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

He has already obtained his CDL. He's currently working on getting the experience up.

 

Opps didn't see the date of original post. It was under new postings. Hope everything worked out for him.

 

I appreciate your input on your previous post. I already have my CDL now and even got all the endorsements including hazmat. And I've already been crapped on by a mega on my first attempt at getting a job. (see posts 295 and 296 in this thread for the detailed story). I'm currently at home weighing my options. At least I have my CDL now.

 

Dam dude, just read through the whole thread and it sucks, I had a not to dissimilar experience at Swift when I first started (lied to by the recruiter about orientation and pay) but was able to tough out long enough to get on a better route with better pay, because I don’t pay rent or have any real obligations. Wishing you the best, and I hope you find something you really like, I’d wish I could recommend Swift to you, they have been good to me, but you really do live and die by your DL, and i have personally not had the best experience with them in the SE region, but based on what my friends tell me they absolutely do have good people down there, it’s all just luck of the draw. If you already have your CDL, they only make you do a two week ride along orientation, where they just make sure you know what your doing. Something to consider, if you get your TWIC card, you can do port routes (mostly in and out of Panama City) and it pays .65 cpm

 

Thanks for your reply. If you read the entire thread, you can see how I jumped on getting my CDL and endorsements with both feet. Everything went well until I had that very bad experience with the first trucking company I tried to get on with, US Xpress. That certainly left a very sour taste in my mouth about the whole thing. I still have my job investigating utility accidents, but it doesn't pay quite enough. Struggling to stay above water with the bills and support my family. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I realize that my CDL is valuable, especially with all the endorsements on it. I think I'm going to hang on to my CDL and keep the job I have for a while and put feelers out on local driving jobs in my surrounding area, even if it's a straight truck that pays hourly. They make decent money and are home every night. I didn't slam the brakes on the whole thing, I just slowed it way down. Thanks again. Take care.

 

I worked at Melton, had a fantastic experience. I know you said you’re 59, (I’m 28) so maybe flatbed won’t be for you (I’m not sure how much physical work you want to do)

orientation was wonderful, the recruiter I spoke to didn’t BS me on anything. The pay was good. I went in with experience already, so I had .65 per mile start, and would genuinely run 2500+ miles a week. If I ran hard, I was seeing well over $2,000 gross a week. Only reason I left was the home time. You get 1 day at home for every week on the road. You got options to earn more, such as the “Road Dog” program. Which offers a day of hometime, for stopping by CDL schools and just talking to students.

Orientation is in Tulsa OK, the hotel I was in was very nice. The orientation was 8 days, and if you’re inexperienced, you’ll spend 4 weeks with a trainer. Load security training was also very thorough.