new driver here.

Where are you located? Before I got my CDL, I drove to just about every trucking company in Indy asking about their requirements for drivers. You might be surprised and find a local company that is willing to take a chance on you and get you home daily.

 

As Skan mentioned in #4, you'll find a ton of helpful information about a potential employer at http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/Data/Search.aspx - it will give you a good idea about how they maintain their equipment and the type of drivers they have.

Good luck with your search!

 

That's not far from the mark. To that I'd say from my perspective that many drivers fail to understand the nature of business and the "office environment" of things. I got back into trucking after spending 30 years in sales, often being on the "booking freight" side of things. When I get a dispatch that doesn't make sense I can see the likelihood that I'm dealing with a planner and a dispatcher that are fielding 100's of communications a day (my dispatcher averages over 100 phone calls in a day, not to mention e-mails and qualcomm messages). Their jobs are hectic and they rely on computer programs that sometimes spit out garbage. Customers can alter load plans or cancel loads at the last minute (I know I sure did when I booked loads).

The key to success and reducing your own stress is to recognize these things and rely on good communication with your dispatcher. A phone call goes a long ways.

I'm finishing my first year with Swift pretty soon, which is a widely disparaged company. In spite of that I've met many many drivers here that have 10 or more years with the company. Once you get through the first year often the pay and opportunities open up within the company. Certainly after a year's experience (recent experience for me) then alternatives working for other companies open up.

Whatever company you decide to go with, commit yourself to at least a year. Mentally treat it like boot camp and a rookie season all in one. Learn and get your experience.

 

I started out with CRST, which gets a bad rap, but I learned a lot there. Then I moved over to US Xpress, which some consider a bottom feeder. I'm happy here.A lot of newbs don't have what it takes to do this. Then they blame the company. You also hear negative reviews from people who have never worked for the company. They are just parroting others - who probably have no idea about the company either.Personally, I like the job security of a bigger company.

 

BOOT CAMP.

Ever see the movie "Heartbreak Ridge"? A bunch of slackers in the Marines gets an old school, tough as nails, Vietnam Vet for a gunnery sgt. They absolutely hated the guy until they realized that they were actually learning and improving. Good movie. Well, I meet drivers all the time who come up to me wanting to do what I do. Well, I had to work my way up through the Swift boot camp too. They don't want to start at the bottom, they want to do what I do. You want to skip boot camp and go straight to sniper school. Doesn't happen. Not in the military. You can go around shooting targets at great distances and whatnot, but that still wouldn't mean you qualify.

If you're one of the unlucky ones like me, you may have to put your time in with a bottomfeeder. Use it as a learning experience and a stepping stone.

Adios.

 

Another thing that I'm surprised wasn't mentioned here yet, is that it's not just about the company. I've been doing this about 6 months so far, and I don't want to sound like a baby, but this job kinda sucks, lol. If you're in CDL school or about to enter, you've likely romanticized certain aspects of the job and swept the negatives to the back of your mind. You're likely going to be away from home for weeks at a time, especially if you want to actually make money. When you're on the road, you don't really have days off. You might take a 34 away from home (I haven't actually done this outside training yet), but other than that, if you're even just waiting on a load, you have no idea what your schedule is, so you can't really relax, even when you should be able to. That's the other thing. Even with good load planning where you know where you "should" be going the next day, you have no idea what your schedule will really be every day. Delays at shippers, last minute changes, equipment failure. It's exhausting. Just being away from the comforts of home is too much for MANY people, likely many of the people that whine about their company when they quit 4 months after getting their CDL. This job just wasn't for them from the start. There's a whole slew of reasons this job is too much for most people. Anyone can drive a truck, but making it a career is something else entirely.

Don't get me wrong, there's perks to driving. Many people love it. When you have a day of just cruising, listening to tunes, talking to friends/family on the phone, it's pretty enjoyable. When it's the day you're supposed to go home after being out for weeks, and you get delayed at a shipper/receiver, get a bad trailer (both happened to me this week on the last day, lol) and you're getting home at 4 am the next day instead of early evening the day before, it gets really frustrating. Just don't go into this thinking it's gonna be an easy job and you'll have loads of fun along the way. You'll be surprised how often you use up most of your clock, even when you don't drive 10-11 hours, and that 10 hour break at the end of the day is barely enough time to do what you need to do and get rested. Sorry, I was supposed to start on about the perks, but there's a lot of negatives. Some weeks it feels like this job is pretty much just trading your life for a decent pay check. Most people claim it can get better with experience and better companies, but for most people, the first year is going to be really hard while they get used to the lifestyle, since they're likely going to be doing OTR. Beats flipping burgers tho, lol.

 

The best comment so far has been that attitude is a big part of it. My first otr gig was with JB Hunt, one of the companies that catch a lot of flak. I learned what it was like out here, and how to enjoy the positives as well as how not to stress over the negatives. I love my job now. Found a smaller company that fits my needs. But my time with JB wasn't as terrible as some of the stories you read here. I think we live in a care bear world where people expect everything to be butterflies and roses all the time. When it's not, it's everyone else's fault and the world sucks.
If you take a job with one of the megas, go in with an open mind, learn to roll with the punches and you'll be fine. Like someone mentioned earlier, every mega carrier has career employees. It just depends on what you want or need from your career.

 

Great post, Brandson. You bring up a great overall point, and that is that especially for new drivers getting their first year "boot camp" with a mega carrier, it is most likely that you will be OTR. For those that want to be home everyday, with a local job, the chances of finding something like that for a new driver is much harder than getting into OTR. I'd wager that the majority of drivers start out OTR, and as you point out for some people it's a bit of a shock to be isolated from loved ones and needing to "go with the flow" of a given day.

As you pointed out, you never know how your day may turn out. Preplans are simply that, a plan in advance. Throw in a mechanical issue, traffic issue, weather, or customer delays and suddenly you need to be able to adjust on the fly. I've driven with a few codrivers now, including my trainer, and I've run into a couple that I'd say had low skills for dealing with stress or changes. This job is best suited for those that have an even keel attitude, a more zen like approach to the day than the "Angry Andy's".

Your family also needs to adjust to uncertainty. Planning on being home at a given time and date is simply that, a plan. Stuff happens.

 

Another thought just popped into my mind, lol. The job really does get easier as you do it, but added on to that, training (at my company USX at least), is a cluster****. Be prepared to have to be on your toes and deal with BS until your settled into a truck. I found this job to be a nightmare during the training process, and the first week after, because you often have literally no idea what you really need to be doing or what will happen the next day, which is a great stress to add to your first weeks of OTR driving, lol. Once you get a routine, and actually into YOUR truck, it's considerably less stressful. USX doesn't have a great rep on here according to some, but now that it's down to just doing my job, there's a lot less BS, the money is pretty decent (I team for that, lol) and I've always gotten home when I ask to be with no hassle. Wouldn't suggest them unless you want to team or get onto one of their dedicated accounts.

Just make sure you choose a good company. You're smart enough to ask questions on here, so I'm sure you'll do fine. I've seen a lot of guys on here come ask for advice "Swift, Werner or CRE?", and they get lots of good advice for other companies to go with, but they choose one of those guys anyway. My guess is they don't want to bother with another app, lol. Your decision for your first company is going to be the difference between making 25K and 50K your first year. If you just wanna go dry van solo, half of my CDl class went with Crete/Shaffer and each one is very happy. USX is great money for teaming. That's the only advice I can give that wouldn't just be regarbled, and there's 8 drivers a day that ask for the best company on here anywho, lol. I get sick of hearing people that thing this job is going to be awesome, and they don't care about money the first year because they know they need experience. There's no reason to throw away income potential though. Nothing sucks more than being out on the road, half way across the country and knowing you're not being compensated for what you think your worth, because this job is trading your life for a paycheck sometimes.

Man, I sound like I'm trying to scare you. TLDR; job gets better a few weeks after training, better have a lot of patience until then.