Profile For Jason T. (JT)

It's great to hear you are doing well and enjoying yourself. It feels like less of a job when you actually enjoy what you're doing, huh?

Don't be a stranger. Pop in as often as you can and help spread the knowledge. Especially for people who post on here about the horror stories they've heard about Western Express. As a driver currently with WE you can help set them straight about what is like to work for them.

Thank you REAL and KEARSEY. You guys helped me since day 1 and really appreciate all of you. I will keep you posted. See you guys soon. JT

Its been a few months since my last input. I just want to say hello and thank all of you for your help and guidance in my new trucking journey. Hello to my buddy OLD SCHOOL, who tells it like it is.

Be prepared everyone new to TruckingTruth. You are on the right website if you are inquiring anything you want to know about starting a career in the huge trucking world. If you are just curious about something, or have a question, all these Professional Drivers on here are all such awesome and very talented people! Now I named one in particular, but they are ALL extremely knowledgeable. All you have to do is ask any question in the general topics section. You WILL get your answer!

We dont use any profanity on this site. So keep it clean. Sometimes it hurts to hear the truth, but they all know better. If you are just starting out, like me, your mind is very hungry. The great people on here will help you. Whether you just got you CLP or CDL, this is where you'll want to learn more. Regardless, there are NO shortcuts to the road. YOU WILL GO THROUGH TRAINING! Well, that's what they drilled into me.

No one in their right mind will hand you the keys to a $300,000 dollar machine unless you know what you're doing, SAFELY! Most likely they are going to tell you to go OTR, (over the road), That is where you will get a ton of experience. I'm not advertising, but I signed up with WESTERN EXPRESS. They've been nothing but great to me. I read a lot of horror stories on the internet about companies. I guess they all have them. You just have to pay no attention to what some people say and experience the company for yourself.

People that badmouth companies, I think probably weren't even trying to learn or work hard at learning what they teach. Yea, hard work. Maybe not so much physical, but a lot to learn mentally also. Remember, if you're reading this, you are wet behind the ears! You're also going to find a lot of great companies out there won't even look at you with zero experience. If a company offers to train you, take it. It's one of the best decisions I've made in my life. WESTERN EXPRESS was my favorite, and still working there.

Absolutely love being a company Driver! Love the whole scene. Meeting all my new fellow Truckers out there, dealing with Shippers, Receivers, co-workers, etc. It's been more then I've expected it to be. I'm green out there. Most of the Pros can see that. And most of them are eager to help, which is a Godsend. It can get a little confusing in these busy places. Maybe not so much eager to help, more like hurry up and get the #$%^ moving already! LOL. Time is money!

So in closing. Thanks to all my Good Freinds on TruckingTruth. Thank you all for keeping me moving to this career. And good luck, LISTEN, and BE SAFE out there! To the newer people. God Bless everyone

Jason T./ Long Island, New York

Thanks, Old School, that's what I was hoping to hear. I'll put more effort into getting more recruiters on the phone. The person I talked to at Swift made me worried about my future in trucking, and that got me looking for some actual truckers to talk to.

Cardplayer, Swift should be worried about their future in TRUCKING !

Thank you everybody for all your great advice. I did hear from one Great company, no names. But now the ball's in my court. I do have to take care of some minor thing pending first. It's just gonna take a little time. 22 days to be exact. But thank you all for helping me keep my head going straight ahead. Jason T /Long Island

What companies hire from the school you attended? Most schools I'm aware of have some type of career placement program.

I'll admit jobs seem more plentiful on this side of the Hudson River at the moment, but Indeed shows entry level positions at Western Express in Brentwood and Levittown, XPO Logistics in Bay Shore, FedEx Ground in East Elmhurst Queens, and that's after about five minutes of looking. Have they all said no?

I drive out to Bethpage at least a few times a week.

Hi James H. I'm so tired of putting applications in with the places you listed. I'm sure I have one or two in for every company you listed. Yea, the recruiters call you, tell you the great world it is going with them, never hear from them again after all your info's in, and leave you hanging. Especially XPO. I really think indeed's like some kind of scam too. I think it would be better to drive down to the company and ask right out, ARE YOU HIRING NOW ? More than half of them aren't. But James, thank you for looking for me. Really though, they want you to team with an experienced driver that you know is interested in teaming. Otherwise, zero experience, good luck

Wait a minute... we thought you got hired by Trans Am. What happened?

Please don't tell us you ignored our advice and quit before you had a chance to develop yourself into a successful driver. Surely you've heard us harping about that one year commitment being vitally important.

Give us some details. There may be more than just your location that's hindering your job search. We can help, but we need to know the real problem before we can offer a solution.

Yea Old School and James. Yes I did go to Trans Am. My lack of driving skills didn't work out with them. They didn't teach us much at Victors. Operating a day cab with a 48' trailer was way different then getting a sleeper tractor attached to a 53' was a lot different than what I was used to. I will not say anything bad about Trans Am. I thought they were a great company. It was all just so new to me. Even sending documents like the BOL's with the Transflo was greek. You basically had all this info crammed at you in 5 days. A way lot of information I never even got the chance to learn. Sealed loads and all that good stuff. Refrig temps, etc. All greek to me. They said we were skipping steps we needed to know before we came there. I never learned half of what some people learned in school. I never knew anything about sliding tandems and what holes they were supposed to be in. The weight on each axle, and stuff like that. 12000 +34000+34000= 80,000. never knew that stuff. This was a lot they said we shouldve leafned in school. Some people came there highly trained. There were 22 candidates. I know of at least 7 went home in 5 days. The ones that were left were down to like their last point and had two more days to go. I'm assuming maybe, maybe 3 or 4 people made it into a driving position with them. The other people that were driving when I got cut weren't doing well at all. Or maybe they pulled it off somehow. I doubt it. I have to say the whole experience was a wake up call for me. Like this is serious @#$ ! Oh it also costed me close to about a thousand dollars to get my very disappointed, sorry ass back home! The only thing that's stopping me for not giving up is I know if only I had a little more time to spend with that beautiful 2024 KW t-680 I could've put that rig anywhere they asked. I left out everything was timed...which made it more nerve racking then the State Examiners sitting next to you watching every move to get your CDL.

Hi everyone.

Where are all these trucking jobs promised to me before I spent thousands of dollars in trucking school ? If you ask me this is a joke. I am so frustrated that the last time I was able to drive a Tractortrailer was in school. All these jobs like Swift, Roehl, Shneider are all saying they don't hire in my area. (Long Island, New York). To get a local job driving here or even going over the road ANYWHERE, is like impossible! I'm like the plague, with zero experience. You know you would think with No dwi's, no accidents, spotless Class C license for years of being a good driver, you would get some looks. As soon as I got my class A I'm like a disease! I was so proud of myself. I'm pretty much chalking it up now to nothing but a waste of freakin time and valuable money I really didn't have to throw away in the first place. With all due RESPECT for all you guys all around me driving them 18 wheels around, I'm watching you everyday. I know you all put your blood sweat and gears into this Industry. I know you all work long hard hours, and bust your ass's out there, I just wanted to be one of you. Please someone, give me some direction out there. If you're rolling down on my LIE someday, and you see a grey GMC pickup checking you out, it's only me. I'm admiring your rig, always looking for anything I can see wrong to let you know, before it's a hazard, NICELY, like something stuck in the duallies, or a 5th release arm that looks funny, etc. I'm just seeing if I can help. But staying the #$%^ out of your way otherwise. I'll never be in your blind spots. And you'll never notice me. I may throw ya a wave once in a while, or a thumbs up, just to let you know I love ya. Oh ps. Watch out for Suffolk white pickups watching you too. They're the LAW. And trust me, they're lookin! God Bless you all. Jason

sorry Ryan, Florida. Leaving Monday morning. See ya on the road when they teach me how to drive something without a stick! LOL

TransAm will push leasing HARD. Drivers with whom I have spoken talked about seeing an orientation class of 20 guys with only a couple really thinking of going lease at the beginning, then seeing more than half the class decide to go lease by the end of the week of training. The TransAm drivers with whom I have spoken told me that the presentation on leasing is designed to make drivers feel like you can't make money unless you lease. TransAm is forced dispatch, even going to NYC, including Hunts Point. They will run you as much as you want to run. Short turn arounds, tight windows, etc. If you can handle it, TransAm dispatchers will keep feeding you.

Be on top of your earning settlement sheets. If you don't think something looks right, ask about it and get a clear explanation. Even with the best of companies, mistakes are made because its people doing the payroll work. I work for a solid company, and once in a while I catch something that needs to be pointed out for the payroll department to fix. TransAm drivers have told me that their payroll department maybe needs a little closer inspection sometimes. They have told me that when discrepancies are found, there's not an issue getting them fixed, so it's not like TransAm is intentionally shorting pay.

I had thought of going with TransAm way back when I first got my CDL, but I decided to go with a company that has a terminal closer to home. It was my genuine interest in TransAm that had me doing the homework on them that I have.

Which terminal are you going to for orientation and training?

Thanks Pack and Ryan. Yup I saw the pay. The tuition reimbursement kind of sold me. I wanna do well for the company and I hope they push for employees too as they say they do. I'm NOT leasing so I guess I may be in trouble. I'll do anything they ask of me. Happy to have an actual job and get some experience. I know it's gonna be a little tight in the beginning. Hopefully when they see my work ethic and drive, they'll wanna keep me with them as a Company man. We'll soon see. My job is to make you guys ALL, proud of me. I would have never obtained the BERRIES if I didn't learn from my Friends and Fellow Drivers on TRUCKINGTRUTH ! I wish us all luck with now not being such a great time to be a Trucker. God Bless us all !

TransAm will push leasing HARD. Drivers with whom I have spoken talked about seeing an orientation class of 20 guys with only a couple really thinking of going lease at the beginning, then seeing more than half the class decide to go lease by the end of the week of training. The TransAm drivers with whom I have spoken told me that the presentation on leasing is designed to make drivers feel like you can't make money unless you lease. TransAm is forced dispatch, even going to NYC, including Hunts Point. They will run you as much as you want to run. Short turn arounds, tight windows, etc. If you can handle it, TransAm dispatchers will keep feeding you.

Be on top of your earning settlement sheets. If you don't think something looks right, ask about it and get a clear explanation. Even with the best of companies, mistakes are made because its people doing the payroll work. I work for a solid company, and once in a while I catch something that needs to be pointed out for the payroll department to fix. TransAm drivers have told me that their payroll department maybe needs a little closer inspection sometimes. They have told me that when discrepancies are found, there's not an issue getting them fixed, so it's not like TransAm is intentionally shorting pay.

I had thought of going with TransAm way back when I first got my CDL, but I decided to go with a company that has a terminal closer to home. It was my genuine interest in TransAm that had me doing the homework on them that I have.

Which terminal are you going to for orientation and training?

Thank you BK and Bobcat. I will make you guys proud! And Bobcat, you guys on here taught me better! We know all about what these companies try. Got it ! And thanks you guys. God Bless

Good luck, Jason

Make us all proud of you!