Comments By Cece

Thank you Pack ! Blessing to you and yours.

Hooray for you on getting that CDL done on the first attempt!!!! You rock!

Rob T. I really appreciate you writing back. I'll definitely try to keep positive and see what opportunities I'll jump on after 1 year.

I drive for PDI, which is a subsidiary of Hy-Vee grocery chain in iowa and the surrounding 7 states. We deliver to on average 2 to 3 stores a day in the 8 state region with most routes home every day. It's much less physical than what I was doing since I pull full pallets off the truck using an electric pallet jack. We also are involved in LTL freight to help cover our fuel expenses since we cover such a wide area it would be extremely expensive to run us back empty as our longest run (before any backhauls) would be 350 miles or so empty 4 times a week.

One thing you'll see about trucking is theres something out there for everybody, you just need to find your niche. Once you have 1 year of experience a ton of opportunities will open, especially if you're able to maintain a clean safety record and not get a ton of logbook violations. There will be many times your first year you will want to throw in the towel but just power through it and remember OTR driving IS NOT the only option for driving truck after your year is up. We have members here who love the OTR lifestyle, others do linehaul driving the same route every day/night for 6 months or a year.

Thank you Rob T. What company are you with now? I read all of your diaries when you were local and how tough it was. I hope all is well

Congrats on earning your CDL. You can't go wrong with either company

I took my CDL Test September 18th. Passed the first time. Thank you God.

I've been speaking with Werner, Crete, Knight and US Xpress the most.

My Werner recruiter is very nice but she will not stop trying to convince me to take the Dollar General account. When I ask her about the OTR opportunities she breezed through it. Or she will say "you're only 24, your strong and the DG isnt that bad and it makes the most money you need to jump on this" .50cpm and 60$ per stop but I really dont want to do it.

My Us Xpress recruiter told me there are no other opportunities for me besides a Family Dollar Dedicated Acct that's interesting to me I guess I assumed incorrectly that they had various OTR positions. 5000 sign on bonues, .33cpm , 220$ unload. But once again I do not want to jump into an account like this.

My Knight recruiter is brand new at recruiting so I havent heard from him in awhile but he messaged me today and said he will be calling me with all the information I need and I'll be asking him questions. I'm very interested to see what they have for me.

Crete Carrier has OTR, Mid SOUTH regional, and A walmart dedicated account available to me in my area. .44cpm, .47cpm or .50cpm depending on which account I choose. and My recruiter there has been very responsive and just helpful.

After I talk to this Knight recruiter i will be making my decisions on which company i will go to but it is looking like a strong possibility I will choose Crete. I am very interested in what Knight has to offer I have heard great things about them . Anywho Very excited to attend someone's orientation and get on the road with a trainer.

*Disclaimer* Recruiters do not determine if the company is good or bad. I just want other newbies to stay clear of DG, DT, and FD accounts because they will push it. I've never done them but I trust what everyone on this site has said about them being very challenging and not a good start for a rookie.

Cece

RealDiehl thank you , this was a big help 😊 I was asking about home time, pay, benefits, but I was forgetting to ask about fuel bonuses and other things. I spoke with Roehl but they have no job opportunities for me out of Oklahoma. I definitely am flexible with time out with trainer I just want to make sure I'm trained properly and ready when it's time to go Solo.

I will start by saying that your success and happiness with any company is almost entirely up to you. You can achieve both with any company you choose.

A couple ideas to help you decide.

How long do you want to be out with a trainer? You can ask each company how long they require you to be with a trainer before going solo. If you want to go solo as quickly as possible, choose a company with a shorter requirement, and vice versa.

Ask companies if they pay fuel and/or safety bonuses. If you want to drive for a company that offers these bonuses, this may also help you to narrow down your choices.

Ask how much you will be paid during training.

Ask about home time policies. Most are pretty standard but some, like Roehl, offer many options.

If you would like to bring a pet or a person on the road with you, ask about their pet and rider policies to see what suits you best.

If you are interested in driving reefer, flatbed, or tanker, find out what companies have these divisions.

Think of it like you are interviewing them. Gain as much knowledge as you can, for your benefit, before making a decision.

If you receive answers that you have doubts about or you feel were not adequately explained, dont hesitate to post your questions here. Hopefully someone will be able to give you more clarification.

Hey Jim! Thank you for responding. Lol I have had some ice cream but not too much. 😅 I have yet to speak with a Swift Recruiter but I do plan on it. How has your experience been so far? It's funny you say that, Schneider has not been pushing a Dollar account more Team Driver. Werner is pushing the Dollar accounts but I have been overlooking that. It's not the companies fault the recruiter is pushing that when I have expressed I dont want it. I'm open to most Mega Carriers.

Don’t they give ice cream after tonsil surgery? You could eat much ice cream. Good to hear about your recovery. I am mentoring with Swift right now. One of the things that was a factor in my decision was tuition reimbursement, which Swift offers. I also wanted a big company with many divisions and opportunities. Werner and Knight were also high on my list. Schneider sent a recruiter to my school, but they really seem to push those Dollar accounts on new grads, which are driver unload on multiple stops. Hope that helps.

Thank you Old School. I really appreciate your response. I'll be sure to remember all advice from podcast, discussions, etc. I did make the decision that I dont want to start out flatbed. I think I'd be more comfortable starting Dry Van as a rookie.

Cecelia, Congratulations so far!

Hey, this may not help you but I'm going to throw it out there. People wring their hands over which company to start with. I can't tell you how much angst I've witnessed in our forum over this decision. It's honestly not very critical which trucking company you go with. They're all doing the same job, often working with the same customers. There's not much difference between them. Here's the critical thing...

You are the critical factor. There's not a single trucking company that can make you successful at this. Here's how I know this. Everyone of the companies you are interested in has a long list of people who failed an attempt at starting their career with them. The company couldn't help them succeed. They also have a long list of very successful drivers. Those drivers made it happen. They were committed and endured the problems and issues that face all of us as newbies.

The single most important thing for you is to get your head in the game and stay there. Stick it out one full year before you switch companies - that's critical. Keep your head down and ignore all the whiners and complainers that you will come across. Always bring your problems or issues in here and we will help you. You aren't going to face anything that we haven't already conquered.

Don't take your career advice from the people who aren't making it happen.

Don't Let The Terminal Rats Derail Your Career

I went through CDL School, received my certificate. If anyone remembers I posted awhile ago about my tonsil surgery. It was a success, super painful. I still cant eat normal but weight loss at least lol. I've been in contact with recruiters from Werner, Schneider, Western Express. I was speaking with someone from US Xpress but he hasn't really gotten back with me like the others. There are so many companies still: Swift, Knight, Roehl, etc. I just wanted to thank everyone for the advice and encouragement. I can be very indecisive, so I'm still thinking of what company to go with. Anyone have some advice on how you made the decision or narrowed it down?

Thank you !

Next week is week 4, that means it's my final week! I am stressing. I can hardly sleep. I'm doing good withn backing maneuvers and learning pre trip but I am STRUGGLING with my upshift/downshift . Especially downshifts. Other ppl in my class make it look easy. I guess I'm stressing so much because it's really important to me and I want my CDL. Anyhow hope all is well with everyone. Drop some encouragement and advice if you dont mind. Much love!

I'm on week 2 of truck driving school. We have had many company representatives/recruiters come talk to us. I was really considering Werner but the recruiter that was talking to me keeps trying to convince me to go to a Dollar Tree or Dollar General account in my area. I know they have OTR . My friend is considering DG or DT. Can you all attach the links or tell me why those accounts are bad, I know I've read it before on here.