Not much time and only one shot at this. Please help.

Anyway....best of luck with it.

Unless you get a truly outstanding trainer -- expect your first year to 18 months....to be really tough.

Why?

You are learning how to drive ALLLLLLLL OVER AGAIN.

And this time -- it's not a 4-wheeler -- it's a 70-ft-long, 80k-lb aircraft carrier.

You will simultaneously be picking up a lot of new skill sets -- & you have to execute them...with basically few to no mistakes.

Also: many truck stops, docking areas....& warehouses...were built/laid out "back in the day"....& thus, were not designed to accommodate today's long-wheelbase sleeper cabs, coupled with 53-ft trailers.

They were laid out for (mostly) cabovers, with 45-ft trailers (or less).

Thus -- you will later find that parking/backing in many places to be TIGHT.

Your takeaway -- with that in mind?

Especially as a new driver -- BE PROFESSIONAL --

GET OUT & LOOK.

A LOT.

-- L

 

I saw that you are supposed to be starting with US Xpress out of Jacksonville, FL
You'll just have to find out how they operate for yourself. Before I attended orientation for them back in June, a friend of mine told me "you can always tell how much a company is willing to pay their drivers based on how much money they spend during orientation". THAT'S A FREAKING UNDERSTATEMENT! More red flags presented themselves in hindsight than in real time. They put me in a two star hotel w/ one of the worst breakfasts I've ever eaten; they ordered pizza every day for lunch; they were unwilling to pay for a rental car. After 3 days of orientation (that they only paid $100 a day for), they sent majority of the class home because there were no available trucks at the terminal. I saw lots of drivers sitting at every terminal I visited (Ellenwood, Tunnel Hill, Dallas/FTW; etc). They promised late model vehicles for their team drivers, but my co-driver and I were put in a 2021 Freightliner w/ almost 400,000 miles on it. Team drivers are said to have priority over solo OTR drivers, we were still not making any #### money going from coast to coast. With as much experience as I had (10 years verifiable), we were only getting 65 cent a mile split (30.2 cent per driver, but math doesnt math). I barely cleared 5k in the month and change I spent working for them. The dedicated drivers told me that it was a hell of a lot worse on their side.
I could go on and on, fam. Still have friends there who aren't seeing any #### money

Definitely go with them if it's not about money at all.