Comments By TruckingMama

Thank you! I’ve already applied and they don’t have anything other than OTR which I can’t do with custody

If OD don’t pan out give reddaway/yrc a shot they have a training program to. They r hiring in Denver area.

Do they require you to be OTR for that month for training? That’s honestly doable for me, I have to give somewhere to get into a good job for my kids. They will have to spend that time in Utah with their dad. They don’t see him often enough so they’d love that extra time with their dad. I always hear great things about OD and I really want to set my family up good

OD position is the best bet for me. I know it’ll be difficult as any job out there, but this is the only job I’ve found so far that’ll work best for my kids, I know it won’t always be perfect but it’s the best shot I’ve got

They do a good job training new P&D drivers at my location they spend a month training then are eased into action once solo. Daniel B is a trainer for OD he can probably offer more insight.

Do they require you to be OTR for that month for training? That’s honestly doable for me, I have to give somewhere to get into a good job for my kids. 

Im not sure you might be home everyday Unless they send you to one of their training locations since that terminal you applied to is small you may have to go to a larger one to train. Not sure how it works exactly since they train out of my terminal.

I've been with OD 4.5 years and hope to make it another 33 so I can retire. I'll be glad to answer any other questions if I can.

Oh awesome! What exactly does training look like for a brand new driver no experience?? I’m sure I’ll have to be up in Denver for training

Do they require you to be OTR for that month for training? That’s honestly doable for me, I have to give somewhere to get into a good job for my kids. 

Im not sure you might be home everyday Unless they send you to one of their training locations since that terminal you applied to is small you may have to go to a larger one to train. Not sure how it works exactly since they train out of my terminal.

I've been with OD 4.5 years and hope to make it another 33 so I can retire. I'll be glad to answer any other questions if I can.

Do they require you to be OTR for that month for training? That’s honestly doable for me, I have to give somewhere to get into a good job for my kids. They will have to spend that time in Utah with their dad. They don’t see him often enough so they’d love that extra time with their dad. I always hear great things about OD and I really want to set my family up good

OD position is the best bet for me. I know it’ll be difficult as any job out there, but this is the only job I’ve found so far that’ll work best for my kids, I know it won’t always be perfect but it’s the best shot I’ve got

They do a good job training new P&D drivers at my location they spend a month training then are eased into action once solo. Daniel B is a trainer for OD he can probably offer more insight.

Thank you so much! I’ll apply to those jobs, I appreciate your help!

will ask them about the pallet jacks and which route I would be getting.

They wouldn't be able to answer that with certainty. If Old Dominion is a company you're interested in, your best bet would be to find somebody working and ask them. They'd have a better idea of how the senior guys bid and what's left over for the new hires.

In searching, I found some things.

I found Lowes is hiring a full time driver.

I found a Tire company encouraging recent graduates to apply

And I found Pepsi

I have first hand experience with Pepsi. The schedule and benefits are a perfect fit for you. The work is physical, but not impossible and they won't send you out on your own until you and your trainer agree that you're ready. That was my experience, but these things change building to building.

I would hate to have my hard work towards a class A be lost because I spent a year doing class B work but honestly that might be the direction I am forced to go in.

Think in terms of baby steps. You have the kiddos to care for, so maybe you should think about getting a local job even if it’s a class B job so you can gain experience, confidence, while still earning a good wage. It may take a year or so, but then you can transition into a class A job. If I lost my class A CDL, my first thought would be to drive a dump truck.

Thank you for your input! Honestly, the recruiter did not make a lot of things clear and I kind of feel really lied to about the expectations which isn’t much of a surprise. I’m really trying to figure this out and not lose hope but I’ll keep y’all updated about it all. Thank you for your honest response about the job, I really appreciate it

That account is with a new partner. Knight is a great company to work for, but Denver is it's own world. I have had great experiences with them, but others have had difficulty. I think success with Knight, like anywhere else, is dependent on how we handle ourselves. As far as I know, the start time was 0630 AM. In Denver at the partners terminal.

In regards to Top Gun and training. Top Gun is a week long class held in Phoenix, (we haven't started doing them in Denver yet) using simulators and Mostly range time. Concentrating on real world close quarters backing and driving.

After that, you would do two weeks OTR training with a trainer. Possibly, but it's uncommon that you would do two weeks with a local driver for training, you would need to speak with Lauren, our terminal manager for that.

After that phase, your first 30k miles Solo are considered training miles. To the best of my knowledge, that's done OTR, so I don't know how they would figure that for local. I think it took me about 2.5 months OTR to complete the 30k. obviously, you wouldn't drive as many miles local, so I'm not sure how they figure it. Upon completion of those, you become a full knight driving associate.

Not sure who your recruiter is. I can forward you the local Denver recruiters number, as he is the only recruiter in Denver we have, he might be able to give you more accurate information.

Also, as far as I know, you would be driving a regular Knight tractor, so not a day cab. but a full sleeper for that position, meaning that you are maneuvering through Denver areas in it. I sometimes do drops and trailer shuffles in Denver, particularly around commerce city, Brighton, etc and older areas of the city. They are very tight areas with little room for error. Quite a few docks and drops that require blind side 90s and improvised backing. Also, as far as I know, that local position was delivering to box stores such as Depot, Lowe's, sam's, and others. Some are easy, some are difficult. Depot's can be challenging, most sam's are easy, except for the one off Broadway in downtown. Lowe's can be real good or real tight. Most of the DCs are easy enough, but some of the older warehouses in the city area are challenging even for veteran drivers.

Also, at least with Knight, our local guys will frequently run our T-called loads from the terminal to the consignee, which can a pain as well as spot empties (go grab empties and drop em at a customer) . In general, a lot of backing and maneuvering. Again though, I don't know if that is done with the new partner. Unless they have enough work, I'd guess that some of the time you would be doing stuff for knight as well.

Not trying to make things out to be all bad, just want you to know what you are in for. Driving around Denver during peak traffic in a semi is challenging in it's own right, even more so when you don't have a lot of experience.

I detailed my experience with Knight from the start in the diaries section here, if it helps, but as I said, I did OTR, dry van, so the training may be slightly different for local. I can honestly say, that I didn't have the skills nor experience to successfully do local just after coming out oF training. I question wether I would now to some degree.

I understand though that your circumstances prevent you from doing regional or OTR right now, I think that the folks here that have experience with local and LTL have good advice on getting in. I'm not trying to steer you away from local, rather just considering the long run, if you were to get on with a company driving local, right out of school with little or no experience, you're looking at some very difficult challenges that could mean failure for your new career. It sounds like there are some apprenticeship programs for local and other options too.

I wish you the best as well.

Thank you! Yes I’ve been applying for the dump truck and concrete positions as well, I’ll definitely look into those other positions! Thank you!

I replied to Shantiwa on the other thread... my thoughts exactly...

Shantiwa you might consider construction (dump truck or concrete), home heating oil delivery, propane delivery, roll off, and trash/recycling pickup. All local jobs, class B.

Think in terms of baby steps. You have the kiddos to care for, so maybe you should think about getting a local job even if it’s a class B job so you can gain experience, confidence, while still earning a good wage. It may take a year or so, but then you can transition into a class A job. If I lost my class A CDL, my first thought would be to drive a dump truck.

Thank you so much for your comments and advice. I have applied to the waste management companies here in my town/county, no calls from the companies unfortunately. I feel like I really had no idea how hard this was going to be, and such a test of faith! I have been putting too much trust in recruiters and it has let me down every time. Fortunately, for the OD position I’ve never even spoken to a recruiter. I have talked to the manager every time and each time we speak on the phone he’s more impressed with my determination. I’m currently in the process of getting my hazmat/tanker/dbl/tpl endorsements and feel like this OD position is the best bet for me. I know it’ll be difficult as any job out there, but this is the only job I’ve found so far that’ll work best for my kids, I know it won’t always be perfect but it’s the best shot I’ve got. I’ll update later about the position. Thank you for sharing your concerns, things are quite different for me than a normal new driver/student.

I don't think I have made any comment on Shantiwa's problems with landing a job. She has obviously been shaking the bushes pretty heavily and coming up empty handed repeatedly. I have been following along silently. I have wanted to comment several times, but have just been hoping something would turn up for her.

For those other newbies who may be wondering why a person could have such a hard time getting a trucking job when there is an obvious demand for truck drivers, I want to point out some things that are working against Shantiwa. This industry is obviously male dominated. That has nothing to do with men being better at the job. It has to do with their availability. Women who have children at home are seriously limited in the availability needed for this job. I actually chuckled when the recruiter from Knight claimed the job was a 10 hour shift. That is not how trucking works. We don't have a start time and an end time that stays consistent each day. We stick with the job until it is done. There is no way for Shantiwa to know this. They could say anything to her. She is less likely to understand this career than the recruiter.

I always recommend folks start out as OTR drivers. There are a lot of sound reasons for that. Unfortunately Shantiwa simply cannot do that. I wish she could. She would already be out there earning a great paycheck and she would be learning to operate a big rig as a professional. She is stuck trying to find a needle in a haystack job that rarely exists for inexperienced drivers. What's worse is that if she finds it she is likely to make a few mistakes that will get her fired. That is not a criticism of her abilities. They are fine I'm sure. It is the reality of why these type jobs are reserved for experienced drivers. A local job in Denver is going to be super challenging and have a whole set of difficulties that are best faced by someone who knows what they are doing.

I keep trying to come up with ways I could suggest something that would be helpful, but I am at a loss. Personally I think the best thing for you Shantiwa would be to check with your local city or county. They might have a driving job that would have somewhat regular hours. Think about a garbage truck, or maybe looking into your county maintenance department. I just don't know what to tell you. Have you looked up Waste Management in the Denver area? They sometimes hire new drivers for Class A and Class B jobs. They will likely have something with a little bit of a schedule to it. I would give that a try.

I feel for you. I know you have put so much effort into this, and probably had no idea it would be this tough to find employment. You are just in a difficult situation. I am sure you would make a great driver, but you have other demands on yourself. As a father, I didn't start this career until my children were grown. I was a busy business owner, but I was able to be home a lot when my children were young. As a professional driver, I am gone most of the time. My wife and I manage it in a way that works for us, but this is a demanding career. It is not ideal on any level for a young mother who has the main responsibility of taking care of her children.

I wish you the best, and I am still following along hoping to see you catch a break somehow. Just remember, when you do get that first job, you have got to be extra careful. Do your best to have zero accidents and be as productive as you can while being as safe as you can.

I kept telling the recruiter that I couldn’t do this position unless I could bring the rig home and she promised up and down that I could, then called and said I couldn’t bring the rig home 😞

How long will the commute be?

Exactly. The round trip commute will add to those 10-hour days. You'll have to decide if that is worth it or not. Pros and cons, ya know.

70 miles in Denver type traffic 😬 It can easily turn into 2 hours just to get home. In traffic In the morning out can be around 1.5 hours

How long will the commute be?