Comments By Freightdog (Shaun)

Thanks, Daniel. I'll be following along with great interest.

I fully expected that once I'd been laid off from flying and had the chance to give driving a try that it'd be something that I'd "get out of my system" and then go back to my nicely laid out flying career and never look back. That hasn't been the case. I've missed driving a truck ever since I came off the road in February (much more so than I ever missed flying when I was laid off, frankly) and these days find myself just wanting to get back behind the wheel more than ever. I'm pretty much just trying to put things in order financially and otherwise to make that happen.

Anyway, thanks for the response and for the detailed breakdown when/if you are able to do so.

Shaun

Okay, I didnt want to set my expectations too high. Thanks bud. I really appreciate all the info you provide for the site.

Just remember that top pay at any company with differ from company to company. PRIME, if I remember right, tops out at. 45 can if you drive a light weight truck plus run the NE.

JB Hunt tops out at. 41 can unless you are on a special dedicated account and then top out at. 42 to. 44 can with 10 years experience.

Mainly, but not always, the cpm is dictated by your experience plain and simple. That seems to run in groups. 6 months to 2 years =? Cpm. 3 to 5 years =? Cpm 7 to 10 years =? Cpm.

The question marks get filled in depending on what company you are talking about. Then you also have to look at the more aggressive marketing companies are starting to do which throws those numbers I just said out the windows. Companies are starting to give more raises now ever few months.

Paging Daniel B. I know it's pretty obtrusive and a lot to ask, but if it's at all possible can you do a similar breakdown for Prime now that you're making a bit more money and all? Does Prime allow you the option of no northeast? (Just wondering since Guy alluded to a pay structure of "lightweight truck and NE"). Giving some serious thought to leaving my flying career and hitting the road again for good. I was with SNI for 4 months, so have an idea of what the pay will be right off the bat but just wondering what it will be like with a little time and experience under my belt. Thanks in advance!

Shaun

Thanks OS and I'm definitely not gonna let this get me down. I know I made a mistake and that's all it was. That ended up having to replace 1 rim and they put my spare on it. Now I'm wondering am I gonna have to pay for the rim and the service since it was a preventable accident on my part?

Preventable accident means it was your fault the damage happened so I guess they are going to make you pay for it instead of doing an insurance claim.

No, I think this is incorrect. Will it be on your DAC? I'd say yes. But I do not believe you'll be charged for it, assuming you're a company driver. Companies carry insurance (even if they're self-insured) and budget for these types of mishaps as part of the cost of doing business. It would be unreasonable for a company to charge a driver for every little thing that goes wrong out there.

Hey,

A few weeks ago, I wrote about doing really well in school but then being harangued by the instructor-from-hell on the range and then during the exam that followed. Even though my overall GPA for the month-long school (including road testing grades) was 98.8%, the highest at that school in 6 months, including 3 achievement awards, the instructor who referred to me as "a natural" to another student, a week before, refused to endorse me, claiming my shifting wasn't good enough for his "ok." ...Even after 8 hours with another instructor who rated me 100 and 95% the two nights before without mentioning that my shifting had any serious flaws.

As many of you so helpfully recommended, I returned to the school and spoke with the director who backed the instructor 100% and wanted very little to do with hearing me out.

On the same day, just before speaking with the director, I got inside word on this company that the terminal manager to whom the school referral would go, quit. The director never mentioned this when we spoke.

Last night, on my spontaneous road trip over mountain passes, with one of my kids, I saw a tanker in my rear view mirror approaching, so I moved to the right lane. ...and it was next to us ....(sigh) Therrrrre it was. A truck from my favorite company, and true-to-form the driver sailed passed me as smoothly as an experienced pilot, all shiny and pretty, red and blue lettering on the tank, silver tank, the day after the 4th, looking all beautiful and proudly American. (The word "America" is part of the name of the company) My desire to work for them, renewed in an instant. Again ...he was the smoothest operator on the freeway and oh-by-the-way, was not doing a whole lot of shifting of gears anyway, rather he appeared to know this back-country mountain route (common for this company) so well that I'm telling you, he just sailllled through, using his jake brakes on the way down the mountain. Inspiring, truly.

I've thought of taking my (newbie) credentials right to their terminal tomorrow (or Tuesday) and asking them to consider me, even without the blessing of my school because this is what I want while the school has already abandoned the notion of helping me. There are various reasons I like this company: hours, shifts, local, ability to coordinate this with the demands of single-parenting, etc. The pay is less but many things about this company work for me and my particular situation.

I should mention that the school and this company have an arrangement whereby the company will accept and train students from this particular school only, as long as the student earns a 90% GPA or above and is recommended by the director. I believe this company has leased out a training truck to the school too, so business ties are close.

No doubt, they'll call my school and ask about me, and the director will not endorse me, as that's been made clear.

Well? Would it be worth a try, speaking with my contact with this company and/or going straight to their terminal? (I'm good at projecting my professionalism and just a week before the CDL exam, the director told me, personally, this company would be crazy not to take me on.)

What else have I not thought of, regarding consequences for a move like this?

Does this show that I diligently go after what I want or does it make me look bad?

Is this a recommended approach or ...h*** no?

-mountain girl

(btw, I have applied to over a dozen other companies in the past few days, have 3 pre-hire letters, and expect to hear from several tomorrow, after the holiday weekend)

Yep, I'd say go for it! I'll just echo what Brett already said; don't get defensive or go into the situation at the school--just emphasize your GPA and performance there and accentuate the positives. Other than that, absolutely go for it!

Hi I have a debate with myself about wich unit to buy,but not thinking about going to crazy,somebody if offering me the cobra 5550 pro,waiting for you advices,thanks.

When I was looking to buy my first GPS, I did some research and for me I found the Rand McNally had the best reviews and features that I like of any of the GPS units on the market. That still holds true today. Just my opinion.

Ernie

I'll second that. I used the Rand McNally, company Qualcomm, and Motor Carrier's Atlas to trip plan and navigate. On at least three different occasions the company Qualcomm failed completely and I was glad I had the Rand McNally all set up as a backup.

Hi all! I've been lurking for a little while, and you all seem like a great group of people. I figured I would go ahead and introduce myself and ask some questions. :-)

My husband is currently in his 2nd week of CDL school (he's going to TDI in Murfreesboro, TN), and today he got offered a position with Werner! After over 6 years of him stagnating in the food service industry, we're both really excited about this opportunity. Our tentative plan is for him to do OTR for a year or two so we can get some debt paid off quickly and some savings up, and he can get some good experience under his belt, then maybe switch to a regional or dedicated route for more home-time (unless we fall in love with the road, of course). Once he's gotten his feet wet, we're talking seriously about me quitting my job so I can ride with him on the long hauls.

Any advice for a couple setting out on the road together? We're young-ish (he'll turn 30 next month, I'm already there), with no kids, and we haven't gotten to travel nearly as much as we want to. We have a really good communicative relationship, and we like spending lots of time together, but I know going on short road trips is not the same as being in a truck with someone 24/7 for weeks at a time. Just wanting to get a feel for the idea from those with experience. :-)

Also, how can I best support him from home while he's in training? I'm not exactly sure how long Werner's training lasts, and I know I'm going to miss him tons while he's gone, but I want to make it as easy as possible for him from my side. We were separated for six-ish weeks once before in our marriage, but that was under very different and super-stressful circumstances, so I'm hoping this time will be easier and more positive.

General advice and encouragement is welcome, of course! Neither of us have much experience with trucking (no family or super-close friends or anything in the business), but we're both really hopeful that this will turn out to be a good move for us, especially financially. I'm really ready to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck, and to see my hubby succeed with some work he's actually proud of.

Hey, best of luck to you and your hubby as you start a new adventure together. If you haven't already, check out The Jade and Jon Show on YouTube. They are a youngish (late 20 ' s or early 30 ' s couple) who now team drive together. I think they started out pretty similarly in that Jon started out as a driver and Jade would occasionally ride along. After some time had passed, they decided that they wanted to team drive and now post a vlog several times a week detailing their life on the road. Check it out!

No problem at all. I did my first year with Schneider. That's when I started driving Big trucks. Before that it was Class B for 7 years. When I left Schneider I came to 2 smaller local companies for a total of 2 more years between them both. So 3 years total.

When I first started talking to the recruiter the refresh was mentioned so I thought I probably be with someone for a few weeks at least. The other day when I talked to her she was asking about if I would drive up or take the bus ticket. When asked what the plan was, meaning do I go to orientation for the 3 days then come home and start with refresh the next week or go straight into the refresh after orientation. That's when she said I would just do an extensive road test then be in a truck.

I wasn't able to talk to her today but she told me earlier that she was working on the 4th so I will definitely know exactly whats going on when I talk to her tomorrow.

Honestly I would be more comfortable going though some type of refresh in a truck before being thrown into a road test. Like I said its been over 5 years since I shifted a gear. I'd really feel better with a chance to get the ring rust off. And I will make sure she knows that next time we talk.

Sober-J over

Thanks for the response. I'm sure I'd need a refresher, unless I happen to go back in the next year or so (never say never) but am glad to know what an option might be for abbreviated training if necessary.

Time is almost here for me to get back on the road. I start my orientation July 14 . With US Express just thought I would see what info anyone has. I will be on the Northeast regional that gets me home weekly. I'm a little nervous I have to admit. I haven't shifted a gear in 5 and a half years. From what the recruiter is telling me, and we all know they can be a bit deceptive, orientation 3 days then I take an extensive road test and on my way. Got a friend who still driving local and he's going to let me take his truck around a little just to be able to do some shifting. I imagine it will be like riding a bike but no one is usually sitting beside you observing when you jump back on a bike, right.

Thanks in advance for the input.

I'm Sober-J over

So they don't require a refresher course or anything? If you don't mind me asking, how much previous experience did you have? Just trying to keep tabs on which companies may be options should I decide to go back to it.

I drove for Schneider for 4 months before being recalled to flying job back in February. My experience, albeit a brief one, was an overwhelmingly positive one with Schneider. I can absolutely say that I enjoyed my time there and can recommend it as an excellent place to get your start in the industry.

Specifically, I appreciated the company's safety culture (it is not merely lip service at SNI, they are extremely safety-conscious), excellent training with instructors who genuinely cared about making sure that the drivers were safe and competent before being released on their own, constant freight (it was rare not to be pre-assigned a new load before delivering my current one), support from my Driver Business Leader and other administrative staff, and so on. I was also glad that they had a large number of divisions to choose from, had I decided to stay in the industry. I was based in Charlotte in the Van Division, but it was my goal to eventually go Intermodal since I live near the port in Wilmington, NC and would have been able to transfer eventually without switching companies. Living in PA, you'll have the option of switching divisions or picking up a dedicated route, also, should you choose to do so.

In short, I found Schneider to be a quality organization that lives up to its core values of Safety, Integrity, Respect, and Excellence. And no, I'm not a recruiter! :-) I was just very impressed with the company during my time there.

Shaun...Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've been in a blur the last two weeks as I started the driving part of the school. Thanks so much for your input. You have helped me decide to stay with my first choice, Schneider.

Good deal! I don't think you'll be disappointed with your decision to start there. It's a great place to get started, but what impressed me the most were the number of drivers who'd been there for 10, 15, 20 years and more. That, to me, speaks volumes about the culture there.

I'd say that putting your things into storage and springing for an extended stay hotel when you come home to see your kids is probably going to be your best bet. Put the money you would've spent into savings and investments or save for a house should you eventually want to find a local gig and put down some more solid roots eventually.