Profile For Devin M.

JakeBreak, I live too far from a terminal to do any of their special hometime fleets. They are very good about hometime for OTR Driver’s and I liked being able to stay out longer for more time, but the special fleets weren’t available here. The only dedicated fleet near me before was a Kraft dedicated account and that wasn’t offered to me, though I would be foolish not to see if that would be available now, thank you. I’ll have to give them a call tomorrow and see if that’s changed/if they have something different than OTR available.

I’m not completely opposed to going back OTR, but if I could choose between that and more pay WITH better hometime the choice is kind of obvious.

I received a certificate from them upon completion of the program after passing the WI road test. I understand the financial obligation, but was told they would reimburse Roehl (one of my classmates was able to successfully begin tuition reimbursement too.)

As far as credit, my credit is completely trashed as it is, I don’t think this addition will change that for the worse. I was in an abusive relationship before that led to me ending up with significant debt and destroyed my credit, which actually was a driving force in my decision to get into trucking. I did a lot of research (on this site and others) to get an idea of what I was getting into, being that the area I live in has a dying economy it was one of the only real options I had to begin paying back my debts instead of going through bankruptcy.

I appreciate the input, if things don’t pan out with this position I’ll be going back with Roehl OTR, as I enjoyed the position. The opportunity to make more money with tuition reimbursement and more hometime presented itself, so that’s why I’m considering Schneider. Not many people post online about their Target account so was just trying to see if anyone had some info.

Whatever I go to, I will be sticking with for a while, whether it’s Roehl or Schneider. I was planning on staying with Roehl for a while until I ran into unforeseen medical problems amidst the pandemic.

One thing that I am concerned about with going dedicated (/regional) is mileage. They stated the average is 2,000 miles, though I’m aware that’s often inflated. With Roehl I was routinely able to get 2,600-2,800 miles a week, and could have gotten more if they had different loads to give me or I didn’t lose time out of my days due to long LL/LU at docks. If Schneider is truthful about the miles or I can get more it will be a substantial raise for me, though at around 1,750 miles or less I’d break even, not considering bonus or tuition reimbursement.

On a side note, aren’t hiring/retention bonuses kind of a joke to you guys? I’ve done nothing but hear about people getting screwed out of them, or getting them and losing 40-65% of it to taxes.

I did enjoy OTR, but of course family would like me home more often so that aspect sounds nice. Thanks for your input, I know accounts come and go but hadnt thought about asking those questions. The sign on bonus is paid over time, but yes you need a full year to get the full amount. It sounds pretty decent and at the very least Schneider has more facilities nearby compared to Roehl, who’s closest terminal was about a 10 hour drive from my house.

I’m not feeling swayed by the bonus but the prospect of consistent home time with better pay and tuition reimbursement sounds like a decent deal. At the very least I can still return to Roehl should need be.

The tuition from Roehl was sent to a debt collector within a week of me leaving, if I return to them and stay a year (technically 120,000 solo miles,) I wouldn’t have to pay. The amount of tuition reimbursement Schneider is offering would cover the amount Roehl wants, and one of my classmates already went to them (Walmart dedicated) and Schneider approved him for their tuition reimbursement.

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well. I went through Roehl’s GYCDL program and graduated in December, went on to truly enjoy OTR driving (in the process discovering how bad some fleet managers are with planning.)

I ended up coming home in spring and staying home (My family and I got very sick, and couldn’t get tested for anything due to shortage of tests with the pandemic, we quarantined.) I voluntarily separated from Roehl on good terms, able to go back once comfortable (I have several at risk people at home so held off until now.)

Before going back to Roehl I decided to put my name out to a few places just to see what’s available with better hometime or pay, and have received a few offers so far. One that stood out to me is for a Schneider dedicated Target account, out of the distribution center 10 miles from my house.

Does anyone have experience with their Target accounts? They’re offering me 53cpm, 5k retention bonus, tuition reimbursement (up to $7k) and home Friday’s and Saturday’s. They claim it’s 100% no touch freight, mostly drop and hook (avg of 5 loads and 2k miles,) and occasionally bringing a load back from a shipper.

Any insight? To me it sounds like a pretty good deal if there’s any truth to what the recruiter is saying, could expect to be home at least weekly and pay wise I’d come out ahead of Roehl, or at least break even if they’re exaggerating the miles.

On a side note (probably better for a separate topic,) Roehl’s GYCDL program and OTR training was pretty good. I feel it’s main issues were a lack of real world experience in terms of only hauling empty trailers on flat ground in the program, and both stages possibly being held back by struggling classmates or inexperienced trainers (my OTR trainer was practically a rookie himself.)

Sounds like a plan, thank you for the response Brett. I wasn’t planning on immediately getting into this (I need to continue research on companies) so 6 months isn’t really a stretch.

Also as a side question, do you view the company sponsored training programs to be better than dedicated schools/programs? There is a vocational school beside my apartment which offers courses to get your permit and CDL ($189 and $1,999 respectively.) From what I’ve read so far it seems most companies require driving experience (though several local companies are only listing the CDL and not requiring drivers experience, per their listing.

Thank you for the reply, I’ve been looking around and the majority of people I’ve seen asking similar questions either used it recreationally or are current medical users, in my case I’m ceasing it.

The discrimination has been mostly by medical professionals, those who hadn’t prescribed it. The program is new in my state and there’s a lot of misinformation and lack of training about it, so there’s a lot of patients (at least in my region) that are having a hard time with their other doctors. (I also live in a rather conservative area so that could be contributing.)

I understand the risks and their reasoning, and completely agree with their measures (driving any vehicle under the influence of any controlled substance is unacceptable, in my opinion.

I would assume their reasoning for wanting a period to clear is that they’re concerned with people continuing to use a substance, even if ceasing legal use?

Would you recommend asking the prospective companies upfront and explaining my situation immediately or wait until further into the process?

I really appreciate your response as well as this site as a whole, it’s very helpful for someone with limited knowledge of the real ins and outs of the career.

Hello, my name is Devin and this is my first post.

I've long been considering getting a CDL as driving is my one true passion and I enjoy doing it day in and day out. I was a medical marijuana patient here in NY state (I chose that option to deal with a back injury rather than the highly addictive painkillers.) I'm aware that it is not possible to hold a CDL while a user of controlled substances (and that drug testing is an integrated part of the job.) However at the card's expiration I'm choosing not to renew (cant afford it due to insurance not covering it and theres ironically more stigma against it here than opiates, even with local drug crises.

I spoke to a recruiter from Swift and he stated that any marijuana use, medical or recreational, was a three year disqualification for them. By chance has anyone on this forum been in a similar circumstance/know any companies that would hire/train once it is out of the system?

On a side note, I'm finding it sad personally how much of an issue the opiate crisis has been here yet how much discrimination is given to thosewho find alternate methods of treating pain (medical marijuana or otherwise,) many here seem to prefer people to take the addictive medicine but then wonder why there's an issue.