Phone BLOWING UP!!!!!
Topic 9796 | Page 1
It's scary isn't it? So many option and choices even as inexperienced drivers. I start my school the 21st and already checking out options even though I won't be finished til October.
Yea it is absolutely mind blowing that the doors are opening soooooo fast! in the meantime, schnieder tanker division has called too!!
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Best advise I can give is check all the companies you are interested in and determine which one best fits your wants/needs.
Ernie
Be sure to take your time to do a full evaluation of their different fleets/departments, weighing the pros and cons of each. Also, build a list of criteria that you want to use for evaluating: equipment, driver support, professionalism (big one for me), etc. Don't sell yourself short. If someone tries to tell you that you should drive for them because you're inexperienced, talk to a different recruiter from that company if you're still interested. I've parked a truck back at a terminal and went home, and that company STILL sends mail asking me to come back. You'll be much happier in finding a good fit. Currently I'm out all week and home on weekends. Not the highest cpm in the industry but it IS a good fit, and the customers and shippers are friendly. The company is small and everyone is professional; everything is directed at making sure that the drivers can run the loads and the equipment is all in good condition. No one wastes your time, and no one gets treated like a piece of garbage. Best of all, someone can speak directly to the owner, which is a huge benefit over a corporate entity any day. Just my preference, but that's an example of what a person might use to seek out the best fit for themselves.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
Who did you go with Dustan?
if you haven't chosen already you could always do something like I have done / working on for choosing what company I want to go with:
I made an excel spreadsheet to compare companies on their cdl training, company training and after training. lots of things to factor in and used a lot of data from this website, although quite a bit is outdated so i'm going through and doing some personal research to find what's true or not still. but this is what my sheet looks like, keep in mind it's for company sponsored cdl companies.
This page is for facts during the cdl training stage
This is for while you are doing company training
Finally this for for once you are a full employee in your own truck
obviously my spreadsheet are not going to work for you the same as they do for me (for one thing not all the data is accurate yet). the 2nd and 3rd one minus incorrect data might but you'll want to confirm with recruiters first.
For me the company allowing pets is a big deal, so you can see on 3rd one I sorted / color coded pet policies. If I could not find any info about it I put it as yellow and defaulted to the info found here. In the case of swift a 3rd party site says they do allow pets but swift website says nothing about it but TT says no... so that ones way up in the air.
Next up for me is probably the CDL training... free is good
Then probably factor in APUs since some states have no idle policies and some companies don't let you idle even in states where it's ok to. It would be nice to have ac in the summer and heat in the winter, plus power for electronics so I can cook my own food.
you get the point... I put all the companies I could into a spreadsheet then all the facts about them, then start sorting by priorities, even a company isn't a fit on things that are really important to me (like pets) I'll remove them from all 3 pages. eventually it'll be a much easier list to handle and my decision will be easy.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
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.
APUs:
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.
Hi Phox
Thanks for sharing your spreadsheet!!!!!!! I just got my CDL A on Friday 8/7/15. I am trying to weigh several factors before choosing an employee and your spreadsheet brought to light some very important factors that I missed when making my own!!!!!!!!!!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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.
Can't stress the point enough to thoroughly research any company your considering, if u have a truck stop near by, or rest area, go talk to the driver's of the company your interested in, most will tell u like it is for them. Unless they are trying to get a recruiter fee by telling u to use their name when contacting the company.
Hi Phox
Thanks for sharing your spreadsheet!!!!!!! I just got my CDL A on Friday 8/7/15. I am trying to weigh several factors before choosing an employee and your spreadsheet brought to light some very important factors that I missed when making my own!!!!!!!!!!
Glad I could help... I got all that info except the pet policy from this site. I originally got the pet policy from here but then I went through and looked at each companies website to make sure it was still accurate and found some of it wasn't.
make sure to keep that kind of stuff in mind, I can't imagine it to be possible for Brett to keep it 100% up to date all the time... that would be a full time gig right there, but to get a general idea to eliminate right away "no" companies it's good.
Once I stop being lazy and finish updating them I'll probably post my up to date findings. I think I read somewhere brett was in the process of getting the company sponsored cdl page updated here soon so who knows maybe my findings might help him.
I wonder if he could (not asking if it's possible, but more of if he knows how and is he willing to) make something where you can view the facts of all the companies on 1 page then sort or filter the listings by criteria. sort of like when you shop online you can say I only want to see things that have this feature or have this many stars review avg or have a price no higher than this. In this case it would be things like offers pet policy, passenger policy, starting pay, cdl training free with (or without) contract, etc. I think that would be very very helpful for those trying to decide on their company choices. wouldn't have to look at each company on an individual basis and you could compare them side by side.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.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.
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Hey guys, got my cdl on weds. put in probably about ten apps/resumes and now my phone is blowing up! Did prehires for prime, knight, and werner so far. Dont know which way to turn though! Any help or advice would be appreciated.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Prehire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Prehires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated