Newbie Questions...trying to decide if to be a trucker

i think there's a thread about this, but seems like most Co.s want a year or something for having a pet with ya'

i noticed in my researching of companies that Tx. is in more of the "hiring areas" that the company's websites show than Fl.
i live in Fl. and quite a few companies won't even consider me because i am outside of their shipping lanes.

look for one with a MINIMUM of 160-200 hours and a low student to teacher ratio for the road driving parts.

can't help ya with these two.

 

:smt047 This may hurt your chances with some companies. They may figure you won't stick with driving and are just doing this, until you find a better job.

As far as a informational DVD or video, I have never seen one. There seem to be a lot of disinformation out there. You can't trust recruiters
and some companies, in trucking are very poorly run. Find out about turnover, at any company, before you agree to work for them. Some firms have 150% turnover per year!

Besides reading these boards, you could go to a truck stop and ask around. Good trucking companies, have a lot less turnover, but are hard to get a job with. By the way, Swift allows pets, but they are the king of turnover. :smt047

 

Man im not even a truckdriver(too young...lol) and it looks like a very hard job. If you got a highschool diploma you might wanna try working for the railroad in your area.

 

Isn't it a federal offense to hold two valid drivers licenses? You are supposed to surrender your first when you get the new one. Better watch out, the terrorist seekers would love to find ya with multiple id's

 

They're like wives. You get ONE!:smt081

College degree is always worth something.... and some truckers make more than some degreed professionals so ignore those who low-rate the profession by saying that you'll leave for a better job. There is a lot more to trucking than meets the eye....maybe you'll find a new niche. Some of us like it.

 

Maybe he's Mormon tho, they like having sets.

 

you're taking abotu how he has college degrees and that could hurt him?
my question is, why would someone go WAY out of their way to get a CDL only to do it temporarily. taht's what temp jobs are for. plenty of people get sick of what they're doing and want to try truck driving as a change.

 

I am kind of in the same boat here. I just graduated from (well I will call it what it is a CDL school.)
From what I have read here (great site) seems most of the big companies have the same issues. I do have some pre hires and I am still doing reaserch.
But there is one thing I am haveing troubles figuring out is why USexpress higher on the pay scale than most companies for newbies?? I mean they have auto shift trans they have side mounted camera and they have on board gps mapping.. So why do they pay more than most??
scabs