Sending out the feelers...

Orientation is one thing, regardless who you go with, more so with others, it's a mind f$&@.

I don't regret my decision to go with TMC, and honestly, I'm glad I steered away from the other mega carriers. Thanks to Chinatown and his recommendations.

 

Taylor your questions to what is important to you but here are some of the questions I asked
1. How soon after CDL graduation could I start
2. How long is orientation/ how much is pay for orientation
3. How long is training how much is pay for training
4. Any bonuses?
5. When will I see my first paycheck?
6. What is my CPM after training
7. Do you have refrigerator s on your trucks/ can I have a fridge installed
8. Can I have an inverter installed
9. Average miles per week for someone fresh out of training
10. Average distance of each run

That's just a few of my questions...and any answer you get its very important to verify with a driver for that company

 

You can start submitting job applications the first day of CDL classes.
Some questions to ask are:

Does the company run 48 states or just a portion of the states? Some new drivers want to see the whole country and some don't.

Assessorial pays? Sometimes companies mask what a driver will actually make by advertising high cents-per-mile. High cents-per-mile doesn't mean much in itself without good assessorial pays.

Assessorial pays include, detention, stop pay, layover pay, tarp pay, breaksown pay, etc. Some companies detention pay starts after the first hour and some could be after 4 hours. Majority companies start after 2 hours. For example if you get $20.00 for the stop, then detention pay after 2 hours, that works out ok because it's like $10.00 and hour for the first 2 hours, then hourly pay after that.

Dozens of companies will hire you, not just the ones the school recommends.

 

Good flatbed company that hires in CA is System Transport. I think they have regional, but also can run 48 states, Canada, Alaska. Excellent reputation with drivers. They also have a reefer division that solo drivers run Western states and a tanker divison that runs Pacific Northwest.

Other good flatbed companies:

Melton Truck Lines
TMC
Halvor Lines
Leavitt's Freight Service

From reading all your posts, System or Leavitt's would probably be the best fit, but Melton and Halvor and TMC are also excellent companies.

All these companies hire new CDL grads, so submit online applications ASAP for any that interest you.