New CDL-A graduate, Can't find work ANYWHERE.

Western Express is about guaranteed to hire you, but be prepared for the wait game, Maybe anyways, you may have to do the same thing i am doing, I couldn't get anyone to hire me either, they all wanted experience, But Western Express brought me to orientation and paid for me to get there and the motel, then send you out with a trainer for 70 hrs, It5's not the best company, but a foot in the door to get some experience and then in a year, move on to bigger and better things. Good Luck to you driver

 

It may be a weight issue for some, But personally, I have a friend that's been driving for 25 years or longer and he is 6ft 4 and goes every bit of 600lbs, So i don't see where weight would be an issue.

 

He's never encountered a medical examiner forcing him to take a sleep apnea test?

 

But he has a long established job.

New hires in his physical condition might find it a bit more difficult.

 

Congratulations and the absolute best of luck to you! God bless you and your family!

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

The absolute sheer driving force of our national economy - without truck drivers, our entire national economy would come to an absolute standstill - if not outright be dead.

Over the mountains, through the woods, into the valleys, coast to coast, from sea to shining sea - truck drivers can and do go anywhere and everywhere, every day, every night, all year round.

 

Ha ha ha. I watched that one program . My 1ton family. I think there’s only three of them ha ha ha. They showed the bathroom and there was a 3 foot curved stick with a brush on the end. I think I knew what that was for ha ha ha ha I don’t think you wanna go near that thing ha ha ha

 

I'd bitten the bullet and decided to take an entry level Tanker position with Schneider. Went through the application, talked with the "pre-recruiter" then got a call back from the actual recruiter four days later (I guess business is good?)

He went through a list of questions, got me all set up to go to their Houston terminal for orientation and training, then called back the next day to say that all of their "in-experienced" slots were gone. He then tried to push me on a semi-regional Coca-Cola account hauling a dry van, which I declined.

Two days later, the tanker position showed back up, I re-applied, was told I was good to go but that because I'd said that I'd had a sleep study years ago, I'd have to go to their doctor, which kinda made me nervous. I'd asked if Schneider would perform a sleep study and, if needed, help me get a CPAP machine? He responded that Schneider doesn't do that (I believe that I've read hundreds of times that they do?) So, I canceled that position and decided to take order a home sleep study and passed!

I call Schenider back, nothing is available for anyone without experience except OTR dry van all 48 with home time once a month, which I declined.

The Tanker and Coca-Cola accounts are still on their page, but now they say they want 3 months experience.

It's tough out here.

I came super close to calling.... Swift.

 

It's even tougher if you're picky.

 

I have a wife with a medical condition and three young kids. Living in Texas, it’s a lot easier for me to get home in the event of a medical emergency if I’m regional and in Oklahoma or New Mexico versus being in Washington State or Vermont. I wanted the tanker position specifically to get a year of experience and move on to hauling fuel because of the money.

Hindsight, I’d have never paid to go through truck driving school if I’d known that my wife was going to develop issues or if I’d known that all the local places in town that used to hire new drivers would just stop and cite insurance as the reason. I’d have probably taken welding or HVAC.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. My situation is my own and I take accountability for that.

I’ve been able to make a decent living driving straight trucks and I suppose I’ll continue that.

Maybe the market will change when all the non-English speaking drivers get put out of service.

 

Well, you know something, man, these are things you should have thought about BEFORE you decided to be a trucker.
I'm not going to bust your balls, and I understand that life changes for the better and the worse
But what I will say is that having 3 children didn't change last week.
In life, especially when you're young, we tend to rush to the rainbow, only to find more rain.
Take your time and make decisions on where you want your family to be 20 years from now.
Good luck.