Can Starting Companies Like Swift Would Take A Stale License?

I got my class A one year ago and I wasn't ready for the otr experience yet but I'm planning on going most likely a yr from now due to family problems. I want to know if any major carriers would take me since they always need drivers. I know I'm not going to get a good company till i have at least a yr of otr experience so I'll take a crappy company as long i get enough experience to move on to a better company.

Victor, I know you're not getting all this info about "crappy" companies being the only ones willing to hire people in unusual situations like yourself from our website. That tells us you're all over the place gathering information about trucking. That's fine, but you have to be careful about the opinions you're forming. Remember, you really know nothing right now. Much of what you think you know is somebody's opinion that you've decided to adopt. That's a terrible way to start out in trucking.

Would you be surprised to hear that I worked for Western Express and had a great experience there? Would you be surprised that my friend G-Town worked almost a decade for Swift? He made great money there and was treated like the professional driver that he is.

Please, don't fall for the baloney festival that is celebrated by most truck drivers. Nonsense seems to breed freely in most trucker conversations. Be careful what you read and what you believe.

I urge you to listen to this podcast. It should help you better understand things that you think you have already figured out. In fact, I hope you'll listen to all our podcasts. You'd be getting way better information than you are currently coming up with.

Are Major Carriers Just Starter Companies?

Victor,

As Old School pointed out I had a really good career with Swift, far beyond the 1-year training commitment. I was a Double Diamond driver on a Walmart Dedicated NorthEast regional account when I decided to move south and look for a job that got me home every day. Swift schooled me, road trained me and indeed did give me a start... however I soon realized the true benefits of staying beyond the first year. I was treated professionally, fairly, well compensated, lots of flexibility, drove really good equipment and never once did I feel like a "number'. No regrets in starting with Swift and committing to them for well over 8 years. I enjoyed my tenure there and would change nothing if I had it to-do over again.

Please read this link I wrote on our blog page a few years back: Benefits of Driving for a Starter Company Beyond 1 Year

None of us know how any company will consider your employment. My suggestion? Apply to Swift, and others like Prime, Roehl, Schneider, CFI and see what happens.

Use this link: Apply For Paid CDL Training

Good luck.

I understand what ur talking about. Whether the company is good or bad don't matter to me i only care about getting experience. So i assume the answer to my question is yes? And i will watch the podcast

Victor, I know you're not getting all this info about "crappy" companies being the only ones willing to hire people in unusual situations like yourself from our website. That tells us you're all over the place gathering information about trucking. That's fine, but you have to be careful about the opinions you're forming. Remember, you really know nothing right now. Much of what you think you know is somebody's opinion that you've decided to adopt. That's a terrible way to start out in trucking.

Would you be surprised to hear that I worked for Western Express and had a great experience there? Would you be surprised that my friend G-Town worked almost a decade for Swift? He made great money there and was treated like the professional driver that he is.

Please, don't fall for the baloney festival that is celebrated by most truck drivers. Nonsense seems to breed freely in most trucker conversations. Be careful what you read and what you believe.

I urge you to listen to this podcast. It should help you better understand things that you think you have already figured out. In fact, I hope you'll listen to all our podcasts. You'd be getting way better information than you are currently coming up with.

Are Major Carriers Just Starter Companies?

Victor asks:

So i assume the answer to my question is yes?

Victor I was fairly clear in my reply; apply to Swift and others and use this link:

Apply For Paid CDL Training

I understand what ur talking about. Whether the company is good or bad don't matter to me i only care about getting experience. So i assume the answer to my question is yes? And i will watch the podcast

Victor, I know you're not getting all this info about "crappy" companies being the only ones willing to hire people in unusual situations like yourself from our website. That tells us you're all over the place gathering information about trucking. That's fine, but you have to be careful about the opinions you're forming. Remember, you really know nothing right now. Much of what you think you know is somebody's opinion that you've decided to adopt. That's a terrible way to start out in trucking.

Would you be surprised to hear that I worked for Western Express and had a great experience there? Would you be surprised that my friend G-Town worked almost a decade for Swift? He made great money there and was treated like the professional driver that he is.

Please, don't fall for the baloney festival that is celebrated by most truck drivers. Nonsense seems to breed freely in most trucker conversations. Be careful what you read and what you believe.

I urge you to listen to this podcast. It should help you better understand things that you think you have already figured out. In fact, I hope you'll listen to all our podcasts. You'd be getting way better information than you are currently coming up with.

Are Major Carriers Just Starter Companies?

You say that you don't care whether the company is good or bad in response to experienced drivers telling you that the companies about which you have formed rather negative opinions. You need to care whether a company is good or bad.

There are bad companies out there, but they are not the ones you think. Any company suggested on this site as a potential employer is a solid company with which to start your career. The bad companies are the small ones that don't have the freight to keep drivers moving, or lack the resources to keep trucks maintained, or don't care much about safety, or will have you chasing down your paychecks, or any combination of these issues plus additional ones. This doesn't describe every small company, but you won't find a large, known trucking company about which those issues are true. I started with a company that many think of as not having a good reputation. Over a year later, I am still there. I don't put ot out there for what company I work as my personal preference. I will tell you that my company trains drivers to get their CDL. I have thought about going elsewhere, but then I think to myself, "Is it really going to be better at a different company that is basically doing the same thing?" The answer is probably not, so I look for ways to leverage myself into better favor with my DM and others who work in operations at my company. Don't go to a company with the idea, "I know it's bad, so I am going to get the minimum amount of experience and run off to another company." That line of thinking will get you into the realm of being a job hopper. The really good trucking companies, those that require at least 2 years experience, they hate job hoppers. Some of those companies won't touch a driver who has more than one job with that 2 years of experience. All of this is to say, stick to the major companies and focus on being a reliable, safe driver.

Ryan is spot on as is G~Town. You can look at indeed, Glassdoor, etc and see negative reviews. If reviews were what measured a companies quality. Most companies would be shut down. For example it is really hard to find anything online good about TransAm. I know people who love the company. Same as Western Express. And for the love of God do not join or take seriously any FB group on a company. Its a laughing stock. Train of thought gone.

Hi, Victor. You ask a valid question, and I would be delighted to give you my perspective on the issue.

I got my CDL , self pay, in August, 2012. I then sustained a work injury at what was then my (non-trucking) employer and was not able to get the injury resolved for about a year. So, our situations have time frame similarity.

In July, 2013 I began looking for driving jobs. I applied to most of the bigs, and was turned down, universally. because I had a "stale CDL". I was offered the opportunity with three or four outfits to accept employment and go through their CDL training program. In my hubris, I declined. I don't want to say that only a crappy company would hire me, but I DID end up at what would be best described as a "Last Chance" outfit. Others on here have described some of these outfits as crappy. The one that hired me gave me a shot, took a chance on me, and gave me over a year of experience. I ended up at a regional carrier that had a unique business model that was highly supportive of driver efforts to bend space and time. I gave them a year and then moved on to a company that was a bit less... unique. If I were to do it again, I'd choke down the crow and go through the CDL school of one of the bigs and get solid employment with a solid training program. That would be my recommendation for your consideration. You would get paid while in training, you would learn their expectations and methods of operation from day one, and they would have an investment in seeing you succeed.

I doubt that you will be able to get hired direct to driving by Swift, Roehl, Schneider, or most of other big carriers. You might get on that way with a carrier that is last chance.

Good fortune to you as your pursue this as a career.

Victor: Another place to try would be the various 3rd party logistics companies like Ryder, Penske, Black Horse etc. I went through company paid training but ended up not staying with the company. So I had a cdl but little recent experience. After a few months with a small local company I was hired by Ryder in something called their Driver Development Program. It was for cdl holders with 0-1 year experience. Spent 6 weeks with a trainer local then went solo.

These are typically local or out and back jobs. You see them advertising on the job sites like indeed. Normally involves a couple of interviews and maybe a test drive just to see where your skills are.

Availability depends upon what accounts in your area need but I was very happy with how it worked out for me.

Many companies will offer a refresher course. The length of the course may depend on how fast you learn. Some won't even charge you... It is basically a little extended training.