The 5 Choices...

Lol

 

There are over 450,000 trucking companies in the U.S. Why are those your only options? Personally that would be my top five to stay away from! I know trucking school probably told you that you have to choose from those five, right? Stay away from the mega-carriers! Most newbies go to those companies because it requires no effort at all to get hired on with them. RED FLAG!!! Do your homework and find a smaller, good, reputable company. You do not want to be a "number" at those mega-carriers. Hard to make money that way and good luck if you ever have a problem. Try this site:

http://www.newtruckdrivingjobs.com/student_%20driving_%20job.php

Think outside the box for yourself. Don't follow the herd! It is going to take some effort to find a really good company, keep that in mind. Also the companies that aren't advertising as much are the ones with low driver turnover rate. This means that the drivers are happier working for them. Good luck to you, now get to work!

 

I have found that most all training schools and even some local colleges have the big companys behind them. I wasn't even enrolled in a school yet and I got pre approved from Werner. Not that this is a bad thing, but yes there are soooo many other companys that are looking for good new people to join up with them. I have not signed on with anyone as of yet but am making sure that when I do make that decision it will be well researched. (I hope it will be the right choice) Thanks to all of you that give your experiances with these companys!

 

Are you sure there isn' a small company within 100 miles of your house you could work for..,it might save you ALOT of pain. Good luck to you.

 

Good point Bumpy! Check around local first for a good mom and pop company. Craiglist usually has some good local posts for trucking employment. Like I said, if it too easy then it is too good to be true! If you are getting prehires before you even get out of school it isn't worth it. Those mega-carriers give the schools kick backs for sending you guys to them. During school you will have several recruiters come and talk to your classes. Boy they make it sound good too. Promises and lies! Hope you all don't think I am a hater or bashing, but I have been there and gotten the t-shirt and I constantly see new guys getting wronged by them. Yes, occasionally there are drivers that make it and do ok for themselves but it is very few. That is why the turnover rates are so high. Have you ever heard of any other industry or companies that spend millions of dollars in advertising to try and get you to work for them? See what I am getting at? One of the biggest reasons I preach this isn't even because of company reputation, it is because of the dispatchers. At these large companies one dispatcher is responsible for hundreds of drivers. This makes you a number to them. When your number is up you are issued a load, no if's and's or but's about it! No picking where you want to go or need to go and no load refusals. A good working relationship with your DM is very important if you are going to succeed. Plus you scratch their back and they will scratch yours. Not going to find this at the super large companies. Getting you home and if you have any problems or emergencies is in their hands too. The smaller companies DM's have a handful of drivers and you have a much better relationship. They know you and what you can handle and where you prefer to go and not go. I know that this all sounds like it's not a big deal but once you get into trucking you will see what I am talking about. Hell I remember when I was in trucking school I didn't even know what a dispatcher was! So this is my main reason but there are many, many more reasons I would recommend smaller companies to you new guys. Make yourself a list of your wants and needs go to the site I posted above, and get a list of companies together. From there start looking at each individual companies websites to see what they have to offer and what their qualifications are. The ones you are interested in make a call to the company and ask for a recruiter. Also any applications you fill out make sure to call them back at least every other day. Keep in mind that they get a lot of applications so you need to be the squeaky wheel!
Good luck!

 

I hear what yer saying Chompi. I am looking at those smalercompanys at this time. Problem is many of those smaller companys are not able to take on newbies like myself because they have a hard time insuring us. The larger companys are self insured and that is how they make it work taking newbies on. I spoke to a few really good companys in my area and they were very inrerested in looking at me. Go get a couple of years under your belt doing OTR and keep in touch with us. We would be happy to give ya a shot then.

 

You will find one, they are out there trust me. It's going to take you sometime and effort but it will be worth it. This is one reason all the newbies go to werner and swift because they do everything for you. Just show up and if you are breathing you are hired. They need to do this to fill the seats of all the drivers who realize whats going on there and quit. Think outside the box too. There are all different types of trucking that not everyone is aware of. Good luck.

 

Another reason is because the government gives them 10,000 dollars per person for providing someone that was unemployed a job. That's why u hear so much about people being supposedly hired, passed everything during orientation and training but was sent home after stating there was not a job for them anymore...