New to driving, looking for good flatbed co.

Lots of recruiters seem like they answer students' questions because many students don't have any questions or know what to ask. Students often don't know if the answer being given is reasonable or wildly impossible unless they already know truck drivers or have a driver in the family. I was helped a lot by my dad being a driver and my brother had started driving one year before I did. My brother and I both had ridden with dad during some school vacations and dad had been both a company driver at a few companies, including Borg-Warner, and others. We wound up working for the same company twice. It's not easy to sort through trucking companies no matter how much help others can give.

 

The TMC recruiter was the only good one who actually had an answer besides “look on the website”. He also used to be a driver. All of the other recruiters couldn’t answer basic questions, and half of them were never drivers.

CRST also had a good recruiter, but that team driving crap for 3-6 months didn’t fly with anyone at my school lol.

 

When I went to cdl school years ago, there were students in class that constantly complained and whined that everyone is out to get them. I've worked for several companies and there's always that driver or so that warns me about how I'm making a mistake going there. They can't explain why they're still working there though.
All I care about is the freight lanes. Everything else will fall into place.
I'd hate to go through life being paranoid about everything. I won't because I refuse to.

 

If you really do the math, the pay is not so good there. I know a driver who went there and shared with me the ups and mostly downs. The wait time to get loaded after unloading in the morning can be frustrating - all while your clock ticks. I've seen this with other TMC drivers as well. Which is a big part of why I don't run an ELD on my older truck. I'm much safer, less tired and thereby less stressed, which equals fatigue. Oh, that's what they say they were trying to avoid with ELD's...which can NEVER tell you when you are tired and need to rest!

 

Transportation
Recent graduate from an approved truck driving school.
Has a facility in North Carolina and headquarters in Mississippi.
Howard is a complex, billion dollar company.

 

If you looked at McElroy, then you probably should also check out:

Maverick Transportation

It has had good reviews.

--Lual

 

McElroy stopped by as well. To be frank, the recruiter wasn’t the best and never even drove before. They did have some benefits such as drop and hook flatbeds, pre-tarped products, you’re pretty much hauling the same stuff from their parent company and going to the same locations, and they guarantee to get you home every weekend.

However, if I remember correctly, their pay scale didn’t add up to me. They say it comes out to whatever cents per mile in total (when you count all of the extra stuff), but it had a lot of “ifs”, and the mileage didn’t seem that high per week.

 

I personally think research for different companies is slightly overrated. You can talk to different drivers, but their experience won't match yours. Trucking is all about what you put into it, that's regardless of any company you go too. I haven't had a bad experience at any company I've worked at. I only concern myself with freight and running miles, as well as the equipment to do it. I think everything else falls into place afterwards. Recruiters are going to say whatever it takes to get you there for the most part. There are some that are honest, but as much as drivers claim they want honesty, they seldom go to those companies. They want recruiters to treat them like they're free agents in professional sports and beg for their services. They like those recruiters that make them feel good, that affirmation thing. It ain't that show. Then there's the respect thing. A company shows respect in your paycheck. They increase your pay, and run you well so you can take home those monster checks. If a company had the freight, your success and longevity will be contingent on availability and reliability. If you show you can consistently run the miles, they will put them on you.