New Driver looking for work, what to look for?

Some here might disagree, be I would go straight to Challenger, and get in on their "New Driver Program".

Reasons being
#1 They pay the most for new drivers with 0 experience.
#2 You will always get paid, as a guy who spent the majority of my first 2 years driving Alberta/BC/PACNW, I can't tell you the number of BC based drivers (esp Surrey, Abbotsford) who simply didn't get paid and went bankrupt.
#3 They have freight, being a new guy, its tough to deal with freight slowdowns that small/medium companies experience. Right now BC is all over the place, so being able to go coast to coast and into the US is a huge benefit.
#4 They are WAY better than Bison, TransX, Hyndman Transport, H&R, Lightspeed, People Express, Syndicate, Rig Logistics, etc etc. Best of the worst IMHO. I've been lucky enough to steer some buddies too Challenger, so that they didn't have to go thru the living hell I did at Bison; they are doing well.
#5 Their new driver contract is 1 year, vs 2-3 with most other places. Anyone can put up with anything for 12 months, so if they really suck after 12 months, you can leave and not be sued. They also have 5 divisions, so if Van or Reefer sucks, you can move to decks or tanker or whatever. Other places, you are a Dry Van/Reefer slave for 2-3 years at reduced rate for being new. You can't even switch your fleet manager, and if you quit, they will sue you.
#6 They are actually a decent option to go O/O with. Its nice when a guy can go O/O with the company he started with (If that's something you want to do). It doesn't mean you have to stay there forever, but if you can get your truck with a company you started with, its usually a lot easier to get all setup. Once you get your truck, and get all setup, you can move to a better O/O only company if you so choose.
#7 They won't try to kill you. Big companies won't push you to be unsafe, they just won't. If they do, you can always call Safety 24/7, and that will be the end of that. Smaller companies might push you to do dangerous stuff, cause that's just how they roll. Being new, its better to go with a company that won't try to kill you, esp being in BC.
#8 They do minimal Walmart freight. This is VERY important, Walmart freight can sink a guy, even as a company driver, so whoever you go with, find-out how much Walmart they do, and look for a company that does none.
#9 They have lots of different makes and models of trucks. This is important, because if you go to a company with just 1 or 2 kinds of trucks, and a major recall or issue comes up, then you could be out of work for a long time. At Bison, they mostly run Cascadia's, I went thru 13 of them, 10 having the same issues over and over. The only way I stayed on the road, was simply having another truck to go into once mine failed (pain in the ASSSS). I finally got a Volvo, and was able to keep working, as the Cascadia's lined up at the shop 4 rows deep, waiting to be fixed; and the guys got sent home for weeks at a time.
#10 They do City work and Turnpike, so when you finally want to be home more often, the best options are City and Turnpike. Going City or Turnpike with the company you did training with, puts you to the top of the pile. Trying to go city or turnpike with a decent company, as someone with less than 10 years exp, is usually impossible (My Experience).
#11 They will send you everywhere. Unlike most of the mega carriers that run the US, Challenger will send singles to all the lower 48. Bison/TransX for example, will send you to the same 10 customers in the same 5 states within 1000 miles of your terminal. They will turnpike everything else across Canada, and have their US drivers from other (closer) terminals: to go to states farther away.
#12. VERY IMPORTANT!!!! THEY DO NOT SLIP SEAT!!!! Assigned Trucks Means Assigned Trucks.
As a guy who went thru this whole "new driver" thing 2 years ago, this is the best advice I can give. If I had to do it all over again, this is how I would do it.

Hope that helps.

 

I work for a 150 truck LTL company, I don't like to mention names, as some of my opinions could prob get me in trouble lol.

I will say tho, was it worth going thru the Mega Carrier meat grinder for 1.5 years, then a shady power only contractor for 6 months to make it here; Absolutely!

Having a clean Class 1, with 2 years + experience. Is like having the golden ticket to the chocolate factory, the opportunities are limitless. Esp if you don't get stuck in the mindset that "all trucking companies are the same" which they are not. I always kept an open mind, and that's how I found these guys. As far as i'm concerned, retirement job, with their turnover rate being 2% per-year; quite possible.

 

Here is the thread, on another new guy who just went to Challenger. I wrote a bunch of stuff about other companies on that thread also; its a good read. Maybe message him directly, as he is there now, and can give you the best numbers. I know its more than anyone else.

Challenger Motor Freight?

Depending on the company he has his trucks signed on too, it can be a good or bad thing. Being a OOD (Owner Operators Driver) can actually be better than being company, if you trust the guy, and its a good company to begin with. IE I have a 2 buddies where I am at now, who started as OOD's at this company. The Truck Owner paid them +15% over a standard company guy, and let them take the trucks home. In return, they washed the trucks, and greased them every 10 000kms. Both are doing really well, and the one guy just bought the truck he was running off the Owner; and is a full O/O now. That being said tho, I know there is one O/O who has 4 trucks here, and is paying his OODs less than Company. Either way, the company stays out of the pay side of things, that's between the Owners and OOD's. Doing Van to Calgary and back on Hwy 1 can be challenging, you're gonna learn to drive quick or crash; that's just the long and short of it. Now is a good time to start, so you're ready for winter, cause that's a game changer. I did Langley/New West rounders to Calgary/Edmonton Via Hwy 1/5 and Calgary to Van/Kelwona Via Hwy 3 with drops along the way, summer and winter. Best driving experience I could have gotten, but seen wrecks daily. (Come to think of it, I've driven every Hwy in BC, Both Directions, Summer and Winter lol).
Keep the speed under control, do your brake checks, just remember "gears and jakes, easy on the brakes".

Whatever option you go with, the first 6 months of pay is gonna be low. After that it does nothing but go up. After 1 year, you will be close to top rate, and after 2 years you're set. That's how it went for me, my brother, all the guys I met across 3 companies who started from 0 in the last 2-3 years.

 

No problem out here on the coast. Lots of job ads daily. And most say no experience required.

Don't bother with them. They almost always say LMIA too. Send a resume to them and you're helping them scam the government program. They use the resumes to prove to the feds that they have tried finding a qualified Canadian but they can't. The feds are too lazy to look at the resumes, they just see the pile.

 

The problem is the rates. For the last long while I've been offered 1.60 to pull tridems in the mountains. Ask what the surcharge is and you'll get it in the rate. Nobody can make money doing that. This year they have gone up marginally, but it's still insanely low.

Woe is me that I've had too many injuries and I'm not a kid anymore. Decks are where the bucks are, but I just can't do them any more. So it's vans and cans for me now. Sucks huge because every lowballer company out there is doing those runs.

Hire on with one of the bigger that has lots on both ends, and I've seen as low as $1.37. Maybe 40 cent surcharge. Crazy.

last year I was over visiting with a friend. retired but he was helping out a local company go regional. He had a driver sitting in Calgary with no back haul. Second day sitting there. Watched the load board. He tried to bid on one trip back, but some clown beat it down to $465. That doesn't even buy fuel. Insane!!!

One thing I advise all new owner/ops. Before you take the plunge calculate your running cost per mile. That means everything, even disability insurance if you have it. When I do mine, I include $2500 per month set aside for kaka occurs.

If your running cost is over 1 dollar per mile, you're screwed with today's rates.

 

Yep, this is why I run US only LTL Van (Soon to be adding Reefer) and i'm going O/O. I won't say how much I get, but the company i'm with doesn't charge me for much, the surcharge is not part of the rate (and is 100% not 85% or whatever), the rates are good in my opinion for what I do, and how hard I run. I also have reloads before I finish all my drops, I have no stress and the fuel program is amazing. That being said, could I make more on percentage at a company like Duckerings or CANEDA? Maybe, but what do you trade for it? I'm not willing to find out lol.

End of the day, I pay for my new truck, pay myself what I want to get paid, and put money into my company every month. I'm happy with it for my situation, some guys who have seen my numbers say that's not enough money for them (They want 125k+ a year personally) other guys say I've won the lottery. However, even at my current company, if I went on the Canada only fleet, I would be broke.

 

How do I pm you? I am brand new to this site and had a quick question or five...lol.

 

You need 5 posts to PM people, just ask here, so I can quit repeating myself lol.