Schneider Bulk

I can't imagine you'd spend more money than you would make.

It's difficult to guess what you would make, as a new driver, and, also new to bulk.

You might want to consider hauling vans for a few months. Just to become more familiar with & learn about Trucking and "The Lifestyle", before going into bulk & chemicals and the Additional skills, equipment and responsibilities involved.

To answer your question, I'm going to say, $ 40,000. For year one.

 

Don't waste time in the van division, that won't help you one bit. Depending on how hard you run you could easily break 45 to 50k your first year. Communication is key, you can't be shy. Let your DBL know if you are unhappy. Remember, you need miles to make money. That is the agreement, we run OTR and they give us miles, if they fail on that let them know. Remember to put in all your layover and detention pay, nobody will do that for you. Your appointment times will usually be pretty easy to make. Drive hard and get there day early, if you sit for 24 hrs you can get layover pay on top of the miles, it adds up. Log correctly, that means listen to how senior drivers do it not what they teach. Now you can be one of those rookies that are all gung ho about logging everything correctly and that's fine, so long as you want to make minimum wage.

You have to learn the system and how to game it. Listen to the senior drivers. Now some drivers love telling stories and you have to learn what to believe. Do you job, be smart and always, always communication is key. Let me say that again, communication is key. No really, don't be shy. I made great money at Schneider and I really liked my job and the people I worked with. I have very little negative to say and I think you are making a great decision. Start with Tanking and stay with tanking. Nobody ever seems to leave bulk once they start, it's the best trucking there is.
I put in my time with Schneider and now I'm with a company that is paying me the best money i have ever made, but I did my time. I won't say how much I make cause I'll just get called a liar but trust me, better paying jobs are in your future, just stay with that tank. Schneider will teach you how to do it, they will be patient and they really are a great company.

 

I wrote a thread over in the Schneider forum about what to expect with your trainer, I was a trainer, go read it. There are other bulk specific threads over there as well. I wouldn't be where I am today without Schneider, I will always be grateful. Yes some guys didn't make it, I don't really know why but I wouldn't hesitate to go back if I had to. You made a good decision, now just get it done.

In my opinion, Schneider Bulk should be every rookies first choice, you will make good money and get treated right and learn one of the most profitable types of trucking.

 

Oh and they aren't joking about the Schneider Way, they have a process for everything. It usually makes sense but they are serious about it. There aren't that many rules but they are enforced. Again the other drivers will tell you how to get ahead. Safety is huge over there. The training department can seem a bit unorganized but once you get into the fleet you will see how good it is. The system usually works very well. Of course there will be hiccups but that is life.

 

Most of the safety is about unloading. Unloading is the hardest part to learn because it's so hard to train because every unload is different. Just follow your checklist, they will give you one, and you will be okay. Double check everything. Remember everything can be fixed until you open your valves, then if something is wrong you are about to have a bad week.