New Guy--Schneider or Gordon?

Welcome to the party!

 

Welcome.

The short answer from me is thusly:

Schneider is a great place to start. Very good trainers for the most part. I've been pretty happy for the 3 1/2 hears I've been here (didn't go through their school), but lately things just aren't terrific, and I'm looking to move on.

Still many good things about SNI...just tired of the "new age" attitude of management going on. Unfortunately, many older companies experience this as the original owners retire or pass on, and the new "heads of the household" think that raw numbers are the only things that count.

Best of luck to you!

 

Gordon focused on safety. HA! Sept '10 in WY I got hit by a driver who had nosed into a spot and couldnt back out due to trucks behind him. Dec '10 in TN I got hit by a driver who thought he had to swing wide to avoid the truck to his right while exiting a spot, only to clip my mirror with his trailer. I know these are just 2 random, isolated instances, and I'm sure GTI really does have a lot of safe drivers out there, I just dont park next to GTI anymore for my own safety.

 

One thing you have to keep in mind is that a lot of companies wont hire a 21 y/o. My cousin is 21 or 22 now, and he works for SNI, so I know they will. I know that PAM, who I work for, limits driver applicants to 23 and over. I'm not sure about GTI.

That is how I feel. Single, no kids. I talk to my mom on the phone every day, and my dad about 2 or 3 times a week, so I dont really need to go home for them as often. You DEFINATELY dont make money if you're at home.

Schneider is good, I even thought about going to them, but PAM responded first. If you have your endorsements, I'd say maybe work the tank division. My cousin started with them, and with ZERO experience, he started off $.02 more than what I made after a year. I don't know too much about GTI, but I see them all the time on the west coast, and more and more further out east nowadays. One thing I have learned, since you mentioned keeping your mouth shut and drive, is that if you always show up on time or early, and never turn anything down unless you cannot legally do it, then they seem (at least PAM does for me) to always call you when they need help with repowering a load or something. This is what I find helps me keep my miles up in the slower months because there are a LOT of drivers out there that do not keep track of their hours and run out, unable to make it to the delivery on time.

Good luck with the decision, remember to verify the age requirements (which I'm sure you have already done), and also remember to ALWAYS drive wreck-less-ly.

 

Here is my 2 cents......You can call this stupid all you want but I believe alot about a company by there trucks I see going down the highway. Look at Schneider trucks...beat up, old, spray painted trailers, rusted wheels. Look at Gordon, Somewhat older rigs, no damage, clean nice trailers...you catching my drift? I am a former employee of Gordon and for the most part was an OK company. The one thing that bothered me about them was that they were a little to focused on safety. Not that safety is no important, but thats all it is with them. I got terminated because someone called me in a said I was driving bad. They suspendend me, then fired me on the 4th day. ( ALL OVER THE PHONE AND NO FACE TO FACE) They did not even care about my opinion on what I said to them. So if you want a 60 MPH truck that is 5-6 years old go for it. But other then that they were a great company.