Just Got My CDL, Need Help Deciding On A Company

So I've finally finished up CDL school and passed at DPS! Now it's time to get to work and I am having some trouble deciding on exactly which company I want to work for. I have an app in at Schneider for their bulk tanker division but I do have some concerns. I will be somewhat nervous as a rookie driver as it is, but then adding in the surge and other added difficulty pulling a tanker makes me wonder if it will be a right fit coming right out of school. I initially was 100% focused on pulling a tanker with Schneider regionally for a year and then finding local work here in Houston maybe delivering fuel, especially with companies like Dupre or Suncoast. From what I hear these companies pay pretty well and you get a lot more home time.

I am also interested in Averitt Express to start off with and just see where they will take me. Not so much as a "plan" I have with tankers, but from what I read on here about Averitt, it seems to be a pretty solid gig.

Also, do you recommend to start off a truck driving career doing OTR (or regional in my case), or local? There are a couple of local opportunities that I could look at as well. I am not used to being away from the family and girlfriend but I am not too much hung up on that and think that I would be fine. I love the idea of getting to see this beautiful country, and with both Schneider and Averitt it would be weekly home time anyways!

Any input or advice will be appreciated! If anyone has first hand experience with Schneider or Averitt going In as a rookie, please share your experience.

Thanks!

First of all, if you haven't already then go ahead and apply to any companies you're interested in working for to see who will offer you an opportunity. No sense in worrying too much about choosing a company until you know which ones are willing to hire you in the first place. So apply anywhere you're interested first.

To start off your career you're better off with regional or OTR first. Local gigs tend to require a little experience first because you're often times spending a large chunk of your day in heavy traffic, on a tight schedule, backing into tight places that are quite difficult to get backed into. Without any experience a local job can be extremely difficult to find and even more difficult to do.

With tanker, usually when someone says 'bulk tanker' they're referring to 'dry bulk tankers' which haul things like flour, sugar, sand, etc. So there would be no surge with a dry bulk tanker but I'm not sure if that's the division you're referring to or not. Schneider has a few different tanker opportunities. I believe they have both chemical and food grade liquid tankers along with a dry bulk division. A dry bulk tanker would be a perfectly good place for a new driver to start coming out of school but I wouldn't try getting into a liquid tanker until you have some experience first. That surge can be extremely dangerous and makes driving a lot more tricky.

If you haven't read through them already we have a ton of resources that will help you understand how to go about choosing the right company to work for:

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing Your First Truck Driving Job
• Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"

Ryan...Averitt is going to be more of a regional gig because they typically service southern, midwest, and a few northeast states. They're not really known to be a coast to coast trucking company. So if you're wanting to see the entire country, companies like Schneider, Prime, Swift, etc...would probably be your best choice. Take a look at the company reviews and they'll show you where most companies operate. Best of luck and safe driving.