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So there are no experienced drivers at any of the companies that hire newbies? That is what you said!

 

The experienced drivers were there before they started cutting rates and miles . Just shows you don't have a clue about the industry . The companies are paying less and offering less benefits than they were a couple of years ago mainly because desperate wannabes will accept any type of ridiculous wage . Many of the experienced drivers there planned to go there temporarily then move to a better company but the better positions aren't available now.
But just why do you think trucking companies are hiring with the level of freight as low as it is and jobs being eliminated weekly ?

 

Only thing about search feature is it is pass information. People would like to know what is happening at present. I use the feature sometimes if I just want the definition of something. But accurate up-to-date info is what
most viewers want.

 

The reason for responding to already started thread is
Our system emails subscribed members to that post that a ongoing discussion is still going on or has restarted
Its amazing how members who have been lost for awhile come back to post their progress and help
We ask that members do a search for other threads with the same topic and add to them

 

Great post - very true. Everyone has different likes and dislikes - the challenge is finding that job that suits yours the best after you get through the first year or two. For me it's LTL, especially night line-haul, but many drivers would hate it. Some become successful O/O's but I could not do that. Find your niche and trucking can still become a career instead of just a dead end job.

I may be the only one with all the negativity I read and hear, but the trucking industry has been pretty good to me. It was tough making through the first year and a half but I was lucky enough to find my niche at an early age. I don't know anybody whom I graduated high school or college with that has a better overall compensation package from an employer that I do. All I can hope now is my company makes sound financial decisions and stays viable for years to come.

 

RickG, I could not agree more.

From the segment of the industry I work in nothing explains this better than the use of purchase transportation or sub-service. It used to be used for coast to coast and to eliminate empty miles in unbalanced lanes such as Chicagoland to the Northeast - at Con-way, the Boston market is about 3 to 1 inbound so it made sense.

Now, these carriers are so cheap, they are used to haul our freight in both directions. It is actually cheaper than our own trucks, fuel, and drivers who make a decent wage. CFI is still generally used for coast to coast because their service is much better.

I seems to be the same thing every time now. A one year wonder trainer with a student running team so our freight makes service. It used to be we would get the same husband/wife teams who were generally on dedicated runs between our terminals. Just as this is eliminating LTL line-haul jobs, it is also eliminating professional husband/wife teams because they will not accept the wages or treatment the grads will.

 

Of course the search function is for PAST Information. One second old is PAST information! I have had no trouble with the search function showing a new post! I watch it go to several pages when a popular word or words are put in! It's up to you to go through the information to gleam what you need and yes it can be a lot but shucks everything in the world isn't easy!

 

Why would you take his post so personlly, and what made you believe he was being condescending?
There is no denying the all the newbie driver carnage, anyone in the industry now would not dispute that.
I don't appaud anyone who is willing to try, I appaud anyone making sound decisions, and for some, more like many, trying to enter into this industry at this time, in the position they were curretly in proved to be devasting.
For example, the many individuals who were broke and went to company sponsored, made it a month or two or even 4 and then got terminated and owe thousands to the school for a worthless cdl license. You applaud that?
Then there are the ones who went through the WIA, got accepted, got accepted to a school, went to a school only to find their mvr or background prevents them from getting a driving job after spending weeks if not months for nothing. You applaud that.
Anyone thinking of entering the industry now should do so only after a lot of research, a plan for success, a plan for if it fails, the money to cover their bills until they can begin to make money on the road, the money to afford being on the road, the money to get back home from anywhere in the USA or Canada, and the money to cover them should it fail while they find another job.
It took me a lot of time to earn and save the money so I could become a trucker. I didn't have to make my choices out of desparation. Read through the posts, you will read over and over "I am just gonna go with this company even though it is a bad choice because I am broke and need to get on the road, so I can't wait the two weks or a month to get on with a good company'
The OP is just trying to help others, and he makes sense.

 

I agree both make good valid points, in my case I drove OTR years ago and should have never gotten out of it . I have been searching this forum for a few months now and I am at the point that I am ready to make some good {for me} informed decisions as too what I will do. My wife and I have planned on driving together for 10 years now, we have been waiting for the kids to get out on there own. I had a very good job running a warehouse and production in the plastics field, and I would not consider going into trucking right now if I was still there. I had too have my Achilles Tendon operated on recently and was released from my job due to the length of time for recovery. So now the kids are gone, and I have no job and if I stay on Unemployment I will lose everthing, So that being said we will bite the bullet and begin our journey now. We had talked about expediting but with the current economy I am not willing to try that right now. This forum has been extremely helpful to us in coming to our decision, and it has not been easy. I feel that I am a little better prepared for what is ahead than the majority of the newbies for one i have done it before and I feel that I am making the best, most informed decision that I can. I know the first year or so will suck and that I have to start at the bottom but nothing has been easy in my life so why should it be now. I want to thank all the old hands for there advice it is appriciated. We are down to the point of choosing which company to let beat us up for the next year. but I look at it like this I stay on the sidelines and definetly lose it all or take a chance and go for it and have a chance of coming out doing what I always loved and wanted to do. hopefully by the time we get through our time in H### the economy will have improved and we will have positioned ourselves for sucess. thanks to all for the positive and the negative advice, i will get off my soapbox now sorry for the long post