Should I work at a company with high turnover to get experience?

My personal opinion would be to go anywhere that will hire you, yes to get experience but be warned, as a newbie it could be hell since you mentioned they have a high turnover rate. Look at it this way, it’s like going to boot camp, you have no say so.

 

Agreed. @Zonno you've made so many threads, what's holding you back from taking a job? Experience is the most valuable thing in any industry.

 

Absolutely ####ing not. If thy have poor safety rating, than stay away. Specially hazmat. Dot won’t play with you if they catch you taking scenic route because you’re trying to avoid inspection in a hazmat pos truck, they will turn your cdl history into coloring book.
See if you have “luckys energy service” near you. They supply fuel and hydraulic fluids to work sites.

 

Get the heck out of Georgia! As the old saying goes, "Go West Young Man."
~
"Go West, young man" is a phrase, the origin of which is often credited to the American author and newspaper editor Horace Greeley, concerning the United States' westward expansion as related to the concept of manifest destiny.
~

 

I would not pull HazMat with poor equipment. The penalty for drivers when pulling HazMat can be in the thousands of dollars or losing the endorsement, not to mention the safety of you & public.

 

I read, if a company loses or turns over 25% of their workforce in a year, the problem is most likely within the company. That "experience" you may be looking for, could be a lot more than you bargained for, ESPECIALLY Haz-Mat. I wouldn't recommend a Haz-Mat for your 1st experience, too much at stake. Again, not sure I'd believe ANY internet reviews, talk to a driver, if you can. I also find it hard to believe a haz-mat outfit is instructing their drivers to go around a scale, that's pure foolishness today, and again, remember, credible opinions are found here, not some stupid Yelp, or whatever.
My advice, is start easy, like diapers or toilet paper, only hazardous AFTER use, but I think you'll be better off.

 

Take online reviews with a grain of salt because many of them are written when people have a severe case of butthurt.

Look up their DOT number. Check the SMS page and see what their violation situation is. Some people consider anything that isn’t new to be junk equipment. The fuel trailer I’m pulling right now is a 1991, mechanically sound and passes the annual tests. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard “why don’t you ask for a new trailer” since I’ve been pulling it.

 

Still more food for thought....

Speaking from my own experience as a fuel hauler:

• Fuel is too dangerous to carry from point A to point B....to do so in trailers that are jalopies. It's simply too risky to do such. "Fuel haulers don't have accidents -- they have DISASTERS" . The above referenced database will give you some real clues about how truly safe/unsafe that fleet really is.
• In hindsight -- I'm REALLY GLAD that I had 2+ years of mostly non-hazmat freight (in 53-ft trailers) under my belt -- before I started pulling/hauling fuel (with 48-ft trailers). With cargo as potentially dangerous as gasoline -- there simply is no substitute for experience. Thus -- I would have to agree with "201"...& his commentary above.

-- L