Comments By 9Ether

People lie and exaggerate. Its usually the miserable people and screw ups who post negative comments. I'm with one of those starter companies and did my year but I love it. No reason to leave.many of us are with starter companies that uninformed truckers or wannabes laugh at.....yet somehow we stay cause the companies are great and provide our needs.

Don't write off a starter cause some idiot told you to.

As got tanker...all I know about is prime where I pull reefer and Schneider where my good friend runs tanker. My ex runs Superior which is hazmat and he loves it there.

Yea I tend to take the negative comments with a grain a salt, throughout my years I've come to learn what's a deal breaker for some is petty to me and vice versa.

We usually recommend a full year with whomever you choose to start your career with. It will help immensely when you go to make a change in companies.

We have people happy with both Western Express and Knight so look at what both have for options and see if something with one or the other stand out to you.

Out of the companies you listed above I can't say I recall seeing any of them pulling tankers.. I've been wrong before. So spend a year with a company and that in itself will open many more doors for you and I would want to spend at least a year pulling something more forgiving than a tanker.

None of the companies I named pull tankers, tankers are something I want to pursue after getting my stripes in the industry. However, prime said they'd hire me in 3 weeks when one of those tickets fall off. Schneider bulk won't hire me until June considering they look back 5 years into an MVR.

Can't really tell you much about either company but I can tell you I love doing flatbed. I would also recommend trying to stick with that first company for a full year.

Thanks for the response. Yea I seem to gravitate more towards the flatbed side simply because I like physical challenges, and being active. I also like to be well-rounded in anything i do, figurebif you can do flatbed or tanker you can do them all.

What's up guys, and ladies...

I've been researching and perusing this forum extensively over the past week, as I'm a new cdl holder and picking out my company to start with. I've read more than enough horrible comments about "starter companies" to come to the understanding that my first company is solely for the purpose of paying dues. However, I'd like a little further insight. For starters my options are limited as I have 2 speeding tickets within the past 3 years and both are 15 over tickets, though one makes it's third year in 3 weeks. Secondly, I'm prior Air Force and come from a petroleum, oils, and lubricants background; as well as lox/lin production. I'm primarily interested in pulling tankers. Out of the starter companies I've reduced it down to western express flatbed division and knight transportation dry van division (keep in mind those tickets influenced my choices). The plan is to use either company for 6 months and slide into someone's tanker division.

Where would be a better start? Western express or Knight? The offers I've gotten were from trans am, srt, USA truck, super service, and my top 2 pics. After I pay my dues, which would be a solid tanker company to roll with? I'm willing to take the crooked with the straights for the time being, long term goal is to pull tankers locally/regionally as an OO.

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.