Imagine, Another Newb. With Questions

Been reading this site for days. Then joined & read some more. Figured time to say hello to

all the nice folks on here. So... HOWDY Y'ALL. I live between dayton & cincinnati ohio. Currently

in a private school should complete Sept. 22 & test for my plastic the 26th (weekend classes).

I been doing pretty good in maneuvers on track & been out cruising 1 time for about 1 & 1/2 hours.

Don't know which hurt more that day my left leg from clutching so much or, my butt from clenching

so much. So, I have my temps with all endorsements & have my background check for hazmat. Need

to look into TWIC. Planning to apply for a passport next week just in case.

Now I read people asking about opinions on specific companies. I have taken note of the ones

I do know & may be interested. My question is for the seasoned vets here that have experiences

with the not so heavily advertised companies that I might should look into ? I don't care what I

haul (as long as I can avoid NE of Pennsylvania) heck I'd be more willing to drive in the middle

east than the N.E. If I can see a doctor once every 3 months to get my scripts refilled that's

all I need off. I can sacrifice for a year or two if need be NO problem. But, I don't like to

jump around. I like stability. Mostly I like money. Now that I read back over this looong post

Think I can sum up: who are the stable companies, hauling hazmat , in the middle east with good

pay ?? Oh, that hire newbs. Who are the not so well known companies that are well worth checking

out ?

I'll stop here before I confuse &/or overload everyone. If anyone can understand my point

your help/guidance will be VERY appreciated.

Thanks a bunch, BUG

Welcome aboard Bug!

What you're looking for will be referred to as "Midwest Regional" and there are quite a few companies that offer it. I don't know how many would offer it straight out of training, but some do. You'll find the best look sticking with dry van and flatbed companies. You'll find a lot more regional and dedicated stuff there than you will in refrigerated.

You won't find many companies that run "most" of the 48 states as you described. So Midwest regional is really what you're after.

As far as finding a special company that's kind of under the radar - I don't know of any personally. When you count owner operators there are over 1.2 million trucking companies in the U.S. and 95% of them are 95% alike. There's not a lot of differentiation between most companies, and that goes doubly so for companies that hire inexperienced drivers. It takes a special setup to hire drivers right out of school. You need mentors to train them and deep pockets for the insurance costs. So a small percentage of large companies tend to be the ones that do most of the hiring out of school.

What you're going to want to do is find one of the major trucking companies that hire inexperienced drivers - that link is a small list of them. Find one that offers what you're looking for and get a year of safe driving under your belt. During that year, start talking to drivers out there on the road. You'll find a million smaller companies that might have a setup you really like and would be willing to hire you once you got that year in. But quite honestly, a company that's truly special in some way is not going to hire rookies because they wouldn't have to. If they're offering something special - fancy equipment, much higher pay, or special home time packages - they're going to attract a lot of veteran drivers. They'll have the luxury of being a little more picky. So you're kind of in a spot where as a rookie you have nothing much of value to offer yet but you're hoping to find someone with something special to offer you, ya know what I mean? It's not going to work out that way unfortunately.

Get that year of safe driving in and a whole new world will open up to you. Honestly, you have so much to learn that first year that you won't get any more out of a "special company" than you would out of an average company. You're not going to be able to really run the hard miles and make the savvy decisions that the veterans know how to make to really squeeze the most out of life on the road. You'll need that first year to get up to speed and figure out what sounds interesting to you. Then you'll be ready to make that move.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Brett. Helps a bit knowing that I'll just have to accept a big company like Schneider

(tanker division I hope) to get started. Not so much worried about what I haul or where it

goes. Just looking for different opinions on companies that might have been overlooked.

Thanks again

BUG

Well the best advice I can give you is to clear your mind of any preconceptions about these companies. I know everyone here has been to sites like TheTruckersReport and RipOffReport and they've read all that garbage that people spew about every company in America.

Let me tell ya - the major companies are the best companies in my opinion. They have:

• better equipment
• tons of freight available
• tons of different types of freight to haul
• many different divisions (local, regional , dedicated, OTR)
• national accounts setup with truck stops, repair facilities, motels, gyms, etc
• the best benefits like travel discounts, free counseling, and even medical personnel to speak with

Don't listen to these knuckleheads talk about "starer companies" and "CDL mills". I drove for 15 years and the best companies I drove for were the majors like USXpress and Gainey. They have everything you could ever want. I've also driven for tiny companies. One had 11 trucks, one was a local outfit with 15 trucks. Talk about a nightmare. It's nothing like the perks of driving at one of the majors.

The majors being inferior companies is one of the biggest misconceptions out there in my book. I want a big company with great equipment, strong finances, tons of options, and a lot of nice perks.

And so you know - you'll probably need a little experience before they'll put you in a tanker. I drove food grade tanker for a year. You're going to want some experience first before you try that.