Starting at Valley Transportation (Ashland, OH) Monday.

Good afternoon!

First of all, I want to thank all of the regular posters on this forum. I've been reading almost daily since January, absorbing all of the information, reading all of the funny (and sometimes not-so-funny) stories, reading about companies and just trying to be as informed as I can be going in to this industry. Unlike many others, I benefited from knowing a veteran driver and O/O, as well as being family to a couple of over-the-road company drivers with CR England, so I've had a lot of input from many angles about what to expect. Fortunately, so far, I haven't been scared away.

To keep the stuff about the past short: I've been employed mainly in security when I have been employed, doing IT work on the side over the past few years. But I've been having a hard time finding good-paying, somewhat-enjoyable work over the past few years to help me pay off a few debts. In January, after losing my last job, I decided to put everything I had in to a future in trucking. I begged, borrowed and stole (okay, maybe I didn't steal anything) whatever I could to gather up the money to pay Roadmaster here in Columbus in cash to get my CDL once I had done my research and decided to move forward with this choice.

Fast forward to last Friday, and I had finished my three weeks with Roadmaster and got my CDL as soon as I passed the test, stepped out the door and went to the BMV. I pursued a pre-hire I had gotten from Valley Transportation out of Ashland, OH. To be honest, I had been looking at them as my first choice since well before I started at Roadmaster, so it felt like the stars were aligning when I made it through the physical, drug test (not that I had any real reason to worry, but medical stuff always makes me nervous for some reason) and classroom time, discovered that I wasn't scared out of my wits behind the wheel and got a pre-hire from Valley within the first week at RM.

Concerning Roadmaster, I had a lot of fun there. My classmates were all entertaining and friendly and the instructors were just the right mix of serious and humorous. You do kind of rush through a lot of stuff in the short, three-week course, but they do what they promise: Get you your Class A. I have absolutely no complaints about my experience there... except for maybe having to get up at 5am. A word of advice, however: Don't read the list of ingredients in the various meat-like sandwiches the local roach coach sells. Better yet, just go to Wendy's or Boston Market down the street for lunch.

I was relieved as hell to discover that I was, in no way, intimidated or scared by being behind the wheel of the gigantic things I was supposed to be learning to drive. That was one of my biggest concerns. Not being a terribly big guy, I didn't have the confidence that I'd be able to control something of that size. Fortunately, that attitude changed the second I was in the seat and, while there were some stressful moments, I had more fun than I've had in a while just driving around. I even had a little bit of fun backing. Post-Roadmaster, I feel like I have enough of an understanding to continue my education with a trainer at Valley and I'm looking forward to really learning how to drive a truck. As I told Jim Hoover at Valley, I'm really looking forward to eventually learning to float the clutch and giving my poor knee a break. But all in good time.

As for Valley, I really appreciate the way they seem to do business. They don't use in-vehicle electronics, for one. I've always been of the opinion that such things in a truck are just another unnecessary burden, and I think learning to drive a truck without a QualComm staring me down all day will be much better for me. Mr. Hoover is a straight shooter, tells it how it is and doesn't fluff anything up or sugar-coat anything. When I asked a question, I got an honest answer. Of the companies I spoke to, Valley was the only one that wanted to set up an actual interview instead of rushing me in to an orientation. Of all the recruiters who spoke at Roadmaster, Jim Hoover seemed like the only one who wasn't trying to sell more than he had. While I know, from reading these forums and talking to trucker friends/family, that "things aren't always as they appear" or that my expectations/preferences probably won't be met overall, I'm still happy with my choice of career and choice of company.

I figured I'd do this because there isn't much info floating around on Valley out there and I'm rather tech-savvy and, in my own opinion, fairly well-written. I will supposedly be home every weekend, but I'll be able to post via my very internet-friendly phone if I'm not. Hopefully I can provide some people who have been looking at Valley with some information to help make a more informed decision. So far, my dealings with Mr. Hoover and Valley have been A+. We'll see how I feel a week from now.

Thanks again, guys, for helping me come in to this career informed and interested! I don't think I've had a question pop in to my mind yet that I haven't been able to find an answer to here.

 

Their qualifications are standard stuff as far as I recall. DOT physical, work history, etc. I don't have any tickets, DUIs or a criminal record, so I can't recall off of the top of my head what their requirements there are.

They're a smaller company based here in Ohio so I'd imagine they're only really hiring within about a 150-200 mi radius, though don't quote me on that. They're 90 miles from me in Columbus. They do have a take-home program for their trucks, according to what Jim Hoover said, but they'd like you to wait 6 months before starting that. Unless you want a really long commute every weekend, you'll probably want to be fairly local.

They haul almost exclusively aluminum and steel coils and are leased to Great American Lines. Their trailers are flatbeds with covered wagon sidekits/tarps. I read a while back that they used Benson trailers, but was told that they're using MAC aluminum trailers as of right now by Jim. Their working area is in the midwest region. They don't go west of the Mississippi much.

Just going off of memory here. I'll try to get more definitive answers on those questions on Monday if you'd like.

 

Thanks, jatwell.

So far, if you're that close to Valley, I'd really advise at least filling out an app and listening to Mr. Hoover's presentation at Roadmaster if you wind up going there, but good luck with whatever route you choose.

I found some more information that I had written down here:

No DUIs within the past 5 years, no reckless driving within 3 years. Minor accidents are case by case. No more than 2 moving violations in the last 3 years, 4 points max.

No drug/sex felonies, all other felonies case by case.

You're usually home weekends from what I know, but I asked about the possibility of weekend runs and was told that you can do a few if you let your dispatcher know mid-week or so, and that they usually pay a little more.

Pay is percentage-based only, starting at 25%, with a 1% increase after a year, if I recall correctly.

Riders allowed after 6 months, but they have to be 18 or older. No pets allowed.

 

Well, I wanted to post last night but it's a 90 mile drive between Ashland (where Valley is located) and Columbus and I had a few things to read before getting to bed!

Anyhow, I just wanted to quickly say before starting day two that after the first day, I'm 100% sure that Valley is the best company for me to work for. Everything from the company work ethic to the equipment has really impressed me. If I had gone with Werner against all advice, I'd probably be sitting in front of a computer reading those #### computer lessons they supposedly give in a room with about 30 other people. Instead, the four of us here this week were given excellent advice and information from an actual human being (a truck driver, no less) and had any questions we asked answered thoroughly and personally. This is how every company should interact with its new drivers, especially fresh cdl school graduates, in my opinion. Werner's computer lesson and whatever creature they get to help administer them likely has nothing on this!

To the guy who pmed me yesterday, it won't let me reply til I have a certain number of posts on the board, but I was out there yesterday, yes. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing you there, too. The first day went great and I don't think I could have found a better company to start my career with.

I'll update later tonight if I get a trainer today.

 

Yep, that was us! It was a nice day yesterday and we were looking for excuses to stay outside a little longer.

I'm waiting on a trainer now, should be out on the road in a few hours.