My Experience with Raider Express and I'm new

Good morning,

I just found out that my application for employment with Raider Express out of Fort Worth, Texas has been approved and they want me to start Tuesday. I had an application into Stevens Transport and they said I was good to go for a 9/22 start date but then when I emailed them and told them that they would be better off calling my last two employers for the reference check as opposed to sending a fax, I received an email back that basically said, "haven't run the employment checks, will do it mid week next week". This sounded very much like the military and they are on Military Pkwy in Mesquite, TX, just a coincidence. The hurry up and wait thing.

I applied to Raider Express on a Sunday, spoke with them on Monday and by Friday, I was asked to start immediately. Now does this happen normally in this industry? Am I looked at as quality because I've been over the road in the past in a Class B Expedite truck driving 625000 miles, am forklift certified, know how to do logs, have a very clean record as well as already has a Class A Permit or is it because the industry is in such need of drivers right now, this second?

Feel free to be brutally honest.

 

A few more things that I should mention that impressed me enough to go with them. They were very honest and up front. They said our new drivers start in a 2007 Freightliner and after 90 days when you get your first review, if it goes well, we will move you to a newer truck but no guarantee's.

They said to me that we expect drivers to be out 12 to 14 days but it could be longer depending upon the freight that needs to be moved. They discussed that if I have a delivery appointment and I get there and the shipper or reciever holds me up past two hours, they pay detention pay of $12.50 per hour.

They are a family owned company where all the owners and managers have been drivers, so they have been in the trenches. They are not a bunch of guys who had some money and said lets start a trucking company and line our pockets with cash. They also pay a daily per diem for everyday out on the road, not sure what that is right now.

My dad thinks I should go with Stevens but what he fails to understand is that right now all I have with them is an application that is still being processed with zero guarantee but I already have with raider, employment approved, which to me says, Come on down to Raider were your new bosses.

Now for those that are going to read this and reply with sounds like Recruiter to me, I expect there to be glitches and Oh Lords and WTF's along the way because for all the pluses on the front end, in the middle there has to be some minuses.