Profile For Lance F.

Lance I wanted to revisit your post to Rob.

Most of the local jobs are going to require a minimum of 6 months of experience. And there is good reason for this; local work in the Greater Philadelphia and Wilmington area typically requires driving in heavy traffic and often involving close quarter maneuvering and backing. With zero experience this is daunting and potentially career ending, not recommended.

I ran the Swedesboro NJ to Harrington DE shuttle for PFG for about 6 months.

Although they will take-on entry level drivers, they want 6 months. I know several drivers out of that terminal and the delivery routes are many times in urban and suburban areas; tight alleys and strip mall parking lots. Tge attrition rate was very high with newer drivers. Not trying to dissuade you, just offering a reality check.

With that said, have you thought about Swift? They offer aPaid CDL Training Program. I ran Walmart Dedicated for them about 8 years, based in Pottsville PA. They will accept rookies that graduated from one of the Swift Academy’s. Many drivers domiciled there live in Northern DE. The Walmart account is home at least 1 day per week during the busier holiday season, 2 days per week off peak. You could also park your truck at several Walmart stores near your residence.

Might be an interesting compromise to consider, plus you’ll make excellent money. I thoroughly enjoyed my career with Swift. Happy to answer any questions you might have.

Hey G-Town, been trying to figure out how to reach out to you with questions about Swift. Do I do that here, start a new thread?

I was able to do a street view and I "drove" the city of Lyons. It appears speed limit on Grand/hwy 14/96 is 35 while you head north until you get to Lyon St where it drops to 20.

20 mph speed limit is only for 2 blocks because it goes up to 30 mph once you get to main st

Looks like a radar trap to me. I believe these are illegal. If you plan to fight it I would go back to the area and take pictures. Print them out @ the local store and have a testimony ready for what happened that night that's the truth or damn believable for the judge.

I'm pretty green here but wanted to offer some insights I have from life experience and as a current owner of a family business. I've been spending the last 6 days or so reading so much on this forum. The info is here is insane and I love it. I've been researching different companies in my area, the different driving schedules, benefits, and pay. I've also been reading the "Truck Driver Career Guide" on this forum (WoW), watching YouTube videos, and reading different articles on the net about what to look for in a company, as well as what questions to ask the recruiter.

One of the things you should ask before deciding on which company to driver for is the pay scale, how to get increases, and when. I would suspect that you should have gotten a little increase after 6 months or so, and another after your year. I mean many companies advertise that, or recruiters tell me that. If not ask. If you like everything about your company I would most certainly ask about it, and while you're talking about it ask them how the increases work in the future. I mean that's your promotion, and we all want to know how to get them.

Now the flip side of things I always tell folks is that it's hard to prove your worth to the company you currently work for. Many just don't see the value of their current employees. I know many folks who are currently dealing with this exact issue. My brother got hired out of one year of college to work for the court system as a IT tech. He is currently their number one tech. Everyone even the supervisor and boss go to him with questions about the court network system. He has been there the longest. Here is the kicker, everyone that is hired after him are making more than he is. They keep telling him he is maxed out and can not get anymore money! They have hired a couple different supervisors over the years that don't even have all of the certification that he has and they are making more than him. He had been considering leaving for a private sector job but the benefits are great, he doesn't work hard, he has 100% job security and he has about 15 years left to retire with full pay at the age of 44!

He has been told to leave his job and come back in 6 months and he will be offered more money! But they would most certainly fill it before then so not worth it. Just something to think about. I think you should get some offers and then talk to HR about it. Make sure you let them know how much you like working for them but could really use a increase in CPM. Like others have said, if your doing well that shouldn't be an issue.

Good luck. I am very excited to get into this myself and look forward to my first year.

Hey Marc, I just wanted to give you some insight on Wilson. I've looked them over and if I lived down the south or central part of the county Wilson would definitely be @ the top of the list of companies I would check out. I have heard a lot of good things about them and the sharp looking black trucks with red lettering is a plus as well. Good luck and I definitely will keep an eye out on your posts.

With that said, have you thought about Swift? They offer aPaid CDL Training Program. I ran Walmart Dedicated for them about 8 years, based in Pottsville PA. They will accept rookies that graduated from one of the Swift Academy’s. Many drivers domiciled there live in Northern DE. The Walmart account is home at least 1 day per week during the busier holiday season, 2 days per week off peak. You could also park your truck at several Walmart stores near your residence.

Might be an interesting compromise to consider, plus you’ll make excellent money. I thoroughly enjoyed my career with Swift. Happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thanks G-Town. The wife and I have actually been talking about doing local/regional. I see a couple of companies that offer routes like 3-4 days on the road each week. I am entertaining that idea. Anymore then that I'm not really interested. I have 4 kids @ home ranging from 6-18 and a special needs child as one. I just don't want to be gone that long from my wife and kids. I think I could swing up to 4 days. There are 3 companies that offer that so looking into that possibility. I totally understand what you're saying about companies that want experience with local delivery drivers. I just don't want to go work for just any company. I want to make sure I get the best possible training getting into this from a decent company (either from CDL school or as a graduate) so I can be the best driver I can possibly be.

Rob, thank you for the tips! I will look into those as well.

G-Town, I forgot to mention that I have started looking into the paid CDL program listed on this forum. I even started doing the practice test and finished the first three pages before I called it a night last night. I have a meeting American Driving Academy this coming Friday and I'll see where that goes from there. I do have some questions so I'll be reaching out. Thanks again.

Hey Rob, just wanted to let you know that I read your entire (Rookie Diary) last night. Took me a few hours but it was kind of exciting I couldn't put the phone down. I plan to make a career change and get my CDL. I have been looking for a company that has home every night routes that will hire me and send me to school. I haven't had any such luck. I tried Performance foods, Dot foods, and Mclarens and none of them are hiring non-CDL. I guess I'm going to have to just wait until I get my taxes back and pay for the school myself. We have so many trucking companies in my area I'm just disappointed I wasn't able to find one that was willing to take a bet on me and help me get my CDL. But guess the bright side is I won't owe anyone when I get it. Thanks again for the detailed posts.

Stay safe...