Quitting company after getting cdl

While 30K seems like a lot of miles, once you get your license, most of those will be teaming, so it will go fast, think 5k or more a week. Considering JPT has above average equipment, won't push a lease, pays better than most, you are a name and not a number, you should be happy they accepted you. If you do a search there are those on here who would take your place in a heart beat. WE pays less, has basic equipment, is not even in the same class as JPT.

 

Jumping from Jim Palmer to Western Express before you even start driving? The couple of days faster you may get a solo truck from Western Express compared to good steady 1 year job with a reliable and honest trucking company is a bad decision in my opinion. I grew up poor and one thing MOST poor people do is make decisions based on small immediate needs, which puts them on a path of more bad decisions which eventually lock them out of a better environment.

BTW, Jim Palmer charges $3500 if you go to their school and run away, unless the price went up in the last year. Go read about Western Express. Reach your own conclusion. I've never read one story of a Jim Palmer driver being stuck for a week or more waiting for truck repair or a load. You may not like pulling reefer, like at Jim Palmer, but it's a quality company widely respected. NOBODY would call Western Express a top-notch company. They have among the worst reputation in the industry. Not every driver complains about them, but a lot do.

Your best chance of staying with a company for 1 year is in choosing a good company. You still may not like OTR, but it's even harder to like OTR with a company hiring/losing a few dozen drivers per month. Go check the CSA scores and tell me which one is more likely to have you put out of service, no pay and owing a fine, for a DOT violation.

Riding & driving with a trainer is where you learn 90% of this job. It sucks sharing a truck, but there is a metric ton of stuff to be learned not covered in CDL school. Make decisions like the outcomes are important.

 

Jim Palmer is better than Western Express.

 

@visualglitch21 As mentioned in the forum, Jim Palmer Trucking really does have a good reputation, along with good loads, good pay & benefits, and well equipped trucks with APU's and inverters.

If I were in your shoes, I would definitely try to get on with and stay with Jim Palmer Trucking for the "long haul".

Many truck drivers from other OTR trucking companies would love to work for an outfit like Jim Palmer Trucking.

Good luck to you! God bless you and your family!

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

I basically did what you're thinking about doing but it was carefully thought out and I knew exactly what I was getting into before I did it and you want to make sure you know exactly what you are in for before you jump ship.
if 99 out of 100 drivers tell you that a particular job is the ultimate job and they have no intention of quitting then it looks like you'll probably be making a step in the right direction but you definitely need to ask Drivers about a specific job before you agree to take that job because most jobs suck. Going from one over the road company to another over the road company is probably not going to be very Beneficial.
however going from one over the road company to work for another company on a dedicated account and being home every weekend might possibly be better which is what I did and I ended up making twice as much money on a dedicated account and home every weekend as I did over the road with my first company and home every 6 weeks.

 

It's stupid. But you don't need to hear that from me, others might have told you so already.

Never rush to anything, especially CDL training. You need to sit and make sure you take the time to get the things you need to go, it might be better for you. (Correction: It usually IS better so that you have the money in hand already, desperate wannaworkrightnow peoples get shafted then broken off so badly...)

I don't like this plan. What I did was show up at he school, got my government money in a couple days (2500) went for the term, graduated with a class A and off to the races looking for my first employer. Things got interesting from there.

 

Like all the others said stick around with your first company for at least a year. You will learn a lot with a trainer. But you will learn even more your first 9 months solo

 

I agree

 

Awesome plan.