whats the deal with cargo ins.?

Insurance companies don't like risk. Most will do anything possible to avoid any risk. That usually involves not covering those who don't have any experience. I don't see that cargo should be such a major issue unless it involves open deck freight. Insurance companies seem to be more interested in the liability part when it comes to experience. There is more of a chance that a driver could do something to cause a claim when driving than anything else.

 

Its companys not wanting to have expensive insurance rates. Same with when you start driving a car. Its expensive but gets cheaper as you get more years with driving. Try can-am in abby. They were hiring some people out of driving school but don't expect much for pay. But they will train.

 

Try bison too. I applied back when I first got my class 1 but they didn't have a training program or something at the time. They said they would keep my resume though in case they do and they just called me today haha.

 

What does cargo insurance have to do with this specifically?

 

There are for sure companies out there that hire new drivers ... You just need to do some digging which as far as I am concerned is BS... I think the insurance thing of them not taking on new drivers is a bunch of crap.. Cause EVERYONE that starts something is always going to be starting new.. So what is going to happen in years to come that insurances will keep dictating this stupid rule and then you know what will happen.. There will be no drivers to fill the spots of the experience drivers cause the insurance companies do not want to take a chance on drivers.. You gotta start somewhere right.... You can start your new career as an experienced driver cause well that's just not possible..

It's like the same things in the construction industry (not insurance related tho).. When I wanted to try to get into operating machinery when I first got my A licence and heavy machinery certificates I called company after company getting the same BS over and over.. Sorry we only hire experienced operators and most of them also said my schooling doesn't mean $#!T to them.. I finally got so fed up I said to some of them "how do you expect people to get into the industry if you keep saying you need experience.. If every company says that then how is anyone suppose to get the experience if no companies will bring you on to learn" .. So to me this is BS too... Cause again all the older generation will be retiring and then they won't have many people to fill the spots cause they didn't want to take them on to learn.. So now guess what they will be forced in the end to hire newbies to operate but they will be in trouble by that time... No experienced operators to teach the new guys cause they wil all be retired lol.. Doesn't make sense to be one bit...

I understand the liability side of the insurance but at the same time the only way you can get new people into the trucking industry is by taking the chances.... You can't have inexperienced drivers come into the industry without taking a chance.. They have to take the chances otherwise who will they hire to replace the drivers that will be retiring in the next 5-10 years????

You can't have you cake and eat is too !!!!!

 

It is unfortunate that it is so difficult for inexperienced drivers to get a start. About the only way for most to get a leg up is to go with one of the major training carriers. Many of them self insure, at least up to a point. With the carrier taking most of the risk, it makes it easier for an insurance company to cover any risk. Besides, they can spread their risk over several thousand drivers, in most cases.

When I started there were no commercial truck driving schools. Most of us got our start by learning on the job and without a trainer. Insurance companies didn't have as much say as to whom carriers could hire. There were no where near the lawsuits back then. I think that more carriers and owner operators would be more willing to train inexperienced drivers if we could obtain insurance to cover them. If insurance is available it is almost unfordable.

The private schools and some of the mega carriers will probably continue to train new drivers, but I am not at all sure that they are doing the best job of training and don't think that we are graduating as many good drivers as we should. With CSA we have lost at least tens of thousands of drivers. As the economy picks up we should see more demand for good drivers. It would likely be much more problematic if the economy was doing well.