Question for new drivers through 30+years experence

What exactly do you mean by hand holding?

 

What is the average time of employment for their drivers. If a company has people that have been working there for ten or more years then there is usually a pretty good reason. Where I work has a low turn over as compared to the industry standard and for drivers who have been 2 years and up it's practically nonexistent. You can ask all the ? you want about pay, miles, equipment, ect, but if that company has a high turn over probably not where I want to work.
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I lasted maybe 3 months at Midwestern Distribution. I was brainwashed into believing I had to pay my dues. Filled out some of those truckstop mail-in applications and landed a good job hauling boats 48 states & Canada. Dropped their rig off at their Chattanooga terminal & the next day was on my way to Texas with a load of boats.

 

Handholding is when a deskjockey tries to micromanage you, the driver.

 

For me the $$$ was not that important, it was the company and the type of hauling. I have a good friend that has been leased on to them from the time they started business. That said a lot to me. They're a family owned, local/regional company, and you're home every weekend, and sometimes a few nights during the week. They maintain their equipment well.

I was not interested in being OTR, out for weeks and possibly months at a time. So this company fit my desires. Ironically, the money is better than average when compared to most of the mega-fleet BFI corporations. This weekend is the first Saturday that I've had to work. Winter is a busy time for us when there's snow and ice.

 

I had just got out of USMC and my uncle was working for a big dairy products company and they were looking for a driver i had driven semis im military but not civilian. three other guys with way more experiance were vying for job, but plant manager was ex marine and i got job.
first trip i got was gong from alexandria va, to green bay ,wis. was driving white cabover with 13sp{never drove one} 400 big cam cummings,pulling 45' reefer. guys on loading dock were taking bets id never make it! lol union job paying .27 mile back in 80's

 

i absolutly agree with what you say if company has high turnover stay away, my company{i haul mail} has a lot of 20 + drivers ,and i have found that to be the best way to gauge a company

 

Good reputation, low turnover, good pay, APU, good dispatchers; not necessarily in that order.

 

I know i'm old school, but back in the day trucking was so much different then today. When i got out of the Diesel Acadamy in '78 i was looking for a good paying job and was trying to get into a LTL company which where 100% union back then. Could not find a job because they where so strick with driving experience and you had to have all season's driving experience back then. I ended up getting a OTR job through a small fleet owner that had his trucks on with a union company hauling car parts. Back then it was all about the paycheck because back then the issues that the posters on here give about the current companies did not apply. It was pretty simple, here's the keys, haul freight A to B 'nuff said.