).
3. Have the state pay for your CDL
4. Hopefully you will have at least a few pre-hire letters to choose from. Choose the one you like best and get it in writing that you are to be at their orientation on such-and-such a date. Since they are inundated with guys like us, follow up regularly that the class is still on. I got cut off at the knees twice so far.

To answer your questions: 1. Yes, there are companies still hiring. Yes some of them are the historical bottom-feeders. Do your research. 2. Yes, you can/will be hired. The ticket is old. 3. Since I too am a newb I can't speak to the earnings holding up since 2005. I doubt it. I am expecting to get close to $40,000 year one. There are ways to increase this over time (ie. training driver). But, after a few years of increasing cpm and more miles due to improving economy $60,000ish could happen.

This industry, just like all the others, has been hammered by the downturn. Since I am not a bigwig in banking, stocks, or insurance I don't expect to be earning anything with six digits again any time soon. I have always been a traveler and know my way around a truck so here I go. Good luck, to all.

 

Do intelligent research on the industry starting here . http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf See page 4 regarding job losses in trucking since December . Also keep an eye on this . http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/datadisp_table.xml Freight is at the lowest level it has been in over 5 years and has regularly been declining since August . When the job losses decrease and freight increases then consider a career in trucking . It would be very foolish to try to start a trucking career now . Yes , trucking has its ups and downs like any other industry but it's continuing a downward spiral and no ups are in sight .

 

Thank JFR, I think I have made up my mind to go through with this. It is looking like I will get the state to pay for the schooling. The school Tx State Tech has a 200 hr program. They also told me that several large trucking firms recruit from the class. I have looked at some of their web sites, they are Werner, TransAm, Covenant, and Swift. So far I am most impressed with Covenant. Any advice from you other guys already out there, I know you guys talk to each other on the road.

 

Right you are, RickG! I have now had the rug pulled out from under me three times since March 27. On my way to MT Watkins Shepard called to say they had stopped hiring from MY area, MI. Then my second choice, TransAm, called a week before heading to orientation that they had stopped hiring until further notice. Number 3, USA Truck called me yesterday, a week before I was to go to orientation/training, and said the same thing. Now I am looking at a big dent in savings for the school and no place to go. Even some of the bottom feeders like Werner and Swift are saying new drivers for them must have a minimum of 6 months experience. If I want to do this I have to "relocate" to another state, swap out my MI license and maybe I will get hired. It is all sucha crap shoot right now that by the time anyone is hiring I will have to spend another chunk'o'change to go through a refresher. Add all this on top of being unemployed and having my house in SC about to foreclose and I am not a happy camper.

Enough whining by me. Anyone with a suggestion as to who may be hiring today? Cuz it changes daily.

 

Personally I would go with Swift. I drove for them a yr, before going local. And one thing they won't do is charge you for fuel if you idle your truck. Most of the bigger companies are charging for fuel if you idle to long. They also have a terminal in Lancaster, it is big, and that is where you would do orientation.. They also had better insurance then most of the other carriers I have looked at..