My first and last week as a new Schneider Driver.

Bad EGR valve can cause an out of range NOX conversion rate, which will cause a derate. House of cards.

 

Pfft, you call that a long one? X1 could top that, may they RIP. I think there's a lesson to be learned here, and you my friend, I hate to say, learned it the hard way. Doesn't have to be that way, and don't be discouraged. Starting a new career is bound to have it's backfires. Trucking today is probably the hardest, because of so many variables. Situations they will never tell you about, but quite frankly, to a seasoned driver, THIS is trucking. Pumpkin used to be the absolute best, I knew many "Transport"( union division years ago before it was "National") drivers that retired from Pumpkin. Today, they have a s load of diapers to move and nobody to haul them. Paper products, Schneiders bread and butter, are consistently missing from the shelves. I've seen warehouses in the Fox Valley, I can guarantee you, there's no shortage of axxwipe. The "lesson, as I see it, you go for these megas that have no problem hiring you, this is exactly what can happen. As you can see, "Chinatowns" bell rang, and he posted many great jobs, smaller places, that will adore you. Hey, I give you a lot of credit, and I think you're a bit wiser for it. Best of luck, let us know how it goes.

 

The only people mega carriers treat worse than their drivers are their mechanics. Don't expect to find a lot of good mechanics working at mega carriers.

 

Magnum Companies. You're in Denver and from what's been posted on here they're in Colorado a lot. I think they also opened up an LTL yard there as well.

 

If I was looking for a job in Colorado, I'd go right to the post office. They had a local job here in central Co. $32.10/hr.,,1 trip to Denver a night, 8 hour/ 5 night week, full benes, and new Mack with an automatic,,,went unfilled for months. Either that, or a gas can out of Pueblo. You'd be a busy person, for sure..

 

Schneider has had the crappiest equipment on the road for years.

 

Former Schneider driver here.....did both OTR, and intermodal while there.

Now doing hazmat tanker, delivering gasoline and diesel to different store chains.

To the original poster: first of all--THANK YOU--for your service to our great country!!!

It would appear from your story that things at the "Big Orange" have for the most part gone downhill after I left.

Since you were really just "meat in the seat for a week", and especially as former military, the above suggests that new driver support there is indeed in sad shape.

I think at this point you can easily see why the wash-out rate for first-year drivers is something like 90%.

If you thrive best when faced with a challenge, and later decide to give trucking a second try, I'd like to offer some suggestions as food for thought.

First, read the following forum thread, and think about some of the posts there regarding reefer duty--my own reefer experience pretty much mirrors what they described: your circadian rhythm/sleep cycle gets no real chance to do its thing, since appointment times are all over the clock, and also--many shippers/receivers in the reefer world will treat you like dirt:

Any Good Megas? | TruckersReport.com Trucking Forum | #1 CDL Truck Driver Message Board (thetruckersreport.com)

One good thing about the so-called "mega-carriers" that often gets overlooked here on the Forum is that they tend to have A LOT of terminals and drop yards. So finding parking at the end of your shift can often be a real life saver with a larger carrier--especially if you're driving in an area that you don't know well.

I learned that there are still other BIG advantages to driving for a large carrier--but in light of your experience with SNI, I won't go there now.

Note that, especially as a new driver, one of your biggest problems you will face daily is finding safe and legal parking for a big rig. This is mainly true in/near larger urban areas, and/or east of the Mississippi River (and ESPECIALLY if you are driving up in the northeastern US).

Something else to think about: the vast majority of drivers who later switch over to tanker duty--end up wishing they had done so, sooner.

It's really just a better all-around gig.

As a tanker driver, you're treated better by pretty much everybody--shippers, receivers, coworkers--and your superiors.

Why? Well, I think at least part of the answer is that hazmat tanker is arguably the most competitive segment of the industry for drivers.

As opposed to reefer duty--in the tanker world, your customers (in the vast majority of cases) are actually GLAD to see you.

If all that sounds interesting to you, to start off in tanker, I would recommend looking at maybe somebody like this:

Western Dairy Transport (wdtmilk.com)

They offer an excellent beginning opportunity (I think, anyway) for anyone interested, who lives in the midwestern states.

I can't honestly recommend a job delivering fuel to someone fresh out of CDL school, or to a beginning driver. I do understand that there are other drivers who have indeed done it--but in hindsight, I am sure glad I had a couple of years of CDL experience pulling boxes under my belt before I got into fuel delivery.

One more suggestion: if you're not already there--familiarize yourself with modern truck-based navigation systems: Garmin, or Rand McNally, or the feature now offered in the Trucker Path cellphone app, are examples. I used (and still do) a Garmin truck navigation unit. I don't think I would have been successful without it. When Schneider's nav system went down (for whatever reason), I always had a "plan B" in wait to keep me confidently moving. Google maps will not (as of now, anyway) give you truck-specific driving directions. Google maps was always great for comparing the final destination to that generated by my own nav unit, to make sure the destination solution given was indeed correct. As you might expect, this last "check" saved me some real headache, at times.

Note also that, in most cases and places, it's very much a driver's market.....so now (at least, as of the time of this writing) is a great time to get into the trucking game.

Hope at least some of the above helps you have a MUCH better experience, 2nd time around.

--Lual

 

Wow.....that was a hell of way to enter the industry. One thing about trucking, especially, OTR, is that if you manage to survive, you will learn to eat ####e, and like the taste of it. You caught you a bad break. Sometimes with companies that large, there will be a few drivers that draw the short straw from time to time. Don't let this experience sour how you feel about the industry. Hopefully you try one of the companies Chinatown suggested and you land on your feet. If it were me, I'd go to Pride Transport out of the ones mentioned since there is a current member driving for them. Not saying that there aren't current members driving for Schneider, but maybe it'll the transition easier with someone familiar. Having people help you transition to a new company means everything in this industry, in my opinion. Hang in there, driver!

 

Don't quit trucking just yet alot of people don't like/won't work for big companies some small companies won't act like your a dime a dozen and you can talk to the same person about problems or even tell the owner about problems that need fix

 

Schneider is the King of the Corporate Welfare Club. They have an entire squadron of people researching the state and federal tax codes day and night for ways they can make money off their drivers.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if they cashed in big on you for hiring a vet or got a big tax credit for putting a veteran to work in the state of Indiana even though you were only there for a day or two.

$50,000 for Schneider, twenty for you.

I worked there a couple years back in the day.
The drivers are among the most courteous and I would never hesitate to park next to one of them at a truck stop, but their office/corporate people were lacking.