Posted: 7 years, 5 months ago
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Good morning.
I cannot tell you anything about Covenant (the trucking company). But that sounds like what I experienced initially as a driver for Schneider National. Over time I learned that as a New (Rookie) Driver that I had a low availability status for loads (meaning basically that drivers with more experience had a higher availability status). I was being assigned "easier" loads during my first weeks. Now I get the "more difficult" loads (whether it be because of small streets or extremely tight docking situations). Talk with your driver representative or recruiter and try to get the details on what is happening. Lack of communication means opportunity for misinformation.
But I can tell you that in my experience with logistics from various viewpoints over the years, the industry is what it is and things change regularly (all based on supply and demand as well as other economic factors).
It's going on three weeks with the company and it's has been very stressfull.They claimed I get a certain millage and we have call to get paid for the days we dont receive a load from them. 😐 Is it always this way?
Posted: 7 years, 5 months ago
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How long before you can get a dedicated route
Not with Schneider National -
I started with Schneider directly out of Driving School in April of 2015. I have been in several different roles already. Each has pros and cons, if you will. Personally it has been a matter of finding which driving role is the best fit for me. I was told upon hire that any role meant at least a 3 month commitment before I could change positions. But as you can see, that was not true. (Probably because drivers come and go weekly. So when they get someone who is going to try to stay with it, they roll with it.)
Solo - Regional for 3 months, Team - Lower 48 for 1 month, Solo - Regional Dedicated Delivery for 1 month, Solo - Lower 48 for 3 months, Dedicated - Regional for 1 month, Solo - Lower 48 for 7 months, Dedicated - Regional for 1 month
Let me say that I did enjoy the consistency of routine, steady pay, as well as regular routes on both Dedicated Accounts. But at the same time, those consistencies also helped me realize my true appreciation for the open road across the United States. Dedicated meant Account Manager micro-management of my time daily. Solo Lower 48 means I am given a delivery window (sometimes a specific date and time) and allowed to manage my own time. And when you compare the pay for the Dedicated Account being consistent weekly, it is actually a wash (one is about like the other). As Solo Lower 48 I might earn more one week than another, but I do it as I choose and at the end of the month it is the same income.
Do what you need to do for you, Brandon. Everybody has a formula or ideology or theory or whatever you want to call it. But real world, do what you need to do. But whatever you do, please follow Brett Aquilla's advice on this site ............ try to enjoy it!
Do you have to be experienced or be at a company long before you can apply for a dedicated route ? I am getting my cdl soon.
Posted: 7 years, 7 months ago
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..........SCHNEIDER is ready to put me on a plane, but my last resort. so my main question is what would you guys do in my situation. Momma always said a bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush, but i wanna make sure its the best bird and a good one, so i can eat for a long time if u know what i mean...................The black Rick Flair....wooooooooooo
Oh and whats really the lown down on scneidrr bulk if i have to go that route and there training in PA
Schneider has proven to be a reputable organization to me repeatedly over the past couple of years. I have driven Regional, Lower-48, Team, and Dedicated all within that time. I can state assuredly that if you do not like what you are doing with them, they will allow you to change.
Posted: 7 years, 11 months ago
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Is the true OTR driver dieing out?
Just wondering if you guys think real OTR driving is dieing out.
I was at MATS a few weeks ago just talking with recruiters and seeing what was out there and anytime I said I stay out anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks at a time their jaw about hit the table. It seems that staying out motor then 10 to 12 days is too much to ask of the new drivers now.
Just wondering what you guys thoughthink on the subject.
I have only been driving OTR for a year now. But the only way I have found to be able to maintain a somewhat consistent livable wage has been to stay out 4 to 6 weeks at a time. Most drivers seem to feel it is unreal to stay out that long. I guess it depends on what a driver expects to accomplish financially with the means they have available.
Good question.
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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I am supposed to start my company sponsored training at Roehl Transport in a few weeks, but I am apprehensive only because i currently have a pretty good job right now making a little over $15 an hour right now. Should I be apprehensive or should I jump in head first?
As soon as I can, I am going back to a 9-5 job.
If you take the hours I work now and divide my paycheck, I am earning about $10 an hout and am home only once a month. Not to mention the costs associated with being on the road. Although I have learned how to make my own coffee, cook my own meals, get a shower every few days or so, and cut costs in other ways....it still costs me a few hundred a month to be out on the road.
It has been a good learning experience for me. And I will greatly appreciate the memory....when it is just a memory....
I have had some good experiences and some bad ones - but that is just life, right?
To each his own.
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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I work for reefer company and a guy I know both run regional right now which is around 500 miles trip space between loads but we are talking about running teams so we get longer runs to try to increase our paychecks.... Would it be worth running teams or stay solo?
I started out driving solo regional for about 2 months and being disappointed with the pay, I decided to go team with the expectation of more earnings.
But I quickly learned that I was not personally cut out to drive team. Team driving only provides more money per mile as an incentive to do it. In reality, I found that it really was not a comparable amount of paycheck to offset the sacrifices. - no 10 hour breaks (with the truck not moving) - no good sleep (it was like someone punching me in the shoulder each time I was about to doze off, then I would finally pass out literally only to awake not rested with 11 hours of driving to go) - no personal time to myself (if I wanted to be alone, I had to go into a truck stop or go for a walk....and the truck had to be stopped for that....but the team keeps rolling) - no stopping for 10 hours, no good rest, and no personal space made me choose to go back solo.
Keep in mind that the reason Teams make more per mile is because the Company makes more because of the quicker delivery ability for the customer. Likewise, the Teams get the bettet loads, quicker dispatch, and overall best treatment it seems. My hat off in respect for those who drive team. It takes a certain type of person for it. And I learned it was not me.
For literally about $100 less a month, I have my own space, stop when I want, sleep peacefully, and have a better life.
So considet the benefits of one as opposed to the other.
Posted: 8 years, 5 months ago
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Schneider question - idle time/overnight/summer? Considering companies to apply to
New CDL holder, zero experience, looking for a company to start with.
"Schneider does not equip trucks with APU units but most trucks have auxiliary bunk heaters. They are fairly strict on idle time with a maximum of 25% idle time allowed."
So what does this mean? All night in the summer without cooling in the cab? How do you sleep? Can use some guidance from truckers please!
I idled at Schneider consistently with the engine running probably 23 hours a day when it was hot outside. Not a problem. Even the Company representatives put out a video for all the drivers that it was ok to idle. But I think it did come into play with affecting my bonus.
But I did stay cool! Schneider is an excellent place to begin a truck-driving career.
TIP: Just run as many miles as you can to make money.
Posted: 8 years, 5 months ago
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Sometimes the Grass is Not Greener on the Other SIde .........
Surreal is the best descriptive word I can find to describe the past several weeks. In fact, when I reflect upon my life over the past 50 years it can easily be said that good is always in my favor regardless of how it may seem at the moment. A long-time friend of mine said it was as if I'd recently won the lottery of jobs in the trucking industry! If he only knew now what I know.
For those of you who have read my previous posts, you'll remember that I just recently graduated CDL training and went to work with Schneider National. I had driven well over 5,000 miles as both a Solo and Team Driver. Having expected limited earnings my first year it was really no surprise that after working almost 70 hours a week that I ended up making about $1.00 an hour. But as with any job I've ever had, I have been committed to doing the best I can and benefiting as best possible from it. But during home time I began to just consider other employment options available with the potential to earn more money.
Then I saw it ........ an hourly wage driving job! What? Truly, as the job I've recently been working proves, sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side! I have been driving 1,000 miles a week and making $18 an hour! But the requirements to maintain that grass are very demanding.
Originally the job title was "Truck Driver with Hazmat Endorsement". But when I received the new hire paperwork it changed to "Delivery Driver". What? Delivery driver? Ok. Potato chips, bread, cookies, or maybe a case of 2-liter drinks occasionally would not be too bad. You know, rotate out the expired dates, front the shelves, etc. But I was actually going to be delivering batteries and servicing shelves of them. Not personal electronic batteries either. These were full-size auto, tractor, and mobility device batteries that weigh from 8 to 120 lbs. each! But I thought, "Hey, I can do this for $18 an hour! and I won't need a gym membership to stay in shape!" Win-win! I was wrong.
First Day - I went out with a trainer to learn the route. The first day was primarily all driving a tractor-trailer combination of 2014 Freightliner Automatic with sleeper pulling a 42 ft. van trailer and sometimes a straight truck with automatic transmission and lift-gate (depending on the route requirements that week). Once driving hours were spent on the first day, the company actually paid for a hotel room (if in the straight truck)! And they paid for up to $20.00 for one meal a day (either for driving the straight truck or the tractor-trailer)! Nice! Did I mention that there were no electronic logs?
Second Day - This is where reality hit with the Delivery Driver job title. Up at 0600 and out for a full 10 to 12 hour day of deliveries. Some stops were simple using the electric pallet jack to unload an entire pallet at the customer location. Nice! But 10 minutes down the road you might have 1 to 15 batteries to unload (weighing from 8 lbs to 120 lbs each). And sometimes they were in the middle of a pallet layer underneath another layer! What? I have to move all of these to get to that one? Then after 4 or 5 hours "running" from delivery to delivery I am thinking "time for a DOT break and I need it". But surprise - paper logs! I was taught how to simply mark down that 30-minute break and continue beating the batteries until you couldn't deliver any more for the day. Then, just add that 30-minutes to the end of the day! My trainer said, "The break is when you are driving from location to location." What? I was tired!
Third Day - Repeat of second day, but with more road driving (more break time ......) in between the stops. I was told that if I hurried through these stops though that I could maybe get home for the night in order to do local deliveries the next day in my area. What? I was tired!
Fourth Day - Repeat of second and third day. Again, I was tired!
But then off for 3 days!
After making it through the first week I learned they needed someone to run the other route with the tractor-trailer the next week. It was more driving time, I had purchased a GPS, and understood the basics, so I volunteered. More batteries, more paper logs, with no hotels for sleeping and additional delivery issues with the tractor-trailer combination lift-gate in some tight Montana towns. After considering the options that week I decided to continue with the first route (with paid hotel rooms).
Being in need of the money (and I was making some good money) I continued this Delivery Driver job for 5 weeks. Then I simply realized that I am a no-touch freight kind of guy and admitted it. Thankfully I left the job on good terms.
Now back to needing money and of course, work.
Ok. People being people, I understand that someone reading this is thinking, "you should have stayed with Schneider" or "you should have realize" or such and such. Thank you for not saying it please. I get it.
For those of you just beginning your careers as a driver, take to heart what all of the veterans here say about staying with the first driving job at least a year. That would have probably been the better option for me originally. In fact, I think I'll go back to Schneider! I'll keep you posted on what happens. Thanks to everyone for the support, encouragement, and insight into this truly difficult industry for beginners.
Posted: 7 years, 5 months ago
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Can you name some good companies to work for?
Schneider National has been good to me over the past 17 months.....just keep your expectations real.