Potential employer research best practices?

Truck Driving Jobs | Dot Transportation, Inc.
Salt Lake
847 North Pointe Circle
North Salt Lake, UT 84054

 

Trucking Company | Idaho Falls | Doug Andrus Distributing
Hires Utah drivers.
EQUIPMENT TYPES

• Refrigerated
  
  
• Hopper Trains
  
  
• Convertible Hoppers
  
  
• Flatbed
  
  
• Step Deck
  
  
• Vans
  

 

CDL-A Regional Truck Driver - Earn Up to $110,000
Walmart
929 North State Road 138, Grantsville, UT 84029
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Minimum of 30 months experience working in a full-time Class A tractor/trailer driving position in the previous 4 years.
As a CDL-A driver for our private fleet, you will make no touch freight deliveries of merchandise to Walmart locations within in the region.

 

Barney Trucking
1593 E Venture Dr, Saint George, UT 84790
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Midwest Motor Express Inc
2200 S 400 W, South Salt Lake, UT 84115

 

Yes, why?

It is a valid response. You get answers from drivers or retired drivers who don't see some of what's going on with hiring. A lot of answers are very accurate, valid, and very good.

Hired away?

This is my point, your military experience is very good, it shows you have focus and a drive, you obviously follow through with your commitments, and all of it is desirable but when you look at the job market and want to 'move up' the ladder, it sometimes isn't a good idea.

See fleet owners, good ones, will not want a job hooper, they want to see follow through with commitment and when you say you will be hired away, build your skills and use your knowledge to look at companies from a driver's point of view, it isn't about money or their performance record but rather the way they treat the driver, which you can't research.

A week or so ago, there was a driver who was told by the company to sleep in a truck in their lot. This is very wrong, and it shows absolute disrepect for the driver, so you can't find that out without talking to a driver what it is like. If that was my driver, he would have either been sent home or setup at a good hotel, but I would never tell the driver to wait in another truck - Respect is very important.

The same reason why you talk to drivers is how and when you get paid. Some good fleet owners will always pay the driver first, I am one of them who has not been paid for weeks because we had cash flow problems and my drivers get paid always FIRST. On the otherhand I have seen fleet owners just screw over drivers and again the only way you can find out who to work for is asking drivers.

Generalizing, because I have seen and heard a lot of new CDL holders want everything but return nothing.

That's fair, sorry to step on your toes. Here is another bit of advice, a bit of a secret, if you want to move to another company, don't worry about their official performance but if you know any of their shippers or receivers, ask them about a company. A few will be honest about it if you explain why, I am not talking about cold solicitation but if you are at the same place.

Why?

One of the most important thing for some of these companies is pick up and delivery metrics, many good fleets will make customers happy and one way is having a happy driver. I know one fleet owner who works with a tire company in the South on how to make the manager's metrics look great to the suits up stairs, he makes a huge effort in driver retention, he follows my policies on rotating drivers and proactive maintenance to make sure the trucks are dependable and it has all paid off.

I hope this all give you an idea where I was going with it.

 

TurkeyCreek.....

First of all -- THANK YOU -- for your impressive service to our Great Nation!!!


All the above is actually a fantastic discussion on an obviously very important topic.

It would probably help us to help you better if we knew more of what you were looking for:

• What type(s) of freight interest you the most?
• How much home time do you think you would like? Home monthly? Or less often than that? Weekly? Or even daily?
• What areas of the US would you like to run (or avoid -- if any)?
• Are you willing to pull hazmat loads? Note that most of the time -- hazmat loads are NOT really dangerous stuff, but instead are much more mundane items (like hairspray, charcoal, bleach, etc).
• To restate the already obvious -- the more CDL endorsements you have -- the more opportunities you have going forward. Those endorsements are door-openers -- & money makers!!!

-- L

 

Now look what you've done, tip of the iceberg, get this guy going, you'll have pages of opportunities. You didn't mention initially you were in the service. I too want to thank you for that, and we have a number of retired service personnel that chose trucking. Be advised, trucking won't have near the regiment the service has, you may be appalled at what lack of discipline goes on, but at any job interview, make SURE, you mention your service. It's a shoe-in that many may not have. Employers love to hire vets because they know you aren't a schmoe.