Need Some Help 7

Hey guys So I will be graduating from my CDL school on Friday. I'm so excited to get this new career started. I have a few questions about orientation locations if you guys could help me out. Sorry for the long post but I just want to hear from some experienced people. I'm going to make my own decisions of course but it doesn't hurt to get some insight from some veterans in the industry. First off I just got out of the Active Duty Army and decided this was the career for me. So an apprenticeship program is very important to me.

OK so after reading your whole post I can tell you I did the Werner thing I worked out of there Joplin location on their Dollar General dedicated route and it absolutely sucks. Orientation the people were nice but besides that nothing that they told me actually pan out the way it was supposed to. Because I had experience I didn't have to wait for a trainer know that but you will and you will wait I can tell you that I went to the orientation and stayed with him for four days and I had to leave I couldn't take it they were on organized trailers get loaded sloppy the U-boats that they load stuff into is damaged but the biggest thing is nobody holes in the Florida on a regular basis especially Werner. They have one hub in northern Florida has a skeleton crew and a very small fleet. Honestly I think your best bet if you don't want to unload trucks go to CFI. The reason I work with them is because they're organized their fair they're not perfect and don't expect you to be. And right now they're redoing their whole fleet so odds are you'll be in a brand-new 2016 Kenworth T680. Ultimately though I mean you need to pick where you think you're going to be most comfortable but from my experience it's not going to be Werner.

I did apply to Knight Transportation which is in Lakeland, FL as well but have not received a phone call from them yet. And its been over a month so that tells me right off the back they have bad communication in their company.

Big Red, would it surprise you if I told you that there was a recruiter at Knight assuming you aren't really interested in the job because you never checked back in on the status of your application? Always follow up on an application with a trucking company after just a couple of days. Recruiters handle thousands of applications, and you can always bring yours right back up to the top of their stack by making a simple phone call.

You made an assumption that is totally off base.

Jaybird, to assume that Werner is just not a good company to work for based on the problematic Dollar Store account would be very short sighted. We've had some very successful Werner drivers in our forum. Very seldom do we hear success stories from Dollar Store drivers no matter which company they are working for. That is one tough gig. I will agree with you totally though, if that is the job they are offering to Big Red.

Jaybird, to assume that Werner is just not a good company to work for based on the problematic Dollar Store account would be very short sighted

I totally agree. You had a few days on one account and now Werner's no good? Come on, man. One of the largest carriers in the nation, one of the most consistently profitable carriers in the nation, and loaded from top to bottom with fantastic equipment and all sorts of opportunities.

I worked the Dollar Tree account with US Xpress and we always tell rookies to avoid the dollar store accounts until they get some experience. But I certainly wouldn't tell them to avoid an entire company because of one account.

Don't worry about orientation locations, Red. It's like basic training: you'll go to Fort Knox, then you'll be sent anywhere. Your orientation may be in Atlanta, but for only 3-4 days. Then you could still be based out of a terminal closer to home.

Don't worry about orientation locations, Red. It's like basic training: you'll go to Fort Knox, then you'll be sent anywhere. Your orientation may be in Atlanta, but for only 3-4 days. Then you could still be based out of a terminal closer to home.

Not only this...but sometimes terminals don't matter at all. Home to me is NJ, my FM is in MO and the closest terminal is 130 miles away from home. I take my truck home so it doesn't matter.

At my company it is like the military in that you go then don't come back until home time.

Good luck :)

Schneider would be a good choice if you are less than a year out of the military. Schneider will give you a bump in starting pay based on your service. 1 for 1 for driving jobs, 1 for 4 for non driving jobs. It caps out at 5 years worth of experience.

Thank you everyone for the replies. I like the way Werner is sounding and yes Bret they did offer me a family dollar account because that is the only account open in my area. The other option is OTR. Which is what I decided. Old school I should have clarified this but I have contacted the Knight recruiter by email and phone call by leaving a message and still got no responses yet. I understand you have to call them to check up on your application but I'm applying my military skills and I expect a follow up. Same on the military. If you had a kid come in wanting to join the military then it is your job to make contact, do follow up calls etc. That's how recruiters work. Communication is crucial in any business. In the military if you didn't have good communication with your people well let's just say the outcome of it can be deadly. But I get what you are saying. I also think that just because you had a bad experience with an account doesn't mean the company is bad. The home terminal doesn't really bother me. I mean my dad works out of savanah ga and drives back home once a month. So that's not an issue. I just wanted my orientation close to home so I can go home every night and not have to worry about them paying for a hotel for me and sticking me with someone I don't know. But if need be I will do it because I'm military and know how to adapt to changes and living with 100s of people on a cot in a tiny space. The other thing that got me was the training pay. I could put with living with someone for a few weeks but like with Schneider the training pay is like $400. Werner is going to give me $750 because of my experience. So that's a little more doable. I have a family thatbi have to support and my income right now is what we will be going off of. I just wanted to see if anyone could shed some light on a few companies I should look into that i haven't mentioned. Not your personal experiences with an account. I don't care about that at all. I care about relationship with drivers, company overall and equipment and pay and miles.

I just wanted to see if anyone could shed some light on a few companies I should look into that i haven't mentioned. Not your personal experiences with an account. I don't care about that at all. I care about relationship with drivers, company overall and equipment and pay and miles.

You see Big Red, that is why I responded in the way I did to your assumption about Knight. You said...

I did apply to Knight Transportation which is in Lakeland, FL as well but have not received a phone call from them yet. And its been over a month so that tells me right off the back they have bad communication in their company.

As a Knight employee, I can assure you communication with their drivers is a huge priority with them. I don't know why they aren't responding to you, but if I had to assume anything it would be that they have slowed their hiring in your area temporarily. Should they have communicated that with you? Yes, I would have expected that, but to assume the company has bad communication is not where I would go.

One of the things we try to teach people is to be careful about judging a company based on your recruiter's performance. Some recruiters are good, others not so much. Some may be total greenhorns, but you would have no way of knowing that. Persistance and tenacity are traits of successful truck drivers, and those two characteristics are often relied on heavily during the initial hiring and training process.

Hey Big Red. Just one more thought here, unless you have made up your mind cause I don't want to muddy the water for you.

I have been with Swift for over 4 years running Walmart Dedicated in PA, NJ, NY, DE and MD. I am very happy, have great relationships with my DMs and Planners and have no immediate interest in changing. I love the gig, and although it's not for everyone, if it fits your liking you can make very good money, drive the very best equipment Swift has and be part of a tight-knit, small group of drivers servicing the DC. If you choose, and have a stellar driving/service record it can be a springboard for Walmart's Private Fleet. I have seen that happen many times since I started.

Considering your experience, you might consider Walmart Dedicated with Swift running out of the Winter Haven DC.

Maybe food for thought, maybe not. Happy to answer any direct questions you have. Good luck to you!