Profile For Seth N.

As I peruse the sites of many trucking companies, I keep seeing these sign on bonuses. 5k, 10k , etc. I do understand that they are paid out over a period of time and also that as a new driver, I wouldn't be eligible. But now here's the question. You knew there would be one, right? First, are they for real (or basically unattainable with the hoops they make you jump through) AND even more important, are they common? One company that I am really looking at has a huge sign on bonus, and looks like a company that I might enjoy working for. They will hire straight out of CDL school, but have no company training. Would the better move be to go company training and after a year, go to this company and get the sign on bonus (assuming I don't like my first company, better pay yada yada) or just go to CDL school locally and go sign up with them? I am going to call the recruiter for said company, but I know what their job is. I just want to know for how long I'd be making the lowest CPM assuming I did a good job.

Werner offers a $2500 sign on to new grads, it is paid over 90 days after orientation is done.. The only caveat is...its for the Dollar General account and is a very tough job as its 100% touch freight and also TIGHT manuevering. I continually read here and elsewhere that its a bad gig for a rookie straight out of school. It just wasnt worth it to me to risk it, especially with the DAC to worry about when i decide to move to another company. All that also takes into account that im used to tight manuevers in real parking lots while in CDL school while many arent(they made sure we could do more than textbook backing manuevers).

Now for my uncle, both companies he went to had large bonuses and always paid them out, along with referrals. My bestfriends dad started a new company every few years with big bonuses specifically to get them more often and has been trucking for almost 35 years now lol. But then again he ALWAYS MADE SURE that it was a good fit and good for his family!! He never took that for granted and used it to buy things he and they needed. And saved the rest!

Just a survey, not a lot of discussion needed. How responsive where the recruiters you interacted with? I have been dealing with 3 from separate companies. 1 had responded via phone and email in less than 3 hours or the following morning. Another has taken a week at a time to respond. Another has yest to respond after 3 weeks and 3 messages left to their voice mail and 2 emails to the company orgbox. I don't want to drop a dime on company names, but after reading a bunch of forums here about recruiters, the one who makes an effort towards me is likely to get my nod. At what point have you "cut bait" and moved on?

Im a little ahead of the curve as i have a CDL already and many dont have that luxury and have to do it with the company they work for. In the past week or so I've talked to recruiters from a bunch of companies, and had no issues getting a call back within the next day. BUT since you dont have a permit or med card yet...i would DEFINITELY get that first as just getting those i was getting many more calls back for CDL schools. That was my big hurdle till i got that. Then doors opened a lot more just for schools. So im sure its even more important for companies. Especially since you MUST have a permit and med card to even drive a semi

In case you want to know the Post-CDL recruitment outlook..... ive applied to a LOT of companies, and The ONLY companies I seemed to have any issue getting answers out of was Sygma... they wanted to send an email rather than talk first, and didn't give any pay/hometime info till I called their recruiters direct line that was on the email. And also Swift... with them it took 3 days of phone tag to get a call back and had to kinda pry about hometime and pay, and exactly what I would be doing on the job. (was a Dollar account that has high turnover so idk if they didnt want to reveal that or what.

There is one thing you don't want to do as you are trying to reach out to recruiters and make a choice on which company to start with. Don't equate your recruiter's performance with the quality of the company for which they work. There are both good and bad recruiters. There are new and experienced recruiters. You have no way of knowing which one you are dealing with. You may get a recruiter who is just being trained. They may not be so great at their job yet. It is a huge mistake to equate your experience with a recruiter to your possible experience at a particular trucking company. Once you are signed up you will never have any more contact with that recruiter.

For those of you struggling with your experience with recruiters, here's a great article for you to consider...

The Biggest Mistake Drivers Make When Speaking To Recruiters

i agree 100%. i was very skeptical on 2 companies at first till i called back and got someone else. Theyre now 2 of my top 3, and 1 of them is the one im actively pursuing.

Hello people,

Let's be honest, What are you're opinions of Swift Transportation? I get that they're the butt of jokes a lot, but it kind of just feels like the "Make fun of the lil guy" kind of humor. (Even though they're pretty large.)

Anyway, what do you guys think of Swift?

My uncle, and CDL school instructor both worked for them and found them to be ok or liked them. My uncle who worked for them would have stayed but he had health issues and needed a wheel holder job and went to a home based daycab job instead of Swift OTR. He said they treated him right though. The offer they gave me a few days ago honestly wasnt bad at all pay wise(especially compared to others) it was just 14-16 days out and 100% touch freight in dollar tree parking which i didnt want after reading Dollar account horror stories

Does the issue date of your CDL actually reflect this? If it does, awesome. If it doesn't, you've basically already burned probably about a third of the time you'll have to find a job with ease.

You've got a professional manner about your typing, but if you've been sucking down information from this website, then you should well know that your start in this field has MUCH more to do with your own attitude and drive than the company you start with.

Oh it definitely does come down to attitude, especially once youre with a trainer and have a dispatcher! I have a lot of truckers in my family and have operated forklifts and know how to act professionally and what to expect. Also JB hunt is 3 months experience minimum, thats the only reason they turned me down(which i had heard but figured it was worth making sure jst in case).

And yes the issue date on the CDL is just 2 days before i received it so that helps a lot! I have 2 more calls to make tomorrow then im choosing, pretty sure its gonna be Maverick. Im not just looking for pay, ive made sure to find those ones that fit my lifestyle, type of work i wanted, and that happened to pay well at the same time. Figured if one pays more, is a better fit for me, and higher rated by drivers, then thats what i want to go with.

Thats what i would advise Seppo and others look for as well, and to go for phone calls over email. I dislike talking on the phone to strangers usually but email is a pain at times, and recruiters have been good to me so far. Also any company you can think of theres plenty of info on if you search enough.

You are aware that you have an effective deadline on how long you're worth anything as a completely unskilled driver with a fresh CDL, right?

Also i forgot to mention...i JUST NOW got the actual CDL in the mail due to covid after 5 weeks of waiting. Took me almost a week of waiting till they had an opening just to get the paperwork filed and info to get it sent out. Thats the ONLY reason i waited till now, as i was told i should get the physical license before i applied to companies by 2 recruiters and my school, as its caused issues before.

I just recently got my CDL-A and have been going through the recruiter "call and pry for answers cycle" as well. Been all over this forum looking at company thoughts, all over Indeed looking at reviews, and watching YouTube vids of drivers, and even the companies own YT pages as much as i can. The way i did applications was through Tenstreet or a quick app on their site and wait for the phone call. I don't like talking on the phone much, but they got my questions answered quickly and easily that way for all but 2 companies.

In the last 6 days I've talked to recruiters from a bunch of companies! From what my schools director and others have said, they expect to have a decent amount of people just looking for general info only, and the quicker you get to the point the better. Especially when you already have your CDL and are not tied down to any company.

I applied to Swift, Pam, CRST, Melton, Maverick, TMC, US Express, Roehl, Sygma, CFI, Werner, KLLM, Transport America, Stevens Transport(the mega carrier), Stevens Trucking Inc(more local company), 2 local companies who I wanna move up to at 6 months to 1 year, and even asked JB hunt but they're 3 month minimum experience.

The ONLY companies I seemed to have any issue getting answers out of was Sygma... they wanted to send an email rather than talk, and didn't give exact pay till I called their recruiters direct line that was on the email. And also Swift... with them it took 2 days of phone tag to get a call back and had to kinda pry about hometime and pay, and exactly what I would be doing on the job. Honestly

The thing I learned quick to say was... "Hi, i just recently graduated CDL school in December and im just now looking for companies to work. i was just wondering what you offer for pay, routes available in my area, and hometime wise" I would then ask about their average mileage, and orientation process, and this seemed to get me the most info the quickest, and let me vet each company head to head(which is why i went to a private CDL school in the first place.) It also doesnt show that I am super interested or that I NEED the job, and lets me get straight to the point of whether they are even worth considering. This has narrowed it down IMMENSELY for me and straight up disqualified 5-6 of these companies based on either terrible hometime, or terrible pay.

You are aware that you have an effective deadline on how long you're worth anything as a completely unskilled driver with a fresh CDL, right?

Yes i am, it has caused no issues thus far for me or any of my classmates. I aced the school and have a completely clean record and dont drink or do drugs. That alone has suprised a LOT of the companies ive talked to. Only 2 companies have turned me down(pam as i didnt have a good enough work history and they are really strict for their current positions) and JB hunt. The rest have been more than willing to have me. Being honest and having a clean record is a lot more uuncommon than youd think for these people according to them lol

I just recently got my CDL-A and have been going through the recruiter "call and pry for answers cycle" as well. Been all over this forum looking at company thoughts, all over Indeed looking at reviews, and watching YouTube vids of drivers, and even the companies own YT pages as much as i can. The way i did applications was through Tenstreet or a quick app on their site and wait for the phone call. I don't like talking on the phone much, but they got my questions answered quickly and easily that way for all but 2 companies.

In the last 6 days I've talked to recruiters from a bunch of companies! From what my schools director and others have said, they expect to have a decent amount of people just looking for general info only, and the quicker you get to the point the better. Especially when you already have your CDL and are not tied down to any company.

I applied to Swift, Pam, CRST, Melton, Maverick, TMC, US Express, Roehl, Sygma, CFI, Werner, KLLM, Transport America, Stevens Transport(the mega carrier), Stevens Trucking Inc(more local company), 2 local companies who I wanna move up to at 6 months to 1 year, and even asked JB hunt but they're 3 month minimum experience.

The ONLY companies I seemed to have any issue getting answers out of was Sygma... they wanted to send an email rather than talk, and didn't give exact pay till I called their recruiters direct line that was on the email. And also Swift... with them it took 2 days of phone tag to get a call back and had to kinda pry about hometime and pay, and exactly what I would be doing on the job. Honestly

The thing I learned quick to say was... "Hi, i just recently graduated CDL school in December and im just now looking for companies to work. i was just wondering what you offer for pay, routes available in my area, and hometime wise" I would then ask about their average mileage, and orientation process, and this seemed to get me the most info the quickest, and let me vet each company head to head(which is why i went to a private CDL school in the first place.) It also doesnt show that I am super interested or that I NEED the job, and lets me get straight to the point of whether they are even worth considering. This has narrowed it down IMMENSELY for me and straight up disqualified 5-6 of these companies based on either terrible hometime, or terrible pay.

JB hunt is minimum 3 months experience but occassionally has some REALLY high pay jobs if you dont mind waiting them out and pay attention to the site.

I called them up as a recent CDL grad and and got info just 2 days ago as im trying to get info from every company i can think of to choose one. They had top 3 pay for some of those select rare positions of any company that required less than 1 year. (Assuming it wasnt overstated and or lying from the recruiter)