Paid your dues?

I paid my dues yrs ago and have yet to find a company that i'm happy and content with.It is what it is,trucking is trucking.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Walmart Private Fleet...Excellent pay, equipment, work schedules, and excellent treatment.

 

"Paying your dues" is a myth. The conception that you must be miserable or work for crappy pay under poor working conditions is only true if you let it be.

Quality companies can he found right out of the gate. I have worked for 2 companies in 3 years and have been treated well at both. In addition the pay was more than fair at my first company. The only reason I left the first was to go with an LTL carrier where I was home everyday as well as on weekends.

Don't fall for the big lie that you absolutely must be miserable starting out. If you are lazy, then you will be miserable, no doubt. With some effort it can all be avoided.

 

Paid my dues and work for big E (Estes). Just meet another driver and switch trailers and drive back to the barn and drop them. No hooking sets, no bumping docks, no directions, great pay, benefits, , paid holidays, vacation, sick time, friendly work atmosphere, very little paperwork, home every night and weekends. I'm only at work for 8 hours or less (unless a breakdown, which I get paid for that also) get gifts all year long. Paid uniform shirts. Annual increases. No Qualcomm. I feel like I'm retired only I'm making more money than a retired person

 

"Paying your dues" is a bunch of crap. Like Elendil said, it's that way only if you let it be that way. People who say you must go OTR before landing a good job are full of bull. They were just too lazy to do the legwork to find a good job and settled for some bottom feeder OTR outfit. From day one I never went OTR, never will. I work for a good local company hauling pallets and can't complain a bit. We have ten trucks split between two plants. All tractors were just replaced with 2012 models, except mine. I have a 2013 tractor, home every day, usually before 2pm and I can leave for my deliveries when I want, unless we have a dock time, which is unusual. Also no weekend work. So newbies, don't believe the "pay your dues" BS. It's just that. I put in the leg work to find this job, which wasn't advertised at all. Just get out there and pound the pavement and don't just look for the "help wanted" ad, that's the easy way of doing it.

 

Paying you dues, is a myth; there is no such animal.
A motivated new CDL graduate with all the endorsements, TWIC, passport, can be employed with most top notch companies; local, regional or OTR, if they are prepared! Also, your first face-to-face interview, be clean cut and dressed ready to work in clean approriate clothing. Don't be intimidated by the "experience required", that clause weeds out the less motivated drivers.

I fell for the "pay your dues" at first and worked for a crummy company. About 3 months or so later, at a truckstop, filled out one of those mail-in applications for a boathauler company, that hauls expensive boats coast to coast, and got a call in about 2 weeks & went to work for them.

My friend didn't fall for the myth & went right to work for a tanker /hazmat company running coast to coast, which is what he wanted.

 

Yes it's a myth for the most part, but it also depends on where you live. If you live near a bigger city you can land a good gig right out of the gate. Some on the other hand that live in the middle of BFE, the only local gigs around is hauling logs or the local pig farm lol. I guess I need to move a little closer where the action is.

 

I was in the same situation small towns no jobs local. So I moved to a city. Now I'm making great money, have the things I want. Home alot. If I didn't leave I'd be makin crap money. All my friends back home still doing the same things with the same crap jobs. Best move I made in my life.