Thoughts on Schneider for first year?

Schneieder tried to haul crude in the Eagle Ford. They failed, miserably.

Since you want to haul crude, you might see if you can get your start with someone like Stevens. They haul water in the oilfield, and I think they take new graduates.

 

lol!
more like..

S.end
C.ash
H.ave
N.ot
E.aten
I.n
D.ays
E.mergency
R.equested

Jokes aside. SNI is a good starter from what I've read.

 

Its an OK place to start, but there are better companies that will train you just as good. Schneider has a rep as an excellent training company, but stop and ask yourself why. It's because they have such a huge turnover they need constant incoming classes of 20+ just to get those 1-3 to stick around longer than a year. They've had a lot of experience training to get you through it quickly and smoothly. Ya the training is good, but there are better companies to start with.

 

I am sure there's worse companies out there maybe we need a complete compiled list for horrible ones tell people to run away from lol

 

Huh

 

Schneider tanker division is poorly equipped. Most if not all are 20+ year old spring ride trailers that are poorly maintained and look like they have been in a demolition derby. If you want to haul hazmat for $0.40 cpm because your "that guy" consider that the rest of us get $0.60 cpm(+50%). Pump pay is likely a similar discrepancy and unless you can drop and hook at a tank wash hazmat trailers take several hours to wash and dry. Schneider wanted some of that 4-5 dollar freight but went about it ### backwards.

 

It's been a couple years since I left.

You get to share a hotel room for 30 days with a random hairy man during training. They had old tanks, which ends up wasting a lot of time (unpaid). Low layover pay, so they didn't mind if you sat. No APU's but your bonus is tied to not idling. Lots of micro-managing. It's a tight ship but always at the expense of the driver.

Once you get a year of experience, you'll leave and make a third more money while working a third less hours. OOs do far better anywhere else too, which is probably why I never once met an OO there who came from outside Schneider.

Because almost everyone there is inexperienced, nobody really knows how much better it is outside of Schneider.

 

My information is about 15 years old at this point, but back in late 2003 when I started, Schneider was a great launching pad for a really good career.

I can't speak to their training now, but back then they took a journalist who had never even operated a pallet jack and made him into a truck driver who has never had an accident, incident or ticket.

And who earns a pretty penny (at another company, of course) while he's at it.

 

Ok so just to get an idea, what is good pay and what is average? I make as OTR around $500-$750 after taxes. 12 days out 2 in. TONS of live load/unload. With SNI for about 8 months. I talk to other guys that are fresh out of school and they’re getting 3,000 miles while I’m stuck at 1,700 to 2,200. I CAN DRIVE SNI, give me miles!

 

You're making what you can expect to make your first year.

Looking back, Schneider seemed to have the worst loads, I'm guessing because they could force their drivers to do it. The company and sales department probably made big bucks selling those 4 compartment offloads to 7 different locations on the site - all in a rubber suit in summer. Get your one-year experience and you can say "no thanks" to that.

The payoff in tanking is when you go OO. I had CDL school buddies making more than me the first year but now, as an OO, I get $3 per mile and they get $1. You've got four months to plot your escape.