Schneider National Carriers - Green Bay, Wi.

Yeah I USE TO drive for big orange myself (3 yrs) but I quit them 5 weeks ago.

Sure from a Noob/training perspective they probably "where" one of if not the best place for a new trucker to get training... that changed "in my opinion" when they did away with the skid pad and actual "on the road in a truck" experience for their new simulator... it makes many feel sick myself included not to mention ITS A #### GAME AND DOES NOT REALISTICALLY PREPARE A DRIVER FOR HOW ONE OF THESE MONSTERS ACTUALLY HANDLES. that being said...

I have had ALOT of conversations with new drivers that have been threatened with the commitment/contract requirements should they choose to leave SNI before there 1yr obligation is fullfilled.. and before anyone says BS they tried that crap with me and I told them to send me a copy of the contract so I could forward it to the VA (Veterans Admin) so I could get it re-embursed under my GI Bill... they never would. Rumor has it they're training is government subsidized/sponsored anyway, that is THEY COLLECT FOR EVERY STUDENT THEY PUT THRU THAT SCHOOL ($$$ Free money!) A good lawyer might even tell ya the contract isn't worth the paper its written on.

From a NOOB perspective they have probably got the best support network in the business (no I dont mean personnel wise). They have operating centers every where so your never far from fuel, maint., a shower or a hot meal.. and late at night there great places to part when the truck stops are full. As a new driver their system is very easy to learn and help in an emergency is always available... as to the reast of there system, ITS ALL SMOKE AND MIRRORS.

Here's the kicker SNI has absolutely no problem w/ sending you home with a $0.00 paycheck in exchange for your 70+ hour commitment. And if you think thats BS e-mail me and I'll send you copies of the paycheck stubs. (They pissed me off so many times I walked and left 2 weeks of vacation pay, due in less than a month, just dangling. I figured (and I was right) I could make an equivilent amount in less time working for someone else. RUN! RUN! RUN! as fast as you can!

SNI has no problem with leaving you sit for 3 days on a 400 mile load you could do in 1 (or less) and if your going to whine about it (My STL's words not mine) think "FIREWALL!" SNI has a absolutely fantastic system in place to keep you from complaining to someone whom you might think "CARES" ROFLMAO! Its a system of mis-direction, re-direction, and bold faced lies, I can not count the number of times I've been told "your the best we have available", "its the only freight we've got", "it's an industry problem"...

and yet the "Help Wanted" signs wave in the wind... there goes another third party carrier w/ a big orange box on the back... Toot Toot! OMG look at the trains FULL of your load home... and if its the best ya got QUIT TAKING THE CHEAP ####!

Oh yeah..ya wanted to whine (forgot where I was).. first ya gotta call your DSR (they did away with STL's) your Driver Services Rep so they can act like they care, pretend to make a phone call and then tell ya..see above.
Yer screwed...

Bottom line if you need a load Quit and goto a company that uses Schneider Logistics for their freight... you'll have a better chance of getting it.

BTW they've called me every week since I quit. There's a new pay package being offered that would bump me up $.03 per mile..wow that means I'd get a whole .36... no thanks SNI I like the .41 I'm already getting!

 

7 days away from friends and family.... Free!
7 hrs tied to a shippers dock.... Free!
7 hrs tied to consignees dock... you guessed it.. Free..
3 days delivering 400 mile loads... Free!
9 hrs lost getting into Canada... Free!
7 hrs lost getting out of Canada... Free!
28 hrs waiting for dispatch.. FRee!
2 days lost getting truck repaired... Free!

Free Free Free Free Free Free... the SNI way..its all FREE! Especially the drivers...Free Free Free

The look on STL's face when one of companies TOP drivers walks.. PRICELESS

 

hi.my father and I have recently applied at Shnieder and we are brand new to trucking. We are going to be team drivers, and we are scheduled for class in Septhember. I was wondering if anyone can give us some insight as to personal experiences with Schneider??? Thanks so much

 

my father and I have dealt with Jean...her ext is 6296, she was very matter of fact, but mostly helpful. Good luck, we go to class Sept 8th, mabe we will see you there

 

For starters all I can say is "Good Luck"!

My personal recommendation would be... "DONT DO IT"! If you want to form your own opinion I would suggest going down to their nearest operations center and just hang out in the drivers lounge... use your ears!

Read some of the other posts on here... a 900 mle day for a team sucks, if your lucky enough to get that many. Then remember you have to split those miles with your teammate... 450 ea. Nxt calculate in that Schneider has one of the lowest base pay scales in the industry.. especially for a new driver! Even with the extra .05 per mile as a new driver your going to start probably around the .27 per mile range add .025 (the .05 / 2) and your still only at .29 ! Only $130.00 per day each with those kind of miles before taxes,ins, soc sec etc... be prepared to take home less than $500 a week each and god help you if you even want to take time at home! Thats guaranteed to wax the week before and after.

Schneider has become very fond of their basket of excuses to explain away why your not getting miles...
Freight is soft in a specific area...
Your the best available in an area..
Its all thats avail...
Its an industry wide problem...

They WILL dispatch you on loads that will waste an enormous amount of your time... sure as a team you SHOULD EXPECT 1000 mile plus loads... but thats only 1 day for a team to deliver...they'll give you 2 or 3...suddenly your daily average is down to 300 miles..SPLIT THAT!

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not a Schneider basher or at least I try not to be. But I worked for them for the last 3 years and have gotten way to many paychecks that where less than $300 from them. ASk your self this... Can you pay your bills and suppost a family on $1200 a month?

Here's my biggest problem with not only Schneider but alot of the other larger companies as well...

Yes I agree that statistically "Freight is Down" nation wide, a look at the gross domestic product numbers put out by the government will confirm this. This means frieght is also down... and yet these companies continue to hire new drivers... why? Why hire new drivers when you obviously dont have the loads avail to keep your current driver base "FULLY" employeed?

There are 2 types of companies out there.. those that "want drivers" and those that "Need drivers"... Schneider, Swift, JB Hunt, etc etc... just want drivers... why? The more drivers they have the more areas they can cover so when they do get freight they can throw you on it... it doesn't matter to them how short the load is... doesn't matter that you've only got 1000 miles for the week... doesn't matter if its going to waste a day or two of your time getting it delivered... YOU COST THEM NOTHING WHEN YOUR SITTING! I ran as a national solo for them the entire time I was there, I had probably the best STL in the company (now their called DBL's and DSR's). Fortunitly for me we were able to manipulate Schneiders system to keep my miles up (3400-3600 per week) until their recent policy changes, STL's becoming DBL's and the placement of DSR's to intercept calls and messages that a good STL could and in most cases would fix... over the last 3 months I watched my weekly average drop to less than 2000 miles per week! all I got where the excuses I listed above...

I'm sorry but I had to ask myself the same question... can you feed your family and pay your bills on less than $500 a week? Let me also point out another litle factoid for ya... since I quit I haven't made less than $1300 a week w/ another company. Most out here dont! Go to a truck stop and buy a trucker a cup of coffee...enjoy the conversation you'll learn alot and it wont be the company propaganda feed to you by a company recruiter.

 

Straight up dude... ask for Samantha Wheeler if ya just gotta hire on with these fools.. (see my other posts)

 

If what the others have said is true and they give you 2 much time on loads. Then why do all the pumpkin drivers I see on I-5 seem to be doing 5 or even 10 mph over the posted speed limit all the time? You would think with all that time to deliver and the lack of miles they would slow down and not risk the rath of the CHP or the layover waiting to deliver.

My company has the same canned msgs and I suspect most do when they don't know what else to say when the load plnr needs to fill future equipment requirements and does not want to move you to other frt.

I used the reply, then why have you not shut down recruiting till the frt picks up? Luckily my company seems willing to DH you hundreds of miles to pu a load especially if they know you will keep speed dialing them to bug them for a load if they sit you for to long.

 

One thing a Schneider driver once told me:

"Know why they paint them trucks orange?"
"No, why is that"
"So when they break down in the middle of the interstate, they look like Road Cones so that other drivers don't hit them"