Comments By Larry T.

You just described my trainer to a T. Was it a Schneider training engineer out of Gary? Just 5 days. Thats why I chose Schneider. Good luck man. 5 days is nothing. Most have you out for a month.

My favorite thing was he let me smoke while driving and he wrote in the book that I like to drive with one hand. lol. He was a total A hole.

I just came back from 5 days out on the road training and it was the worst experience ever. First off his bunk beds were dirty , the fridge and microwave looks like he hasn’t cleaned it in years it smells horrible.

All he did was eat all day , sleep and talk on the phone all day. Anytime I ask questions he gets offended, anytime I try to take notes he gets offended. Anytime I get to a shipper or dropping off a load he never lets me go inside by myself he is always taking lead and everything he tells me he doesn’t explain every detail, he’s very vague.

I only got to practice alley docking about 3 times and most of the time he will take over and park himself. He only speaks about himself while we are on the road we barely vibed. I understand this is training. I’m not here to make friends, but I am driving 10-11 hours out the day. Some mutual conversation would be nice, but he would be on the phone instead the whole time.

If I did something wrong he would mention it a few hours later and then bring it up instead of telling me what I did wrong right there and then. He never really physically showed me anything he would just point and tell me what to do instead of showing me then letting me do it so I can learn.

When it comes to the eld I pretty much learned on my own. At the beginning he would always do it for me which I did not like because I need to do it on my own in order to learn. He basically had no patience. He also told me that I’m a perfectionist and the way he worded it was in a way he stated as if he did not like the fact I am a perfectionist and take pride in what I do.

He doesn’t brush or wash his face in the mornings and expected me to do the same. He talks way too much about things that’s not related to my training and he belittles me every chance he gets. I ended up requesting a new trainer because this was the most miserable week I ever had in my life training.

When I was in cdl school I was treated with respect. They had patience and took the time to explain everything in detail which this trainer failed miserably to do. He may be a professional driver but he isn’t a professional trainer.

I honestly feel like I was racially discriminated but I’m not going to shift my focus on that. I’m just really focused on getting the experience I need to pursue my trucking career and I appreciate anybody that takes the time to read this and hear me vent and give me advice moving forward.

He even said he is home every weekend because he can’t be on the road with somebody for more than 2 weeks or else he will feel like killing them. He told me many things that made me feel very uncomfortable and I didn’t feel confident when I was around him. I have to go in Monday and find out when I will start with my new trainer… at this point I’m not looking for a bond with my trainer I just want to get this over with.

I came in to this very excited but this experience turned me off. I’m not losing my motivation and my determination and will keep pushing forward and I want people out there to know what to expect and hopefully don’t have to experience what I experienced.

Just by going off what a Walmart private fleet driver said on a youtube video. Walmart will have you take the sleep study test again and if need be give you a new cpap.

I cracked my phone while on the road. Couldn't use the numbers to unlock it. So I bought a new phone at a DG and had to get a new number for now. I checked the private advantage site and it showed background check as cancelled. So I'm guessing they tried to contact me about something.

On a side note what a feeling of defeat and helplessness without a cell phone on the road. Saw an Amish couple and their 2 kids pull up on a horse and buggy at a DG. Had me yearning for that lifestyle. lol

Feb 1st will be 30 months for me. I've always been interested in Walmart private fleet since I was in school and was sort of my goal.

Been with Schneider on the Dollar General account for 29 months. Would seem like the perfect transition for me. I love the little down time and always on the move.

Since this site has helped me from my start I'd give you a referral Turtle. I was going to give it to 20 plus trucking on youtube but im sure he gets he s fair share since he s on youtube.

Like Larry, I will be at 30 months Feb 1 but if I add in the time from getting my CDL, it would be almost 32 months. And I also started out with Schneider.

Yesterday I pulled up their application and it seemed to be pretty specific about the 30 months, so I didn’t fill it out just yet. Only a few days to go if I want to pull the trigger.

Turtle, do you know what the Walmart policy is about sleep apnea and cpap machine usage?

Also, before filling out the application, can someone talk to a recruiter? Or does Walmart even have recruiters like most companies?

And don’t be shy about the referral bonus, you deserve it.

Feb 1st will be 30 months for me. I've always been interested in Walmart private fleet since I was in school and was sort of my goal.

Been with Schneider on the Dollar General account for 29 months. Would seem like the perfect transition for me. I love the little down time and always on the move.

Since this site has helped me from my start I'd give you a referral Turtle. I was going to give it to 20 plus trucking on youtube but im sure he gets he s fair share since he s on youtube.

Was coming to a red light and noticed my trailer was jumping and then a big puff of smoke. I didn't notice any air loss. Trailer tires all moved when I took off and then pulled over. Was done with all my stores and maybe 500-1000 pounds on trailer.

Anyone have this happen before? He was able to do some welding to get trailer back to proper height, however couldn't replace with new air bag because he needed a lift to do more welding.

Was driving my 2022 Freightliner 130k miles at night. 40 mins into my trip my headlights went off twice in a fast sequence and then back on. It didn't completely freak me out since a car was coming at me, was more of what the heck was that about.

I can't remember if all lights went out or just the headlights. Anyone know what could have caused that?

Had this happen twice each time around the 65k mark. Have a tire bank 3 miles from my drop yard. I guess thats one good thing about schneider you can just show up at any tire bank without needing approval. The guy said it was an alignment issue. I guess Schneider doesnt care to do that.

Here is what has happened so far.

I was sent to the Paulsboro, NJ, TA and waited 8 hours to get in the shop. They only have one technician on duty and he only does tire changes. Got a new Goodyear tire installed. The company is routing me back to our shop to check on wheel balance and to do a three axle alignment.

Looking at the Schneider Costco reefer account. Having 2 years of experience under my belt in a few weeks, I feel better about trying something like foodservice for the 15k sign on bonus and bail quickly if need be. Of course finding something else might be hard immediately.

I consider myself a delivery driver. Just looking where I want to go when I want to become a trucker. lol.

Your issue is you have very little experience. I'd stay or look at switching accounts within Schneider to get 1 year under your belt.,

Where are you going to work at next? I just had an interview with Sysco and their hourly pay is underwhelming right now ($26/hr). They're supposed to renew the contract with the union in September and change the pay though. They told me the pay didn't change for 5 years. I guess that's a downside of being unionized. Still giving employees pre-covid pay is crazy... Most non-union companies have increased their pay several times since covid to compete for hiring and retaining employees.

Teams and trainers are the only ones that come even close to top pay.

I made 103k my first full year on the dg account with Schneider . However that was doing 9, 12 day stints and doing every unload off duty to be able to get more loads. Then the new pay structure came and I'm making way less. Going to stick it out another month to get my 80 hours of pto and Im done.

Papa was getting a crazy mid 60's a mile. He was in a great area.

I'd stick it out for a full year, or transfer to another account.

There is food service which is a lot of night unloading using a ramp and hand cart. Depending on the area of the country you live in it may pay better. I live in the south and when I was pulling dollar general i was making more than most of the guys i know that did food service. It depends on what company you work for and what area of the country you are in. And to be honest believe it or not dg is way easier than most of those jobs

How long have you been pulling and unloading at dollar general? Which company are you with? After you are established , get your technique down you should be able to pull around 2000 a week.

I can’t answer anything about owner op. Not my forte

I've been working with Schneider out of Lebec, CA for about 4 months. $.50 cpm max, $15/hr and $100 per load. The math doesn't work out that a solo driver would average $2K a week... Unless you get all one stop loads at markets off of interstates and don't wait at the DC for loads ever. I've been told that Schneider pays the most out of the 3 companies working for DG. My manager showed me a spreadsheet of the average pay of all the drivers when I started, but I figured out that every single driver around or above $2K a week was a trainer. They have a real racket going: they get all the aforementioned pay, $100 per day for each trainee (up to 2) and the trainee(s) help them unload.

Teams and trainers are the only ones that come even close to top pay.

I made 103k my first full year on the dg account with Schneider . However that was doing 9, 12 day stints and doing every unload off duty to be able to get more loads. Then the new pay structure came and I'm making way less. Going to stick it out another month to get my 80 hours of pto and Im done.

Papa was getting a crazy mid 60's a mile. He was in a great area.

I'd stick it out for a full year, or transfer to another account.

There is food service which is a lot of night unloading using a ramp and hand cart. Depending on the area of the country you live in it may pay better. I live in the south and when I was pulling dollar general i was making more than most of the guys i know that did food service. It depends on what company you work for and what area of the country you are in. And to be honest believe it or not dg is way easier than most of those jobs

How long have you been pulling and unloading at dollar general? Which company are you with? After you are established , get your technique down you should be able to pull around 2000 a week.

I can’t answer anything about owner op. Not my forte

I've been working with Schneider out of Lebec, CA for about 4 months. $.50 cpm max, $15/hr and $100 per load. The math doesn't work out that a solo driver would average $2K a week... Unless you get all one stop loads at markets off of interstates and don't wait at the DC for loads ever. I've been told that Schneider pays the most out of the 3 companies working for DG. My manager showed me a spreadsheet of the average pay of all the drivers when I started, but I figured out that every single driver around or above $2K a week was a trainer. They have a real racket going: they get all the aforementioned pay, $100 per day for each trainee (up to 2) and the trainee(s) help them unload.

I left Roehl gycdl program after 2 weeks. They agreed to charge me nothing and pay me minimum wage for my 2 weeks. My classmate failed part 2 out with trainer and they didn't charge him. However not sure if they made him downgrade his license, he drives a school bus.

I would imagine if you got your cdl through the company but failed out with trainer they'd want to be paid or at least prevent you from driving for another company for a year or paid back before they would release you.

After training if you don't pass the driving test do you have to pay the company back?