Profile For Midn8t

Agin thing is some of company like one I’m with it shift driving never awake at same time.

I agree with you to a degree, but yes it is training. The trainer will be ( or at least should be) watching everything you do and teaching you how to do it. They won't just be "sleeping"

But if not getting taught anything just doing every thing on your own, and both you and trainer are just taking shifts back and forth.

As someone who was a team trainer for the better half of a decade, I can tell you that we dont sleep enough. It is more like a new parent to an infant where you hear everything and wake up. Most of your driving will be on an interstate, and I do not need to be watching you for 10 hours on an interstate after you know what you are doing. Meaning lane control, watching mirrors, folllowing distance etc.

Teaching you how to find customers, checking in, sliding tandems and why, drop n hooks, HOS, dealing with dispatch, claims, accidents and even life on the road is covered. Even with 6 months, 24/7 i could not cover it all.

Check out some of my team training videos and you will get an idea of what it is like.

And no.. i did not make the same as my students. And i was not responsible for their pay.

Team Training

One thing people sometimes for get is if you do OTR and you are out for while doing local

Company’s may start treating you like your new agin requiring you do redo your training agin.

So sometimes it’s best to decide if you want to be otr or local and ahead of time.

In my experience since I’m a newer CDL A holder who just went through the hiring process and has been working for about 3 months now, OTR is really your best bet fresh out of school. Reason being is it’s the best and fastest way to gain your experience and you will find that most of these companies who are local only like you’re seeking want a minimum of one year experience. They want someone who knows how to drive, maneuver, back, hook and unhook from trailers multiple times a day, already knows logs, HOS, etc. Stuff you learn at an OTR company during training. Best way to gain that experience and the hours is to do OTR. A lot of these local companies aren’t setup for training like that.

I was just like you out of school. Didn’t want to do OTR. Didn’t want to be away from home. I ended up finding out I couldn’t get ANY local, non-OTR jobs around me with no experience. (I searched for 2 months) Your best bet is to go OTR right out of school for a minimum of 6 months, although at least one year is best. Get your one year in, accident free, no write ups, etc. You open up a lot of opportunities after that. Look at companies like Schneider, Swift, Western Express, CR England. I know there’s others that have been mentioned on here before, all of which will take you with little or no experience, train you their way. Then you get your one year in. And that one year coupled with a prospective employer knowing you got good training, will look good when you do start applying for local jobs.

I will say, I could be completely wrong, too. Maybe there is a company that is local that will hire right out of school but in my experience, they are far and few. Good luck.

I did local out of school then Otr

University class a you can drive anything if you want be home and be company driver ready mix cement is good option also and it pays equal to class a I kind of wish I went that route now Usaly pays 28 to 39 an hour.

At least by me that’s going indeed hire rate.

Pick job that suits what you want if you want be home then find job pays well doing that and so forth.

Anther good job starting if want to be home daily is work in g for Sysco foods they pay by hour or by millage and percentage of load which ever pays better

And they will take new people Schinder is anther good company if I want learn tanker and there company hire tanker drivers with it need hazmat like moving chocolate around or milk like we have in Wisconsin jobs for that.

Plenty of things pick from that don’t require OTR

So I've finally obtained my CLP, I'll be starting school very soon and I want to know what jobs hire locally fresh out of school. I don't want to do any otr

So I am just curies get other people views on this question that popped up in my head.

Companies having new drivers or people who have not been on road for while go through a training program when these program to me seem more like team driving then training ?

Example

How program works you would be consider normal orientation, then they teach you just one or two days of like load securement Or anything, then they send you out with a trainer but all trainer does at these company’s training a sleep while the trainee is driving and working then when trainee clock is up the trainer takes over and drives and works.

The company has team driving like this moving loads day and night so g twice as much shipping then a solo person could do.

Both trainee and trainer get same cents per mile during program but the trainees pay just gets sucked up by the traineer

Should this practice really be consider training ?

So I wanted to ask some questions

Currently just driving as employee drivers have not decide anything with what I want to do currently.

My back ground is this I own farm I have rentals some other sources of income that come in besides working at western express.

I just picked this gig up because I just wanted make some extra cash for some farm equipment but farm does have a DOT number and a MC number already tied to it the DOT yet me move the MC into pending state sense no longer have a semi truck on farm which was my fathers.

I am doing flat bed stuff for western express sense been out to long they required me to do what they call training but technically it’s team driving trainer always sleeping when I’m work and vice versa no real training happening.

If farm and rentals making there own income and me having no cost period out side of what ever I do on road.

So that’s basic background now comes my questions

Question one

Would I stand better Chance the. Other with lease to purchase program sense I do not really need the income and it can go if I wanted all back into the truck payments or what ever?

Question two I know for lease to purchase western express has a sliding scale for pay more miles you drive less you make pre mile

Runs from 2.00$ mile to 1.45$ mile for trips that are about 400 to 500 miles.

My understanding at western is that the team driving trainers get l longest routes and solo and lease purchase get less miles.

In paper work it also says for lease purchase that the tow ways are paid for by western express and you get fuel sure charge for loaded miles on top of the mileage pay

They claim there gross mileage pay average with securement and fuel sure charge is about 1.85 mile for the less to purchase

The truck payment for truck with 145,000 miles is they claim 550$ week and the insurance they claim bring it up to 680$ week

Those lease are three years but who knows if you even want keep truck that long.

The lease program is walk away any time you want thing and with fact that I don’t need cash not hurting I was think maybe I should try it for couple of months or three, they also claim that if equipment is not up to snuff they let you trade it in for someone else with same payments anytime you want. ?

I am curies if these are due able numbers?

I am just taking my time thinking about it and playing diff scenarios in my head.

And I thought I would see if any one else has worked for western express and tryed the new lease to purchase program they told me that they re did whole program year ago or so.

How it worked out for them job wise and miles.