Schneider National

Hello,

I know in general this forum does not recommend one company over another, but just wondering if anyone has had or heard from other folks in the industry anything good, bad, or ugly about them. A new dedicated opening has opened in my area that I may consider. It is a Family Dollar account and is a LOT of handloading and multiple stops. Recruiter said new drivers after the first year make in the mid-upper $40's. Sound like an exxageration?

Thank you for any feedback!

That's funny - I just got finished talking about the Dollar Tree division I ran with US Xpress in a different conversation here in the forum.

Schneider is an excellent company with a ton of great opportunities. They have a huge variety of freight, solid equipment, and all kinds of different divisions and home time options. So Schneider as a company is an excellent bet.

Now that account you're talking about - Family Dollar - that's a really, really tough division. It's the exact same thing I did with Dollar Tree. They load your trailer to the roof and all the way to the back doors with boxes on the floor and you have to load them onto a set of rollers one at a time. You'll usually have between two and five stores per trailer. So there's a lot of tight parking lots, a lot of searching for stores all the time, and a ton of unloading. It's hard work and a good number of people get injured, mostly because of boxes falling on their head or wrist and back injuries.

You will definitely make in the upper $40k region running that division if you run hard. When I was in it at US Xpress I had been driving over 10 years and I ran my *ss off so I made $62k that year. But let me tell ya, I averaged about 3 hours of sleep a night during the week and worked my fingers to the bone to make that. I was home on weekends. There were a lot of nights my "full night's rest" was a 30 minute nap. I had paper logs so I could cheat the book. You couldn't get away with that today. I was also making 42 cents per mile plus my unloading pay.

Schneider is a great company so even if you give it a shot and decide you don't like that division they will gladly switch you to something else. So it's not like it's a life sentence by any means. But that division is really, really hard work. If you're up for it, give it a shot. But I would dare say that you could make just about as much money with less physical labor pulling a flatbed so that's something to consider also.

I drive for Schneider right now. I am in the Bulk division and I do OTR. I love it. I have had no problems with my dispatcher , or equipment, or anything else. Everyone is extremely helpful. If I ever have a question and my dispatcher doesn't know the answer (like equipment questions) she will connect me with someone who knows. Safety is key. When I started driving my first week there was this crazy rain in Louisiana and I didn't feel comfortable driving in it. Luckily I was at a Schneider Operating Center just hooking to a trailer when it started. I called my dispatcher and told her I don't feel safe driving in this weather because I am new. The first words out of her mouth were, "Are you in a safe location now? Are you OK?"

One interesting thing I did not notice before I started with Schneider. Schneider has an extremely good 401(k) program. Reason I noticed this this week was because my fiance got a job offer (she works in a cubicle... oops, I mean "office"). So we spent a few hours comparing her current salary and benefits to her new offer. So I also dug out all my information on trucking company benefits that I got from recruiters when I was in CDL school. And like I said, even compared to a big Fortune 500 company like the one my fiance works for... Schneider has an awesome 401(k). And it is hands down better than any trucking company I had information on.

So whatever division in Schneider you decide on, you'll be happy. I'd suggest Bulk though, simply because we are awesome! And there's probably a huge sign-on bonus for Bulk in whatever area you are in.

Forgot to say. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions or need a direct line to a recruiter.

Brett your spot on as usual with feedback thanks as always!

TTM thanks for the general feedback, Schneider has limited opportunities in my region. Only Team and this Dollar Store dedicated. But I really appreciate your enthusiastic insight. At any point in the future if I ever think Schneider , I will definitely get in contact with you.

Thanks guys and have a great rest of the week.

Forgot to mention that I have a history of back problems. Sitting for long periods is not much of an issue. Bending, twisting,and heavy lifting for periods longer than 30 minutes intervals spells trouble for me. SO I will need to run the other way from the Family Dollar dedicated

I drove for Schneider about 20 years ago and then quit to go into retail. I retired from retail at the beginning of this year but after 6 months I am ready to work again. I got my CDL back and am starting again with Schneider next week. I will be on a new dedicated account and feel great about going trucking again.

Hi, I'm going to piggy back on this thread. Here's my situation. I graduated from a school ballast July, went right up to ND and worked in the OIL Fields driving a Water Truck for 5 months. Now I am back home in Minnesota and talking with Schneider about a Family Dollar Store and a Dollar Tree dedicated route out of Minneapolis. They are offering a 5000 dollar incentive for Family Dollar and a 7000 for Dollar Tree. Anyone know why the difference? Sounds like the jobs are basically the same. The recruiter did mention that Dollar Tree was a new account. Thanks, Brad