Need advice on first driving job

Not sarcasm your buddy isn't a real buddy. I definitely wouldn't use the word friend to describe him. The whole situation is a "use you" deal. Plain & simple time to move on apply to the jobs that you want. I do not recommend telling your "buddy" anything about your plans. All the best to you.

 

Man I have a Walmart slave labor story about why I never work with friends. At the darkest point in my life I had to take a job as a Walmart grocery DC order filler. AKA literal wage slave. They made us work so fast it was almost impossible to avoid injury forever. Every day I’d go live in the freezing ### cold stacking boxes from before sunup until after sundown at such speeds where I had to concentrate hard on the HUMILIATING art of brick layering yogurt and cottage cheese. It wore me down mind body and soul and it was all I could do to just survive until I could get a higher paying job.

Here comes my twin brother. I told him “hey you should come work for Walmart. The pay and schedule are phenomenal. Just don’t sign up to order fill. I know it pays more but it’s a #### job” And he told me he’d never work for a company like Walmart. His “good friend” of idk 5 years started working too much OT at a lower paying warehouse during COVID. He started bragging about pay and told my brother he NEEDED to apply. “We don’t have any forklift positions but you should sign on as a picker and just get promoted” My ####### brother took that job for 2/3 the pay of a Walmart orderfiller. Worse benefits and schedule. Mandatory OT. I told him “don’t do it you’ll burn out”. He didn’t listen.

He was jobless six months later.

 

Short answer: yes. You've had such thorough training, it's OK if you move somewhere else. When you do move to another company, check all your boxes to make sure you don't end owing any money for schooling. Also, I wouldn't advise taking any type of 1099 gig unless it's necessary(bad record, driving or criminal). Rarely does the driver win in those instances. You're right, 65 cpm on a 1099 isn't the same as a W2 version. You'll end up in deep poo running on 1099.

 

To the original poster--you'll get a lot more help here....if you tell us what city, state you live in (or near)....and also what kind(s) of trucking you think you'd like to try (e.g., flatbed, tanker, etc).

--Lual

 

I second this 100%.

 

Yep. He’s being porked by a “friend.” Running team and paying trainee pay. With no end in sight. Using him as a side piece.

Shameful behavior. Question is, what is he going to do about it?

 

Get copies of your logbooks or bills of lading or something to prove your experience , a lot of companies won’t admit you’ve worked there because they are angry that you left , so you will have to be prepared to prove it without their help,
My neighbor keeps copies of every single bill of lading and scale ticket and fuel bill, from the company he works for, in case he ever needs to prove he has the experience he claims to have .

and as soon as @Chinatown arrives to this thread he can offer some good advice .

first thing you need to post is the general area you live .
Whether you want OTR or local or whatever
What’s your criminal record, if any ?
Ddetails of your driving history , accidents , tickets etc , what for and when .

endorsements on your CDL
Every endorsement you don’t have is a door that’s not gonna be open to you.
So work on getting them all if you don’t have them already .

Get doubles triples tanker and haz mat .

Sounds like your “friend “ is just using you

but find a new job before you quit the old one ,
And I Probabaly wouldn’t give a two week notice , that just gives them time to post something bad about you on the DAC ,

tell them you need a week or two weeks off to travel with your family on vacation or something ,
Start the new job , and make sure it is gonna work out , then call the owner of the company and thank them for the opportunity and tell them you found another job paying a lot more than whatever you were getting paid on this one , and mention that if you’d have gotten a raise and your own truck to drive you might have stayed around longer .
Or just tell them trucking isn’t for you and you’re going another direction .

 

Man I wouldn't call that a "Buddy". He is using you. Get outta there ASAP. Go to a reputable company, stay away from 1099. Tell them up front what you have gone through so far and your experience. With your experience you will have no problem passing a road test and going solo, at least soon As stated above, you might want to mention the area you live and what you want to to do so people here can steer you in the right direction..

 

Yep, time to call it quits with that company.
Where is your location; nearest city/town.
We'll help you find a new job local or regional if that's what you prefer.