Who's good and who's bad?

well with the down economy and slow freight many companies have pulled back on any cdl trainning. you should first find out who has good freight and still trainning drivers and work from that list. When you get back in just settle in with that company for a year and then start looking again if needed. right know just get you short list together and go with who lets you in and has the miles to give you!

 

joshmck,you would be 2 steps ahead of many other students by paying your own way and living in a good area for freight.


A valuable resource in your search is the FMCSA website,it can tell you a lot of info on any carrier such as number of trucks,miles driven,log violations,equipment violations and much more.This can help you determine how many miles each truck runs,how they maintain their equipment,and if they run their drivers legally on hours of service.

Crete has a terminal in Indy and I've read on this forum where they take students(only from certain shools and you must score 95% or better to qualify).I recommend reading the thread "Crete-a year in review" in the good company section.A driver for any company could learn a lot from this thread.evertrucker,the thread starter,is in the wrong line of work,I think he could make a lot of $ writing professionally,but I think he has a genuine love for the road like you and I.It's one of the best threads on this forum.

Good luck to you and if you have more questions there are a lot of people here willing to help.

 

Your welcome joshmck,I think that info was on the Crete-year in review thread,but it might take a while to find it(153 pages).

Another good thread is Superior Carriers(tanker)where a guy got hired right out of school,sometimes it's all in the timing and a good attitude and you get lucky.You can check out that thread in the DAC section.

Another good resource on this site is in the "Experienced Truckers Advice" section.The thread is"Evaluating a Motor Carrier-The Interview"posted5-26-08.It's a list of all the questions you should ask a recruiter,if they can't answer them,BEWARE.

Any questions feel free to ask.

 

Most drivers who are trashing a company caused there own problems. Thats not say that there aren't some really bad comapanies out there. It's just that most of them are not as bad as some drivers would have you belive. Remember the following things and it will help allot with any company you work for.

1: This is a job unlike any other. It's more of a life style then a job. If you look at it as just a job you will have problems.

2: Remeber you work WITH them. Not FOR them. Everyone from the planner to dispatch to CRS to the driver needs to do there job. Someone drops the ball and everyones life is harder.

3: Your dm IS NOT you boss. The dm is your partner. he keeps you happy by getting you miles, which makes you money. You drive the miles, Del on-time and communicate with him, Which makes his life easier and he looks good to his boss so he's happy. You get a dm that forgets this and thinks he's the boss you fire him and get someone who can work WITH you. Not over you.

4: Do your job. You are hired to drive miles. That meens 500-600 a day 3000+ a week. You get paid for those miles NOT what is in the back. Who cares what you haul? As long at it moves you on down the line it pays.

5: Small loads add up to big checks. Don't turn down a load because it has short miles. Shure a load thats only 295 miles sucks. Or 600 miles in two days is BS. But it maybe getting you to an area where frieght is better. 300 here and 600 there add up to 2000+ for the week. And that bets the two days sitting you did with no layover because you refused a short load and pissed people off.

6: Attitude. If you have a good attitude and don't give your dm allot of greef. they are more likely to go out of there way to get you better loads and keep you moveing. If you act like a butthead and cuss and yell at them. Then they aren't going to do squot for you. They may even let you sit awhile. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Remember this and you life as a drive at any company will be much easier.

 

All in all a good answer. The only thing I take issue with is the recruiter comment. If you read the posts on here, it is hard to believe what they say. You can ask as many questions as you want. The recruiter will usually answer all of them. The problem is, they lie. They do everything they can to get you to hire on. That is one of the ways they get paid.

I think if you want the truth, ask them to put it in writing. It should be simple enough for them to do that if they are telling the truth. If not, every word they say can be a lie. Remember that all they want to do is get you hired and make their money.