Comments By Big H

Thanks Gary. I sure hope my LEAD foot didn't screw me over here.

And about the home time, I don't really need a lot of it, just at the right time. I love my little girl and don't get to see her much as it is now seeing as it is over an hours drive and my custody is so limited.

Not sure where you live bro but your best choice is Schneider National! they have regional or dedicated positions and you'll be home every weekend still getting the miles too. I got into trucking industry 6 month ago during that tough winter it wasn't easy but now I'm like "I should've started this aloong time ago! you never be out of a job or at risk of loosing your job just keep your record clean and drive responsibly. those tickets are not an issue I've seen worst and they still work for fleet companies!

Good luck to you!

I've been over the road for 6 months now with Schneider. hate to tell you this but starting at 25 cents a mile is a rip off! I started at 30 and get 3 cents raise every 3 months not to mention the sign on bonus, quarterly bonus and tuition reimbursement of $150 flat rate a month! as far as costs it's not cheap those truck stops are very expensive to shop I have a mini fridge I keep my breakfast food in it and do my shopping at walmart once in a week and save on dinners too. showers are free as long as you buy 50 gallons of desile (which I'm sure you will buy alot more than that every 2 days) lundry is a 2 dollars more than anywhere else.

Good luck to you!

Not really but I met a guy he worked at the bulk division and he was happy with it! they always hire tankers in Houston area check out their career section you will find some tankers position with sign on bonuses in Texas!

My pleasure! That's actually a good idea. I will get with the experienced drivers to see how they deal with that. Thank you!

Brett, Thank you so much for creating this website. a few months back before I get into trucking industry I got lots of useful information from this website thanks again! Not sure if this is the right section to post this but I thought I put this out there for rookies like myself lol! I started with Schneider National in the mid Dec-2013 here in Indianapolis. They have 3 weeks of training. the first week is all about the log books, signing papers and benefits, driving around town and backing practices. second week they send you out with a trainer on the road(I think one week is not enough for that in my opinion 2 weeks will be better). and third week is learning the Qualcomm, trip planing and the SQT(student qualification test) which is pretty simple but at first they make it sound like a very important test but it's not! after that they assign you a truck at first it was really hard and overwhelming to remember all those things they taught me in class but eventually I started to learn on my own day after day out there.

Cons are: they are very strict on idling temp has to be 10 degrees before you can idle the truck for the night (which is absurd because the bunk heater does not really keep you warm!). they want you to follow the GPS route to be most economic. I don't get it! lots of time it takes you through single lane highways so you will be shifting, going up and down, accelerating, slowing down etc... versus going through the interstate which saves them fuel. Their trucks are governed at 60mph literally every truck passes you on the road except for Prime haha! They take every thing so serious and strict. every time I'm at one of their terminals I feel like I'm in area 51 or the Pentagon!

Pros are: They keep you busy they give you the miles constantly, you can get anywhere between 2000 to 2600 miles per week it all depends on you and how good you are to run those miles. The training pay is $85 a day. once you get your truck they start you out at 30 cents a mile and you get 2 cents raise every 3 months up to 36 cents a mile within one year being with them. So far they're all friendly never had issues with them. They offer $150 flat rate monthly for tuition reimbursement. Most positions has sign on bonus up to $3000 for students and up to $6000 for experienced drivers. As an OTR driver for every 2 weeks out I get 3 days off. the longer you stay more days off you get. they're flexible with your home time. It's a good company to start out with. gain experience for 6 months or maybe a year at the most then runaway to a much smaller company ha!