Update On New Millis Transfer Job

I completely agree with G-Town on this. I myself work for Knight Transportation, arguably one of the largest trucking companies around now that Swift and Knight merged under the KNX Holdings umbrella. I also serve a dedicated account, and have just a few people in the company I interact with. I find I am well known to others within the company, oftentimes without my even knowing them.

I understand where you're coming from with your thoughts on getting more focused attention in class, but to be honest it's not going to benefit you. The objective of schooling is to obtain your CDL. Students from a small class get the same CDL as students from a large group class, but they are still woefully unprepared for what comes next.

We are not trying to denigrate your decision or your preference. We're pointing out the simple fact that class size, though perhaps a personal preference of yours, is not something that should be considered as critical to success at trucking.

And they expect their rookies to show consistent improvement

That and taking responsibility, I know when I made mistakes and had to call my DBL and was brought in for extra training the OSR guys seemed shocked I just told them what happened and what I could have done differently and what I'd do next time to prevent it from happening again. This was before they really asked me the questions. One of the last time I talked to the safety team they mentioned how a lot of drivers will try to lie, etc.

I had a pretty rocky start once I got my own truck but I've constantly been improving.

I had a pretty rocky start once I got my own truck but I've constantly been improving.

That statement right there is profound and succinct. Please, those of you who are considering this career, pay attention to what Jamie is saying. His experience of having plenty of issues as he got started is extremely common. His reaction to those issues is extremely uncommon.

This is why you'll see so much inflammatory commentary on trucking forums concerning how bad it is to work for this company or that company. Rookies don't have a clue about the difficulties they're going to be facing. When they start encountering all the issues that are typical while starting a new trucking career, they are convinced they made a bad choice of which company to start with, otherwise why would they be having such issues?

The part that they should focus on is that they should be constantly improving their performance. That's what is really great about what Jamie is doing and saying. It's really easy to confuse the problems that are typical to all rookie truck drivers with problems we think are specific to the company we're working for. Don't fall into that snare. Recognize the issues you're facing and learn to conquer them. That's how you make progress in this career. That approach will set you apart and establish you as one of the rare success stories in a career that has many detractors.

You are both absolutely wrong. Studies have proven smaller student to teacher ratio is more beneficial in learning due to less distractions from other students. I'm not trying to be a jerk it's just fact's.

I completely agree with G-Town on this. I myself work for Knight Transportation, arguably one of the largest trucking companies around now that Swift and Knight merged under the KNX Holdings umbrella. I also serve a dedicated account, and have just a few people in the company I interact with. I find I am well known to others within the company, oftentimes without my even knowing them.

I understand where you're coming from with your thoughts on getting more focused attention in class, but to be honest it's not going to benefit you. The objective of schooling is to obtain your CDL. Students from a small class get the same CDL as students from a large group class, but they are still woefully unprepared for what comes next.

We are not trying to denigrate your decision or your preference. We're pointing out the simple fact that class size, though perhaps a personal preference of yours, is not something that should be considered as critical to success at trucking.

I completely agree with G-Town on this. I myself work for Knight Transportation, arguably one of the largest trucking companies around now that Swift and Knight merged under the KNX Holdings umbrella. I also serve a dedicated account, and have just a few people in the company I interact with. I find I am well known to others within the company, oftentimes without my even knowing them.

I understand where you're coming from with your thoughts on getting more focused attention in class, but to be honest it's not going to benefit you. The objective of schooling is to obtain your CDL. Students from a small class get the same CDL as students from a large group class, but they are still woefully unprepared for what comes next.

We are not trying to denigrate your decision or your preference. We're pointing out the simple fact that class size, though perhaps a personal preference of yours, is not something that should be considered as critical to success at trucking.

Class size, not company size. And while I agree it isn’t critical, I’m hoping for a bit more driving time before I get to my company school, and hopefully the smaller class gives me that. I would also like to pass first time, since NY charges $140 each road test. I would rather not enhance the state coffers any more than necessary.

To be honest though, after attending the classroom portion of my school, at this point I would definitely not recommend paying for your own schooling. Not that I leaned in that direction beforehand, but seeing the class part definitely reinforced it. I’m hoping the driving portion changes my mind, but honestly I doubt it. Sage may be a great school, but the one in Rome at least is extremely disorganized, and what we learned in class was nothing I didn’t already learn in the Hogh Road training, other than looking up regulations.

For any driver planning to go OTR , I would definitely choose a company school, and I believe there were a couple that would put you on a regional or dedicated run out of school.

I never said anything about it being a small company. I said the training class is small. That's why I chose Millis. Again I'm not trying to be a no it all but I'm 💯 on that fact. Studies have proven smaller student to teacher ratio is more beneficial in learning.

Bulldozer wrote as a reason for choosing Millis...

But most importantly because the class size.

Bulldozer, Millis may well be your best choice; but I’d suggest that “size” or lack there of is at best an assumption.

Millis is no different than the Mega-Carriers in that they expect safe and efficient drivers. And they expect their rookies to show consistent improvement and the ability to learn from mistakes. It’s about performance; that’s where it begins and ends, and is consistent throughout the industry.

For instance I am a Swift driver assigned to a NE Regional Dedicated Walmart account. I will celebrate my six year anniversary this coming February. Swift employs 18,000 drivers throughout the lower 48. At no time have I ever felt like a number. Never. During my first 6 months (especially) I never lacked for quality and consistent support. The extent of my day-to-day relationships are focused on about a half dozen support people. 1 operations coordinator, 4 driver leaders and 2 planners. They all interact with me professionally and respectfully. I feel like an important and integral part of a cohesive/effective team; NOT a single driver lost on the mass of the other 17,999.

Swift’s size can actually be beneficial; I never sit, many times have my pick of available runs (something I have earned) and the ability to run for short periods outside of my assigned territory if I need a change of scenery. Swift like any other company treats their top-performing drivers like gold. Although this is earned, the same opportunity is available to drivers at any company.

For the purpose of everyone reading this post, please provide a bit more information supporting your premise that a smaller sized company is somehow beneficial to a new driver. Again I am in no way suggesting Millis is the wrong decision; however their size should be the least important criteria affecting your decision.

Bull...something...wrote:

You are both absolutely wrong. Studies have proven smaller student to teacher ratio is more beneficial in learning due to less distractions from other students. I'm not trying to be a jerk it's just fact's

Wow aren’t we bold? So that’s all you “got” out of both of our replies? How about if we give the advice here... You have NO experience and based your reply on a preconceived notion of what actually works and what is window dressing.

Please show us the studies (a link), I’d like to see specifically what they are and who paid for them. Almost never objective...but subjective and often skewed to satisfy a marketing tactic to tout the benefits of smaller class size. Unbeknownst to you most of the classes are 70% smaller by the middle of week 2. It’s a very fast weeding-out process...and please don’t come back with a contrarian opinion until you have actual experience.

That said; you do not need concentrated, 1 on 1 instruction to learn enough in a school to pass the CDL tests. It’s about carefully listening to and absorbing the instruction; then applying it with practice, practice and more practice. Most of the true learning doesn’t begin until after you have your CDL.

Well it's critical to me and my success because I don't want to be around a large group of people, while not all but some will be a huge distraction. Possibly making my experience a bad one. You can say all day "well your there for you, so why would you let someone distract you." It will and it will possibly disrupt the whole class and trainers. Think about if the trainer is now upset because of a bad interaction with a trainee he/she will now possibly be in a bad mood and not be 100% focused on your training. Again these are just fact's. Go back to school days. Remember when some kids in class were acting up and what did the teachers do." Ok well wait for so and so to stop so we can continue" Fact's.

I completely agree with G-Town on this. I myself work for Knight Transportation, arguably one of the largest trucking companies around now that Swift and Knight merged under the KNX Holdings umbrella. I also serve a dedicated account, and have just a few people in the company I interact with. I find I am well known to others within the company, oftentimes without my even knowing them.

I understand where you're coming from with your thoughts on getting more focused attention in class, but to be honest it's not going to benefit you. The objective of schooling is to obtain your CDL. Students from a small class get the same CDL as students from a large group class, but they are still woefully unprepared for what comes next.

We are not trying to denigrate your decision or your preference. We're pointing out the simple fact that class size, though perhaps a personal preference of yours, is not something that should be considered as critical to success at trucking.

Class size, not company size. And while I agree it isn’t critical, I’m hoping for a bit more driving time before I get to my company school, and hopefully the smaller class gives me that. I would also like to pass first time, since NY charges $140 each road test. I would rather not enhance the state coffers any more than necessary.

To be honest though, after attending the classroom portion of my school, at this point I would definitely not recommend paying for your own schooling. Not that I leaned in that direction beforehand, but seeing the class part definitely reinforced it. I’m hoping the driving portion changes my mind, but honestly I doubt it. Sage may be a great school, but the one in Rome at least is extremely disorganized, and what we learned in class was nothing I didn’t already learn in the Hogh Road training, other than looking up regulations.

For any driver planning to go OTR , I would definitely choose a company school, and I believe there were a couple that would put you on a regional or dedicated run out of school.

Bulldozer you really need to take step back here, realize we are trying to help you and others see the bigger picture.

Shiw us a link to these studies you have referenced.

BullDozer: I'm new here, but your attitude shocks me. I'm going from a construction career (49 years) to a driving career. I've encountered many guys in construction that have your same attitude and they never last long on the job before everybody gets sick of it and then they go bye bye. You need to re-evaluate your approach here and in life in general. It's one thing to take out your frustrations on a nail or a piece of wood, but not acceptable out on the road. Wow, I fear for you.