New driver (covenant) not getting freight - can anyone advise?

sorry to say but with out that 1 year of recent otr expirence not to many options for him....I am so sorry he ended up with a gutter company like covenant...the best he can do is stick it out for the year then leave them as fast as he can...and pray he is not driving an automatic transmission too...if he cant change gears it going to make it even harder to find work later.

 

I dont pretend to be an expert since i am a newbie myself but in this economy thats just the way it is I think, if he wants to be a trucker for a career if he leaves Covenant now it will more than likely ruin his chances of finding another job. However, if his heart isnt set on driving for a career and he just needs an income then he probably should be doing something else right now!

 

I think he should try to find a local job. He should try driving a dump truck,concrete truck,or something like that. If there is a lumber yard near you try there. Also,try food delivery. It is a hard job but will get him home.
If I were him I would get away from Covenant or any otr job. The most important job he has is to be with you and his child.
I would go home even if I had to get job away from trucking. In my home town they are looking for school bus drivers. It pays $12.00 an hour. I would check into that even if I had to get a part time job as well.
He needs a local job. I wish you well.

 

This same type thing happened to me. Come to find out, a lot of it was my own fault. I didn't have a good handle on how the company assigned loads. My driver manger, aka. dispatcher, business leader, what ever they're called, helped me out by showing me how to manipulate the system. Maybe your husband should ask another driver how to do the same. Wouldn't hurt to try.

 

Look local, with his experience in a Mixer truck, he should not have a problem. But with the economy so bad and construction down, he will have to look at all options.. I drive a dry powder tanker for a local company, and have been doing it for 2yrs.. I left otr after the first yr, so I could be with my wife and two girls...

 

Sounds like our new administration is going to spend a substantial amount of money on our infrastructure,may be worth looking into that side of trucking.

 

New_Drivers_Wife.... This may sound odd to you, but I believe your husband has been with Covenant long enough. I would suggest he got for their in-house Train the trainer program and become a driver trainer. I spent 18 months with Covenant with 12 months of that being a trainer. The economy sucks to be looking for a new job in any area, period However, when I was a trainer with them I can honesty say I made more money in that year than I have ever made in my career. If you consider the per truck mile pay plus graduation bonuses with the hard push to turn students fast...It makes alot. Trainer trucks at Covenant also take priority over all other trucks in a given area for dispatch. At least they did when I was there. My monthly was between $4000 and $5000 consistantly. It's just a suggestion, but he might want to explore his options for that. When I was Solo inbetween Trainees and at the end when I told them I wanted 100% solo..I did sit 2-3 days often. The last straw for me was sitting 5 days in Las Vegas which I KNEW Covenant had alot of freight out of. My bad for dropping out their favorite list.