Starting out for rookies

Ok First I'm not going to preach because heaven knows do it myself but please use spell check and good grammer, I know it's just a driver to driver thing here but come on. Now as to your questions. There are companies that are still hiring and part now I say part of the reason is that the older drivers sre saying to _eLL to all the new regs and bs that has come down the highways. Now what I would recomend is to start looking into the trucking companies that you see driving in your area. Look them up on the internet CALL them and ask about hiring new drivers and students. Do you have a industrial area/warehouses in your area? Go talk to the drivers as they sit there waiting to unload if you are not intruding on the recievers property or interupting the drivers sleep. Be nice And know what questions you want to ask BEFORE you get there. These guys AND gals love to talk about the job. Get as much info as you can. Do you have a truck stop in the area? Same thing but DO NOT GO BANGING ON A DRIVERS DOOR UNLESS YOU SEE THEM IN THE SEAT!!!!! You will get no response or a very angry driver if you wake sombody. We get people banging on our trucks all the time and it really pisses us off. I'm soory got off on a bad tangen. Offer to buy them a cup a coffee at the truck stops. The idea is get to the drivers out on the road and they will give you the real poop. Good luck to you let us all know what is happening. To you and all the other readers out there. Have a Very Merry Christmas and get home safe and sound.

 

Ditto ARF!!

 

Dear Trainer, that was funny "use spell check" and in your post there was " sre,recomend, recievers, interupting,sombody,soory, and tangen, ALL MISPELLED..... unles yu were triing too dew dat to be funni.... lol
otherwise I guess spelling is really not that important.... take care stay safe

 

Yes That was intended as mistakes!! Ya know now I have a little (very little funny side)!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

 

You're kidding me , right ? Look into companies you see driving in your area ? Right . Go right to the phone and call Yellow and see where it gets you . It's the same bottom feeder companies doing the hiring and it is NOT because the older drivers are leaving . Today's wannabes get hired to repalce yesterday's wannabes that abandoned trucks .
Go to shipping or receiving areas ? They won't get past guards . The same with truckstops . They will have nondrivers removed from the lot if they go in the parking area .
Are you really a trainer ?

 

Yes I'am really a trainer. What happen not get home for Christmas? What is your problem. Instead of trying to help sombody you have to cut somebody down. Does it make you feal better for doing so. I'm not going to be a part to your dumb rebuttles on this forum. I was just trying to help somebody. Get over it. Have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May God keep you safe and secure

 

Hey there Rick -

I think you already know that I have nothing but respect for you, so I hope you don't think I am jumping on you or The Trainer, but I think ya'll got some wires crossed here.

He didn't say to go into a facility uninvited or trespass. In fact he said "Go talk to the drivers as they sit there waiting to unload if you are not intruding on the recievers property or interupting the drivers sleep." And as far as talking to drivers at truckstops, I did it many times before deciding to get into trucking. Never once had a problem doing so. And I have seen many MANY people walking through AND driving through the parking area without incident. (Including lot lizards).

As far as the phone call issue goes, that is exactly how I did it. I parked in the "public" area of the truck stops and made a list of all the companies that I saw in the 5 truckstops I visited. Then I looked up thier numbers on the internet, checked to see if they hired students and recent graduates, and then I picked up the phone. Once I got to talk to a recruiter, I was able to eliminate the companies that obviously were not hiring from my area. By the time I was done, my list went from a little bit over a hundred companies to about a dozen potential employers.

I then called each of the companies and interviewed them. When it was all said and done, I found the company that best fit my needs. And everything worked out just perfectly.

One thing I would like you to realize is that I think you both are right. There are wannabe's that come in and then wash out because it wasn't as glorious as they expected, but there are also people that retire from trucking everyday. And it is a fact that they are generally replaced by someone else (usually a lower paid student graduate) because a company is not let a truck with a payment due sit idle in a parking lot. Of course there are also companies that require a certain amount of experience (1+ years) to be considered to replace retiring drivers.

I agree that there is a group of companies that are indeed "Bottom Feeders" and they do indeed hire students, but there is also a significant number of companies out there that are not in the "Bottom Feeder" list, and indeed are rather upstanding companies that hire students.

No argument, you have been in the business longer than me. No argument, you have seen a lot more changes in the industry than I have. But I can assure you, I am very much in touch with "how it is" for people entering the industry today. I can also tell you that The Trainer, even though he has his own way of phrasing things, is correct in what he says.

And yes, I am a trainer too.

 

I have 3 mos. OTR, 3 mos. Regional, 3 mos. local, good record, no accidents tickets, felonies, etc. Hope you live somewhere other than north central Ohio, there are no jobs at all here and in my city of 20,000 people, ther are at least 500 homes and lots for sale and 120 apartments for rent. I other words the economy has a lot to do with jobs!

 

to be honest the USDOT regulation is 18 yrs of age to detain your CDL but you can only drive truck within your own state lines and age 21 to go OTR

 

Here I set watching the news waiting for my dispatcher to call. Or waiting for one of the two companies I applied with last week to call and yet the news is telling me that we have a jobless recovery. The incumbent Governor of our state is on TV telling us that people are coming to our state because of the jobs that he created.

And here I sit, waiting for the phone to ring...

There is a very wealthy entertainer on my TV who is telling me how much help the humans in Haiti need, and I know it is true. But why is he telling me? Is he under the impression that I can help? What should I let go to help the People of Haiti? Car, Phone, Cell Phone, Rent or maybe I should stop paying taxes to the Government so I can send money to Haiti.

It should be Direct TV that goes first. Is seems the TV is only there to give me the latest on how great a president Obama is. How wonderful the economy is. How the bankers need bailed out (again) and how we need socialized medicine. The TV tells me how guilty I should feel for pollution for not recycling toilet paper! Life insurance, auto insurance, the homeless, the bankers as Al Gore flies across the country on his private jet telling us we should reduce our carbon footprint by freezing to death in our 18 wheelers while it is perfectly fine to let the reefer on the trailer run both day and night. The freight is worth more than the driver.

So here I set. The guilty American who must take the blame for everything that is wrong in the world today. Here I set, waiting for the phone to ring, hoping it will give me permission to go back to making a living again.