Questions For Recruiter

As I've narrowed my Company sponsored training down to a handful of companies ( Thanks to TT.com) what would be some questions besides the obvious , miles, home time. Also reside in Sacramento Ca has anyone any recommendations for driving schools. Thanks for Trucking truth :)

Hey guy I also live in Sac! Off exit 100 on 80, right off Tupelo Dr.

This is a nice list. Credit to ThinksTooMuch.

Questions for Trucking Company Recruiters

Company Name:

Recruiter Name:

Phone Number:

Email:

1. Where is your orientation?

2. Is the orientation a controlled curriculum for subject matter and teaching points? Mileage? Time?

3. Do the trainers get graded by the students after completion or is there a feedback loop to make the training better? Team driving during training?

4. What is the pay during orientation and training?

5. What is the pay after training completion? List for each division please: tanker, dry van , reefer , etc. Please list if it is for ALL miles, or is a progressive (“tiered”) pay scale.

6. Any bonuses post completion? 6 months? 1 year?

7. Is there a 401k and how is it structured? Cap limits? How much does the company match?

8. During orientation are lodging and meals paid for by the company?

9. If the trainer takes home time does the newbie keep driving?

10. What electronics does your company furnish to make a more safe and efficient driver?

11. Where are the main hubs?

12. Does the company have any dedicated contracts? Divisions? Is the newbie eligible for them?

13. What medical and dental plans are offered? Details and pricing of each plan to include time with company?

14. Can you switch trainers if it doesn't work between the two of you for whatever reason?

15. Idling policy?

16. Inverter installation policy? APU in trucks?

17. Is per diem built into the pay?

18. Breakdown and layover pay? Detention pay?

19. Are they no touch or is unloading involved? Pay for unloading?

20. How many miles do they usually put on a truck before they pull it from the fleet?

21. How does the pay period work? Do they use TRANSFLO and does it cost you? Do bills have to be sent in by a certain day to get paid during a week?

22. General home-time policy and where they want the truck when you go home?

23. Slip seating or assigned trucks?

24. What speed are trucks governed at?

25. Vacation policy?

26. What miles are paid miles and what miles are not?

27. When am I working and not getting paid?

28. If weather, driver (sick) or road conditions are such that I feel it is unsafe to continue driving, will I be penalized for parking until it is safe?

29. What are the reasons I could be disciplined and or fired for?

30. What can I expect my first year earnings to be? 2nd year?

31. How many miles per week does a newbie average?

32. Is there a tuition reimbursement program? Explain how it works please.

33. How many of their recruits as a percentage remain past 90 days?

34. What is the number 1 reason new recruits quit or their biggest complaint when they're terminated?

Now obviously you don't have to ask every single question on the list. So pick and choose what you're curious about and ask away.

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

Per Diem:

Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.

Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.

Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.

We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

You beat me to it Daniel. I think it's a good list, but obviously use the questions you want and come up with your own. The recruiter should give you as much information as possible but it needs to be a back and forth. If there is something you ask and they don't know, ask them to please find out and call you back.

Its a fantastic list in my opinion. Defiantly a great jumping off point.

Great Info Thanks

I just asked my Schneider recruiter “how soon I could get started”. She seemed to like that because she giggled :-).

Its a fantastic list in my opinion. Defiantly a great jumping off point.

DEFIANTLY ????????????

I really tried ot just ignore it....but I coudln't...Its Redgator's fault....spending the afternoon with her just makes a person "defiant"

Yeah, that's me in a hurry trying to type something up. It's one of those situations where I gotta go but I want to finish this sentence. Haha, ehhh.

Definitely*