Orientation with Werner. What I have done so far...

Hi everyone!

I decided I will share my experiences so far before getting into the industry. I graduated yesterday McFatter/Sheridan Technical Institute in Pembroke Pines, FL (Fort Lauderdale metro area). The program was 320 hours and I had close to 1400 miles of driving. I drove 9 speeds, 10 speeds and 13 speeds throughout my course. I took doubles/triples, tanker and hazmat endorsements. I am waiting for the TWIC card to arrive in the mail and I have a Passport. I wanted to arm myself with every credential possible to become more marketable. The results so far have not been great, as you can see from the title I am actually probably going to Werner. (Orientation is set up for this coming Monday).

Here are the companies I applied with and the corresponding result:

Schneider (van) - the position I applied for was out of Miami, asked for 6 months experience, decided to go for it anyway. A recruiter confirmed that this position will require 6 months. He offered a position out of Jacksonville, FL.
Werner (van) - orientation in Lakeland, FL on Monday, May 13th.
CTL (tanker) - do not hire south of Orlando
Indian River Transport (tanker) - have not contacted me
Heyl - experience required, location too far south.
Windy Hill (van) - have not contacted me back
Armellini (reefer) - could have gone with them, but I have to be away from the country for 2 months in July and August for a minor surgery and they said it would not work out.
Roehl (van) - have not contacted me back.

I might be missing a company or two, but you get the general idea - South Florida is a tough spot to get hired from, ESPECIALLY being a new driver.

My driving record is spotless, my background is the same way. I consider myself a good asset to any company, unfortunately my location is making it pretty hard to take off. I am considering moving to Jacksonville, FL in a few months and finding something better, I am sure I will have much more luck up north. My best move, considering still trying to be relatively close to friends and family in South Florida, is to move to either Atlanta or Savannah, GA (I could get a tanker position with no experience), but will most likely stay within Florida (Jacksonville) to take advantage of the "no income tax".

I wanted to see people who have been down the same road, can you give me any advice?

I am not excited one bit for going out with Werner. All I have heard is bad. Although, I have great attitude and get along well with various types of people and most importantly I can be patient. Just thinking that there might be something else to it, something that I am missing that can increase my chances for starting off good.

 

Thanks! I am very skeptical for Werner but in general very optimistic toward the end result!

 

I probably will be more happy, it was out of Jacksonville though and they want you to reside within 75 of Jax to consider you. Thanks for your input!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III

 

This is exactly what I wanted! Hopefully when I move up there in the fall. Btw it took about 3 weeks for my hazmat license to arrive.

Thanks for the heads up! Good luck to you too!

Probably you can start a thread about your experiences with Schneider tanker after you get into it?

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