Wanting to become a driver

Oh......By the way......If I would have left after let's say.....3 months, I would have paid $450.00 and Swift would have matched that amount. My balance on the loan would have been $3000.00. Swift would have set up a monthly payment plan for me and I could have made payments over time. There was no CRST STYLE " Non compete bulls#!+". They would not have prevented me from going to another carrier. They would not have shackled me in the basement under the "Ivory Tower" in Phoenix. They would not have immediately sent me to collections and left me and my entire family destitute. I signed a contract to pay them X amount of dollars for services rendered. It is a real simple thing to understand, even for this High School educated blue collar construction worker. People sign contracts for #### every day. Apartment rent, mortgages, car loans, credit cards, the list goes on. Yet, some people think a contract to pay a company for CDL Training is one they should not be held to account for. That is just absurd. I invite anyone who disagrees with me to start a Truck Driving School and train anyone and everyone who walks through your doors for free. I'm sure you could get a free building with a plot of land big enough for a training range for free. Instructors would show up 8-10 hours a day for free. The people that run the office would work for free. I'm also quite sure you could get several Tractors and Trailers for free. I could go on. But..... Anyone with more than 3 or 4 functioning brain cells can see my point. Sometimes you need to illustrate absurdity by being absurd!

 

I signed a contract stating I agreed to pay for cdl schooling should I not complete 1 year at the company whose name was on that contract. I went through school here at home because the school was "partnered" with that company. They agreed to finance my schooling or I pay them back and I signed a non-compete contract. The day I passed my road test and had license in hand i walked away and left because I wasn't going to work for a bottom feeder if I could help it.

About a month after i had my license I hopped a bus to Joplin Mo for CFI. To this day I believe that is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I enjoy it here but I hate to say that I know a few that didn't and a few that left for other reasons now no company is perfect and CFI has their flaws too but i have a good fleet manager who genuinely takes care of me if I have an issue, maybe that means I'm a good earner for her i don't know. Ive never been cheated on pay although it is a bit on the low side. I get reimbursed and detetion pay with out a problem mileage pay that is usually within 5 miles of address to address pay. So I really can't complain. That said CFI is dry van only. Now TFI(parent company) owns several different companies but only one small flatbed outfit that we just bought. Everything else is van or reefer maybe a few tanks. So I don't think I could jump over to one of our other companies as they all do the same thing.

My question tonight is, is it worth it to switch to flatbed? I've got an uncle who has 22 years experience as a driver mostly O/O and he says as a company driver there is no point as it pays the same, so does it? Ive done manual labor in heat and wind cold too. I'm familiar with how a rachet strap an chain binders work i could figure out how to tarp. I considered doing flatbed right out of school but took his advice and didn't. So after my year is up basically in April would it be worth switching? Is a flatbed more difficult to back than a van or is it as i assume just a learning curb. Are some flatbed companies pet friendly? Any advice you could give me or anything else to throw in about flatbeding would be appreciated. I would seriously consider switching over to flatbed after i get my year in so might as well get me some research in now.

 

Here's a good website to look for your next job as a flatbedder:
Home - Daseke Inc.
Home - Daseke Inc.
Flatbed & Specialized Transportation Solutions. Daseke, Inc. is the largest flatbed and specialized transportation and logistics company in North America.
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Yeah, some let you take a pet.

 

If you don't wanna get bored in trucking and wait all day long to unload, yes to the question.

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P&S Transportation - Apply in 30 seconds

 

. Well its been awhile since I've updated the thread about my life or trucking or whatever this thread has become. Im currently sitting in Joplin at the terminal for cfi. I still debate if I want to continue here after I get a year in. So I want to start a little conversation here with myself about CFI.

So how has Cfi been as a company in the almost 10 months ive worked here. Ill start with the most important ive been home 3 times all by choice. First time I went home I had been out with a trainer gone about 6 weeks. They tried to send me a load going who knows somewhere other than home. I told them flat out I will be home on this day. They immediately resolved the issue and got me a load going home on time. Second time I went home I had been out 6 to 8 weeks got me home on time no problem whatsoever.This time I was home though I got my copilot Sam. We went out again I stayed out for 3 months around the time I last posted on this thread. Was home 2 weeks no problem getting me home or back out but, it did seem like they tried to punish me for staying home so long. I was only averaging 4 to 5 hundred dollars a week after taxes for about a month and very seriously considered telling them where to stick this truck. However things got better and im making decent miles now. Ive been out since mid to the end of September and I'm going home around Christmas. I'll be taking 2 weeks off and will not return until the new year. I will wait to see how they handle me taking 2 weeks off again before I make any immediate decisions because if I get punished for taking hometime then clearly it would seem they and I are going to have a huge problem.

. It took awhile but I finally believe I got it through CFI's thick skull that I will take a 34 if I want to. They love to run us on recaps and me and my fleet manager had this conversation before its just how the load planners like to do things. I personally prefer a 34 it gives me time to do house work laundry clean get a little exercise and relax after working all week.

. Equipment repair is something they don't hesitate to fork over the money for in the slightest. The truck has been a lame workhorse but a workhorse none the less. Ive thankfully never had to be put it the shop for anything other than driver says issues. The heat randomly quit working but after shutting the truck off for an hour it worked fine and the shop couldn't replicate the problem. Trailers on the other hand tend to be the bane of my existence be it dot inspection is expired or tandems are broke you name it our older trailers are junk. The majority of our trailers are alright with no major issues though. Anytime we get to Joplin they do a full inspection on the truck and trailer to make sure all is good. So they try to keep equipment up if drivers reported issues.

Pay did leave a lot to be desired at least it did to me. Now its important to add that im a first year driver so I don't have a lot of complaints so long as I average 700 a week. If it drops below that I get mighty agitated. It is apparent that cfi was having driver retention issues so their solution was to offer us all a raise. I went from making 37cpm to 42cpm averaging 2500ish miles a week. Im brining home about a 750 to 800 dollar average each week and im ok with that as a first year driver. Everyone else got a 1 cpm raise but they wanted the new drivers to have something to make them stay.

. How bad is their retention issues I do wonder that myself. Out of 12 or so people that I went to orientation with im the only one left. That should probably tell you something about cfi as a company. Now I dont see why they have such a high turnover rate. I assume that maybe I dont work for as good of a company as I think I do and that maybe I'm just ignorant and haven't truly realized that yet.

. That all said I still believe I want to leave when I get my year in. Im under no contractual obligation to do so. Ive paid off my cdl school last week several thousand dollars well spent for me to have a career path that I thourghly enjoy. As I've said I went to a steering wheel holder academy in Elizabethtown Ky called CDL Training Services and Consulting. It was operated by us xpress. Ive heard that it isn't anymore but haven't stopped in to confirm that. They done what they where supposed to do they got me my license auto restriction and all. I dont have a complaint about the school in the slightest and would recommend them to anyone who wants to get their cdl. The exception being they only have automatics and it does leave a foul taste in my mouth. In the coming 6 months or so quarantine permitting im going to talk to an instructor I know and see about borrowing a truck and retesting to lift the auto restriction. Truth be told I need to go ahead and reach out to him. That way maybe I could do it over my Christmas break. But I assume getting an appointment to test would be a royal pain. So im not exceptionally worried about it right now.

. As for future plans for myself I still want to go flatbed and I thank @Chinatown and @Speed_Drums for the recommendations. I looked into daseke and particularly E.W. Wylie (WeLie) as @supersnackbar calls them. Ive talked to their drivers and even to a recruiter. Ive also read every page of Ssb Moore wylie thread. So I'd almost lean away from them. Despite most drivers not having anything negative to say about them that ive talked to. That said SSB would you recommend them to someone trying to get their foot in the door to start flatbeding? Ive never done it and most companies want flatbed experience. Unless you go to a mega (Melton Swift and Western Exspress come to mind) and I dont want to go to a mega carrier. Cfi is a large company but they aren't a mega yet. I do believe they're working towards it though. Anyone with any advice on how to get into flatbeding I'd love to hear it. I genuinely believe I'd enjoy making the change so I'm almost certain I will. I'd love some help with it though. Ive talked to a McElroy driver and it would be an option but I can't give up my dog and I dont really have any interest in being home every weekend.

. I will wrap up my book though. So I guess I'm curious are there many companies out there that will train a driver with one years experience to pull a flat, where I wouldn't have to go to a mega that hires new drivers. So some more advice would be appreciated. After reading this forum for years It still seems so easy to get lost when trying to find information like this, and I really don't want to start a new thread as I don't want to create more spam. Anyway thanks in advance id appreciate some advice.

 

Congratulation on hanging in there and getting some good OTR experience.
Plenty of flatbed companies will hire you and give you good flatbed training and also let you take the dog.
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Melton Truck lines in ok and does irregular route trucking, which means you can bounce all over the USA like a nomad.
Melton Truck Lines Flatbed Driving Jobs and Flatbed ...
Melton Truck Lines Flatbed Driving Jobs and Flatbed Freight Quotes
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Flatbed Truck Driver Jobs - Britton Transport
Flatbed Truck Driver Jobs - Britton Transport
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Home | Paul Transportation Inc.
Home | Paul Transportation Inc.
Paul Transportation is a premiere Flatbed truckload carrier that specializes in hauling freight that requires an open deck flatbed trailer. Paul has a fleet of 250 trucks and 350 trailers.

 

Thanks again Chinatown I'll do a bit of digging into them. I had a buddy who worked for Melton who didn't necessarily care for them but I'm open to opinions on it. Ill definitely look into Paul and Britton. Thanks yet again I have no clue how you keep your head wrapped around all of these companies and so many different threads.

 

@MrEd may still be at Britton as a flatbed driver.

 

Congratulations, driver.

 

Thompson Trucking
www.thompsontruck.net
This company has a dedicated account and I think hauls truck bodies.
Don't know if it's better than the others I listed or not.
48 state carrier.