Profile For Leah

I appreciate all the advice. Each and every one. It does help out things into perspective when your brain is just going 360! I haven’t given up applying other places just yet.

Mahalo Everyone!

To the best of my knowledge, we're still hiring. As is a variety of other carriers.

I'm assuming that you graduated from a private school. Meaning that you would have had to go through Training with whichever company you hired on with anyway. So it's basically the next step in your journey anyway.

A lot of people think that obtaining their CDL is the end of their schooling, but in reality it's the beginning. It's the key that unlucks the door to Training and eventually becoming a professional driver.

Have you considered Apply For Paid CDL Training and Apply For Truck Driving Jobs

There's a good chance that many carriers may want you to do a refresher with them and then go onto their Training. I know that at Knight we've had a few candidates that were graduates or little experienced and they used our Top Gun program as refresher course prior to being placed with a trainer. Swift also uses our Top Gun program.

If you really want to get into the industry and assuming you can do OTR or regional to start, there are still opportunities to be had, but given the tight market, it may involve being flexible.

Davy A., I paid for 160 Driving Academy. After I passed, they handed me a brochure to JB Hunt. When I applied, I was offered an interview for Intermodal or Home Depot. At the time I wasn’t comfortable with either (maybe more scared to be honest, I was interested in Regional) and then at the same time, emergency family obligations popped up. Now I am in the clear to apply again.

Thank you for the great input! I applied through TT and will make calls to several others I overlooked. Let’s see who will be up to training this old noob!

I find it interesting that Werner is pushing you specifically towards a dollar tree account. You'd think they'd be happy to make you OTR spot freight. Hmm.

But I'm as new to this industry as you are so I dunno.

I was told the two openings to apply for were Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, or TEAM OTR out 2 weeks home 2-3 days…

I do not think a Dollar Store account is a good way for a new driver to get their start. They require some very difficult backing, then you have to hand unload the truck.

We had a member here who did it as a rookie and successfully so it definitely can be done.

Papa Pigs on a dollar account

Bobcat Bob, Papa Pigs adventures have made my heart palpitate multiple times. Maybe desperate times do not always call for desperate measures.

I usually play things pretty safe. Not a regular risk taker….probably shouldn’t start now🤦🏻‍♀️

Leah, if Werner is your only option, then your choice has been made for you.

You can wait, but at this point time is not on your side.

It will be of interest to see what the more experienced drivers have to say about your situation. Should you pull the trigger with Werner or wait?

BK, best way of putting it…pull the trigger or wait, indeed!

You don't need tickets because you possibly have 4 preventables on your DAC.

Right now the economy is tanking. Trucking has slowed down considerably and you are going to fight an uphill battle getting another job. Hit up all the large companies.

You can't make excuses for any of your preventables, even the mirror. When you talk with other companies, you have to own up to these preventables and tell them what you learned from these incidents and how you should have done these differently. In other words, you have to eat humble pie. People with no preventables and a good driving record are having a hard time getting in to driving because companies are cutting back on drivers.

Laura

I’ve noticed that greatly! When I first signed up for trucking school in January 2023, I was so excited to see the job options out there. I graduated in March and received a handful of offers. But I had to take care of unexpected family matters, four months later, I do notice that jobs are now far and few.

I’ve been wait listed on a few companies and turned down from a few others short of trainers or not accepting noobs anymore. My trucking future is pretty bleak at the moment. But I’m trying not to give up.

I am on my wits end here. Having graduated in March, I am not exactly a recent grad anymore! Due to unexpected surgeries my son needed, I was unable to jump into trucking until the insurance matters were all cleared up. Now that it is, I have NO experience driving and choices are VERY slim to none for me it seems.

I’ve been browsing the forum for months and appreciate so much of your input into the trucking world. That being said, so far Werner has been the only place offering me a “Dollar Tree” interview. Many other companies are wait list, not accepting trainees or my recent grad title has expired. I’ve read up on so much Dollar Tree experiences and NOT to start out doing it as a noob.

But at this point, I’m running out of options and time 😩

Any advice on companies that might consider taking me in 4 months after I last hopped in a truck?!

How about confirming for the millionth time that a Dollar Tree account would possibly kill me or my future in trucking faster than I can say Really Lazy Students Love Recess?!

Mahalo in advance.

I work for a different dedicated carrier that has an account with Home Depot. You don't deliver to the stores - you deliver to local construction sites. It's flatbed so there's load securement and driver load/unload with a Moffett (a small forklift that winches onto the back of the flatbed). Your location may vary but in the PNW you're often backing into a muddy lot. Depending on the time of day it may be dark and raining so there's more ways to get stuck or hit something.

The intermodal drivers tend to drive very aggressively- second only to log truck drivers. I asked an intermodal driver about that while we were fueling our trucks. He claimed they had to drive that way because that could be the difference between delivering two or three containers in a day. A driver may have to go home early if they didn't have enough hours left to make the next delivery.

Thanks for the info! I realized the same thing you mentioned about intermodal recently as I observed them zipping past me on the freeway. That the timeframe can quickly make a big difference between fitting in one more load, going home early or getting stranded when your hours are up, somewhere not close enough to home! 😅

I appreciate the input you guys!

Aloha Y’all! I’m about to dive off the deep end… What’s your pros and cons on accepting a Local JB Hunt Home Depot account or Local JB Hunt Intermodal position? Thank you in advance!