Swift hiring process timeline.

Western Express is generally considered a second chance company. This means they are less picky than most carriers about who they hire.

When I first looked into them a few years back, they seemed to be running mostly older equipment, BUT I have heard a few recent hires saying they are getting nice trucks.

In any case, if you can get a foot in the door with Western Express, then drive safely, be professional, and keep your nose clean, you should be able to move to another company in six months to a year if you want.

 

Some independent trucking schools require you to get prehired within the first week of school, so they know you are employable, and will have a good chance to pay for the school.

 

The state is paying for the school if I happen to meet the eligibility requirements.

 

Update. I'm at the NCWorks center in town. I am filling out paperwork for getting assistance in paying for trucking school. I already have spoken to a couple of schools within 200 miles of home and am working from both ways to see if the financial assistance from the NCWorks center would be my better option or not.

 

Dude, just go to Western Express, keep your head down for a year and I bet some doors will open up for you. Better money, equipment, home time etc...and when you start working, just remember the first 3 months is the hardest(at least it was for me) after that things start clicking and things level out and get easier. Best advice I can give you is learn the pre trip really well, and commit the in cab and air brake portion to memory. Best of luck to you.

 

That is my intent. I just have to have my CDL first before I can go to Western Express. They have already sent one pre hire letter out to a school. However, the tuition for that school is twice as much as what the grant from the state I'm trying to get allows. However, they do have a list of approved schools that will be paid for completely if I get approved for the grant. My biggest problem right now is I don't have the funds to pay for trucking school out of pocket. Anyway, what you said is what I intend to do after I get my CDL. And I'ma take it one step further. The loads that no one wants I will take simply because the more rubber I put down, the more money I make. Plus, it will hopefully give me a good reputation after a while.

 

You do not have to aggressively seek the ugliest loads to be appreciated. Accept any load you can deliver safely and on time.

If you cannot deliver safely and on time, advise when you can deliver, in a way that is recorded. Qualcomm, Peoplenet, email, whatever WE uses. If the driver manager responds that you should take it and deliver late, then do that.

If they try to tell you to deliver late on the phone, and not record it, send them a message nicely mentioning that per your discussion, you will accept and deliver late.

Dont be angry or aggressive about it, but do be a team player, AND cya if you get asked to deliver late loads.

That's pretty universal in the company trucking business. You do that, and you will already be head and shoulders above average new drivers.

 

Thanks for the advice. That's a good idea. I will take what loads I am given. As you mentioned, if I know with relative certainty that I will be late, I will point that out. If I am still required to take the load and deliver it late, then my mom will know about it and I won't be in the crosshairs. Plus, I would like to look for shortcuts if I can, provided I am not overweight for that road.

 

You will quickly learn that most shortcuts aren't.

If you can stay on interstates and only take a few extra miles to get somewhere, stick to the interstates.

Most trucking companies are satisfied if you keep your mileage variance 10% or less, and very happy if your variance is 5% or less.

 

How about detours to get around traffic jams and accidents?