New CDL Grad Need Insight

Simple Man1963 · Jun 29, 2021

Good Afternoon...I Recently Graduated From ICDS 120 Hour School...Very Good School Learned On 5,8 Speed Macks And 2007 13 Speed Westernstar My Favorite.. So No Auto Restriction Here .. Than I Went Out And Got My Doubles /Triples Endorsement , Tanker And Hazmat Endorsement Just Waiting On Background Check Than They Will Mail Me My License With The Hazmat Endorsement ..We Had 3 Recruiters Stop In Windy Hill Not What I'm Looking For ... Trans Am Offered $5000 Bonus And .31 Cents...This Guy Would Not Answer Questions And Was Extremely Rude And Nasty... He Should Retire...Than There Was SWIFT... 3 Gentleman Plus A Driver That Brought To The School A Brand New 2022 International .. Anyway These Recruiters From The Ocala FL. Terminal Were VERY Professional....Answered All Question's Without Even Asking.. They Seemed To Cover Everything Very Well ... Unfortunately I Did Not Write Everything Down...MY BAD...What I Do Remember Is .46 Per Mile Upwards of .50 With Bonuses...4 Weeks With A Trainer OTR At $800 Per Week Flat Rate...Guaranteed Minimum Of $1000 A Week For The First 6 Months ..This Is Only In Regards Ro Having A Bad Week Were You Can't Get Miles Do To Truck Being In The Shop Etc...And That We Should Easily Make More Than That Per Week...Think I Also Heard About A Sign On Bonus.....They Were Pushing And Need Drivers For A I 95 Run They Have Out 10-14 Days Home For 2-3 Than Back At It Again......I Know We Have Swift Drivers On This Forum....Could You All Please Enlighten Me On The Details Of This Run...I Am Also Considering Schneider , Freymller , Magnum ,Or Knight Which As You All Know Owns Swift ....Swift Is Only 1 hour 15 from My House as well as Knight ... I Appreciate All Your Insight And Input And Or Any Other Company Suggestions . .Thank You For All The Valuable Knowledge You All Post On This Forum !!

Chinatown · Jun 29, 2021

Freymiller, Magnum, Swift Refrigerated, all good choices.
`
@Six9GS works for Swift Refrigerated.

JoeTruck · Jun 29, 2021

Since you already have your CDL there is no need to go to a mega carrier. They all lie and megas lie big.

You have done a great job so far, don't rush this decision.

Chinatown · Jun 29, 2021

JoeTruck said: ↑

Since you already have your CDL there is no need to go to a mega carrier. They all lie and megas lie big.
You have done a great job so far, don't rush this decision.
Click to expand...

Where he lives though, there's not any small outfits that I'm aware of that hire new cdl school grads.
Refrigerated is the best way to go though, living in Florida. I pulled reefers for 18 years and never even one time was stuck in Florida.
~
Tyson Foods is now hiring new cdl school grads. Tyson hauls lots of meat loads, but some drivers like that type of trucking. I think they're real picky about where you park while on home time though. I'd probably go with one of the other three; Freymiller, Magnum, Swift Refrigerated.

TNSquire · Jun 29, 2021

Kinda depends on what you're wanting to do, and what direction you wanna go in trucking.
Personally, I came out of school, and went straight to tankers.
I haul fuel locally.
Home every night, good equipment, fair training, and it's something that works nicely for me.
I chose tankers because I really didn't wanna bump docks, reefer horror stories turned me off to that, flat bed seemed interesting, but I really didn't want to deal with throwing tarps in a storm.
Tankers was different.
Seemed to me to demand more from me than other modes.
Plus, the pay scale was much better.
It's possible to be making 6 figures after 1 year in tanks.
And, the work involved is easy.
Pull into the rack, load per dispatch, transport to delivery location, connect hoses between the truck and the tank, pull a handle, do paperwork while it unloads itself.
Regardless of what avenue you choose, don't job hop.
Stick it out at least 6 months, 12 preferably.
Make your bones, start paying your dues as some say.
Good luck driver.

slow.rider · Jun 29, 2021

i95 sounds like northeast, and northeast can be tough on mileage pay. Or just if you're not used to tiny 300 year old streets and bridge clearances lower than your forehead.

On the other hand, it's some of the best experience you can get. If you can handle it there, you can handle most everything. It's really not as bad as it sounds though. It's just tougher than the rest, and can really put a damper on mileage pay sometimes with the traffic.

Simple Man1963 · Jun 29, 2021

Chinatown said: ↑

Freymiller, Magnum, Swift Refrigerated, all good choices.
`
@Six9GS works for Swift Refrigerated.
Click to expand...

Thank You Chinatown.. Much Appreciated !!

Simple Man1963 · Jun 29, 2021

JoeTruck said: ↑

Since you already have your CDL there is no need to go to a mega carrier. They all lie and megas lie big.

You have done a great job so far, don't rush this decision.
Click to expand...

Thank You JoeTruck... I Agree .. Hard Decisions ...Don't Want To Make The Wrong One... I Need To Make Decent Money...And Do NOT Want To Job Hop.

Simple Man1963 · Jun 29, 2021

TNSquire said: ↑

Kinda depends on what you're wanting to do, and what direction you wanna go in trucking.
Personally, I came out of school, and went straight to tankers.
I haul fuel locally.
Home every night, good equipment, fair training, and it's something that works nicely for me.
I chose tankers because I really didn't wanna bump docks, reefer horror stories turned me off to that, flat bed seemed interesting, but I really didn't want to deal with throwing tarps in a storm.
Tankers was different.
Seemed to me to demand more from me than other modes.
Plus, the pay scale was much better.
It's possible to be making 6 figures after 1 year in tanks.
And, the work involved is easy.
Pull into the rack, load per dispatch, transport to delivery location, connect hoses between the truck and the tank, pull a handle, do paperwork while it unloads itself.
Regardless of what avenue you choose, don't job hop.
Stick it out at least 6 months, 12 preferably.
Make your bones, start paying your dues as some say.
Good luck driver.
Click to expand...

Thank You TNsquire ...I Agree Hauling Fuel/Tanker Is Very Good Money...Problem Is I Smoke...Although I Wouldn't Do That In The Truck While Hauling Fuel...Still Might Be Frowned Upon To Begin With...I Had A Friend Doing That Job 20 Years Ago... He Did Well ...Basically Started At 2-2.30 Am Till 12-1 pm Everyday Fuel Up At The Terminal Deliver To 3-4 Stations Back To Terminal Re-Fuel Out To Another 3-4 Stations Back To Terminal And Done.... Pretty Good Job !!..Glad You Found Your Niche Right Away And Knew What You Wanted...That's Awesome .. Congrats !!

cman87 · Jun 29, 2021

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