Where to go and what to do???

I have been reading and posting here for a little over 6 months.

I took the jump, found and paid for my own 5 week school that is PTDI Certified.

I have been trying to look at a lot of companies out there. I am trying to stay away from Swift, Werner, JB Hunt, and a few others. I read where some of these companies seem to think you need to spend endless hours with a trainer too. I think that they are just trying to milk the heck out of you with the lower pay and call it training while you are really teaming.

I see a few companies that say 3 weeks training and that seems fair.

Anyway, I have an offer from Roehl for .30 a mile. I would like to get into Millis but they will not hire someone with no miles unless they went to their CDL School. I am trying to look into Conway but not sure if they are hiring new student drivers.

I would really like to find one company to go with, and not be a job hopper. I understand nothing here is perfect too.

I understand about being safe out there, and keeping any eye on what you are doing behind the wheel of the truck too.

Do you folks have any advice here??

Thank you for your input,

 

Well you probably don't want to hear it but IMHO a CDL, just like a Pilot Certificate, is a license to learn. I personally feel that drivers start to cure out around ~3 years/400,000 miles and become veterans around ~7+ years/1,000,000 miles. I'm still working on my veteran status.

If I were serious about learning, I'd look for more than three weeks of training. While I have no experience with them, I think Prime has one of the better training programs. You are right to avoid training companies that use training to run team. That isn't training that is throwing the new driver to the wolves.

Congratulations on getting your CDL and for getting your own training. Good luck!

 

Being new that is decent money and a short time before getting a decent truck to drive.
Take the offer and stick with it for a year. If you decide to move on after that there will be plenty of offers and you will have had time to SEE what is out there rather than READ it.
Welcome to The Road.

 

Big Jon is right, obviously I work for USA and they are notorious for 175 hrs of actual behind the wheel training, with someone who could have only been on the road for a year themselves. That's not a good situation and could become fatal. I had a guy that's been here 23 years with 2.75m safe miles but there are not not many of them roaming around USA, or the country for that matter.

You took the solid road and paid for your cdl on your own, now your in charge and can make a decision that's good for you with no strings attached. I still have 5 months left on a 12 month commitment, but when I'm done I will have some experience and about 140k miles so its a good seed. From what I've seen, if a company is offering allot of prizes (hiring incentives), beware. Why all the treats? Because tricks are sure to follow.

 

Roehl is not three weeks of training. Their school is three weeks long to get your cdl and then you have three, what they call evolutions of training that are two weeks long. That adds up to eight weeks of training. I am starting in August. I did a lot of research before choosing Roehl. I am college educated, not that I am a super genius or anything, but I know how to research and they seem to be a good company to start with.

 

Most mega companies have that 6-8 week training program,is it to milk new drivers,maybe but I personally think new out of trucking school drivers should get as much time they need till they fell there ready to go on there own.So 4 + weeks training is a best program I think.

 

BigJohn - No pun intended here, but in your opinion, what makes a professional truck driver?

Thank you

 

Yes they have like 3 stages to go thru. I too am college educated too. I have worked for fortune 500 companies, and seen the bad side of working for corporate america. I just dont want to jump around here, and Roehl sounded pretty good with what I have read about them too.

Thank you

 

The best thing, from what I have read about Roehl here in the forums, is that they teach you to run safe and legal. These are the two top things in my book for a starting truck driver to learn. Their school is very reasonably priced too. My brother-in-law drove truck a few years ago and the first thing he said when I said Roehl was "Roehl is a great choice". I figured my research was complete.

 

Three years of diving in all four seasons. Running 48 states. Driving in the Northwest on 6 mile 6% grades with ice and snow and runaway truck ramps. Driving in the East on 8% grades. To be quite honest California grades are for wussies.

Going around on two lane roads when Wyoming closes the gates on the Interstate. Hauling top-heavy loads that bring your trailer wheels off the ground if you exit to fast.

There are many things that make a professional driver, these were just a few I could think of off the top of my head. I'd guess this might be one-fourth of an exhaustive list. New drivers have no idea what is in store.

Remember, with over six years and more than 800,000 miles I still do not qualify myself as a veteran and I learned when there were no schools.

Everyone seems to think trucking is easy because they know how to drive. Driving makes up maybe 20% of a truck drivers job. And believe me, it is the easiest 20% of the job. You give me a choice of someone who can drive or someone who has good judgment and I would pick the guy with the judgment every time. You can teach driving but it takes mistakes to learn good judgment.

I started with my own truck at 22 as an outlaw with no experience. I survived with a bit of good judgment and the good Lord watching out for me. My entire three years with that first truck was a learning experience. The stories I can tell scare even me today.

I knew you wouldn't like my answer, nobody today thinks they need to spend time to master anything. They think a quick class and they are ready to go. Someday you'll look back and realize that old coot wasn't as stupid as you thought. Good luck and many safe miles of driving.

Keep in mind the good companies want three years experience and many of the top of the line jobs want five years. I used to think it was ridiculous too until I drove for a while.