Would You Help A New Driver?

Oh wow bro. You just keep that attitude especially during the first year and you will do fine. I dont have any felonies but i have a bunch of misdemeanors and i started off with a company worse than carolina cargo. Some weeks i was making 200 (other weeks i made 800-1000 but still, it was not good money). But i just maintained that attitude you have and kept my eye on the prize. Im not rich by any stretch but 1 1/2 years later im making 1400 a week.

 

The only advice i can give you other than dont hit anything (seriously if you are in a truck stop and backing into a spot for the night to park and it takes you 40 times of getting out and looking to do it safely you get out 40x. #### every other impatient driver who has a problem with it, i digress) is dont job hop your first year. Its really easy to say you wont before starting out but believe me whatever company you start out with your first year there will be a million times you are going to want to move on to what you perceieve as a better opportunity. Just remember before you put in your first year no opportunity will be much better at all. Stick it out the first year no matter what. This wont make alot of sense to you right now (you might think it does butit wont ) but when you are 3 months in at your first gig and you are already plotting on how to murder your pos dispatcher it will all make sense.

 

Hold your head up Mr. Noel. Everyone makes mistakes. You've taken responsibility for your actions. Now all you can do is move forward an make the best of a bad situation. I wish you all the best in your future whatever you do.

 

Getting your CDL involves weighing money up front versus job & job quality after school. It involves start today and get it over with versus wait until the next class and take the time for classes to finish. In my case, my options were sign for a loan to go to a 3 week CDL school with a job waiting on my, or get on a waitlist for a community college, spend a semester in training, pay my bills however long all of that took and then look for a job. I chose fast and repaying my student loan.

You may not know it now, but your best option of making this a success is when you pick your first company and or school, but mostly the first company. I strongly recommend you focus on where to work and let that decide how/where to get your license. Some companies hire with the expectation you won't last so they work you hard and get loan guarantees from you to cover "free training". Try repaying CDL training after you quit and nobody will hire you to drive.

You aren't likely to stay at your first company because no amount of research will show you what things are and are not tolerable until AFTER you live through them. MOST new driver severely underestimate importance of hometime, and assume big paychecks will make up for never being home. Then they live through the wife complaining you aren't home to help with kid problems and the paychecks vary and problems only mount.

Look around your area for trucking companies within an hour or two drive, the closer the better. That helps you get hometime, because the truck needs to come home for maintenance, and you don't have to park a truck in a residential area. Talk to current drivers, not management or recruiters. Don't spill your guts about your hopes and dreams working in the industry, ask what did you do last week. The company isn't going to change their operation to make you happy, so no need to tell them when you want to get home or how much pay you want. Ask current employeess what they experience and then silently decide if that is acceptable or not. Don't give managers or recruiters your wishlist and then believe them when they magically announce that's what you can expect, they lie.

The company must fit you, so you decide if it fits or not BEFORE you hire on. The single most common mistake I see from newbies talking about their experience is just deciding "all companies are alike, I'll tolerate what they do to me, and make a better choice next time." WRONG. A bad first company can work you to death, cheat your pay, engineer you quitting and forcing you to pay THEM for training. Don't do anything until you decide where to work. Then you get our CDL they way that company wants it done.

I wouldn't bother getting HazMat if you have a criminal record. Too much hassle and there is plenty of work without it.

 

Very sound advice. As I understand it he already has his class A with combo and tanker endorsements. I would still think your advice on choosing a company would apply. Is that correct Mr. Noel you already have your class A??

 

Sorry you have your permit my bad..