Should I just deliver pizzas?

I believe Trans Am can be lenient because, whether yo know it or not right now, they intend for you to pay for the truck expenses as a Lease-Operator, not a W-2 company driver, Maybe my info is out of date.

 

By the website, leasing is an option, not required.
~
All amounts stated herein represent gross pay, subject to Federal, state, and local tax and other withholding requirements. This is W-2 pay.
~
Great Equipment
As a company driver, you will have access to great equipment including the Kenworth T680 equipped with the PACCAR MX engine which is fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly, and very quiet. All trucks have automatic transmissions which mean less fatigue in traffic, a safer, smoother ride, and great fuel mileage. All trucks have condo cabs, dual bunks, Auxiliary Power Units, power inverters and are satellite radio-equipped.

At their option, Independent Contractors who wish to lease a tractor through ONE Leasing will have access to this same great equipment.

 

The Original poster should make sure to speak to drivers at Trans Am, or any other company, working as W-2 drivers and ask them to describe their work schedule, pay, conditions before heading off to orientation. Just reading stuff online or having some company recruiter tell you what you want to hear is not smart. It's my memory that Trans Am likes to let newbies in the door and then give them the "you can sit in the hotel for another 8 weeks waiting for a trainer, if you really want to be a W-2 driver, or you can leave today and start training as a Lease-Op."

Lease-Op only means the L-O is obligated to pay the expenses of the truck, not that Trans Am has enough freight to generate enough revenues for the L-O to pay the expenses and take money home. Don't jump from the frying pan into the fire of L-O unless you have your asbestos underwear handy.

 

I think speaking to other drivers is so overrated. No 2 drivers write the same story in trucking. Trucking is all about what each individual driver puts into it, and so many drivers complain about everything without ever evaluating what they've put into making said company work.

 

You can tell if the driver is a negative nancy in a short conversation. Talking to current working drivers at the company is not going to hurt your future unless you believe everything you hear. If that's the case, listen to the recruiters, they have better stories.

 

It certainly doesn't hurt at all. I just think a driver cam have just as good of a story as a recruiter. For some people that could be effective. I tend to take drivers' opinions of a company with a grain of salt because I don't believe in people's ability to be objective. If I had listened to other drivers and made my decision based on reviews, I wouldn't have gone to my current company. I would have bought into...."This company is racist." Once I got that story, it turned out that driver got sent home because he fell asleep during orientation. Lol

 

Unpopular opinion maybe, but go deliver pizzas unless you "have truckin in your VEINS!" or some such thing.

Prior to getting hired on with my current company, I was always one accident away from leaving the industry giggling and getting a new career or going back to my old career writing.

In other words, I was willing to do this job as long as the pay and benefits were decent for my experience level. If I was down to second chance companies...I could make THAT working at the Shell station up the road from me, if it came to that.

 

Dump truck and cement mixer companies hire drivers in your situation.
Keep us posted.
Some box truck companies will hire you and some are local/regional/OTR.

 

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
$17 an hour
This job posting is for a position at the individually owned and operated TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise located in Winston Salem, NC. The employer at this location is Kline, LLC.
~

• Travel! Our location moves locally as well as across country! Come be a part of the adventure!

~

 

Where else is a potential driver going to learn if the company is shorting your miles, not paying detention, etc? It won't be on the company web page, nor will the recruiter tell you about it. IMO, it's ridiculous to decide one source of info will be ignored, not that you said to ignore comments from employees. Like you said, employee comments may be over-rated. But, I want to know what those comments are. I also, generally focus on what friends working at the company tell me, not some rando complaining like he's done for 10 years.