Profile For Andy B.

Hi. I didn't pick up driving truck because I wanted to do this as the only job I could think of. In fact, years ago I went to community college to see if I could do better than I did when I went to school. And so it was. I always would have loved to become a vet. But instead I got married and couldn't see myself spending the next 8 years of my life studying away and having a family that I want to spend time with too. So I didn't. We did a lot of other stuff and 2008 came around and things didn't look as good anymore. At this point, trucking is the only thing left for me to do. Fortunately, I love big rigs, always have, and I love to travel. Granted, there is more to driving a truck than there is to your personal vehicle. Most driver license holders do not get trained adequately enough compared to other countries like Germany where I come from. This being said, I want to share my experience of the last few weeks.

Since I am already a CDL holder when I went to MTA 20 years ago but never used it for driving professionally, the school at AAA School of Trucking in Harrisburg, PA was mostly a rehash. Yes, things did change and I prefer the way they taught and shared their own experience over MTA. Beth Greiff is a really good instructor. Since AAA shares the trucks with C.R. England trainers the difference couldn't have been more stark. The C.R. England students reminded me a lot of MTA including some of their instructors. Often five to six to an instructor and truck, most of them were milling around all day, waiting for their turn. AAA had two students per instructor and we got more driving and backing hours in less a time than the C.R. students did.

Since November 10th, I started my training at Schneider National. What a difference the company is compared to how many companies used to run down their drivers. Two, three logs weren't uncommon. Often you had to load and unload as well. "White Glove" truck drivers was something to be desired. Today, thanks to the 14 hour service rule and 11 hours driving rule, much has changed. Yes, there are companies out there that when they sent you out with a trainer, the trainer and trainee team. Meaning one sleeps while the other drives. Very, very, bad. A friend of mine who worked at a Sunoco witnessed a trainee run over a gas pump while his trainer was in his bunk sleeping. Schneider National is anything like that. Their biggest issue is safety, safety and safety. They have such an outstanding reputation that often their trucks are being passed through at weight stations. All their trucks are new. Teams get to keep one for six to eight months before they are passed on to a solo driver. You can check for any position there is.

This will be a hard change for us. For many years I was able to be an at home dad. I love my family and in-laws fiercely. But all my children are in their teens and my oldest who is married still lives with us. We all see the need to make good money, not for the money sake but to make ends meet and hopefully put some aside for later on.

At this point I plan to stay with Schneider National at least for one year. Then I will see what other, and maybe better options I may have out there. I will continue to update my experience with Schneider. But at this point I am highly impressed with what the company stands for.

Hi all,

I am new hear and I hope that in a few weeks I will be driving for Schneider National. Many years ago, about 20, we had a class B low profile truck and a store trailer. Even so we didn't share the height with other truckers we definitely covered about the same length. Since a CDL was required I attended MTA. Years later, which is today, I finally made the decision to go into trucking. Since my CDL was "stale" and driving experience with big trucks was nill, I had to attend school again. The reason I decided to pay out of pocket again was simply because as it is mentioned on this website, you won't be exposed to all that is there when training with a trucking company. And it seemed that all the ones that did their own training had bad reviews from an employee standpoint. Having done it the "proper" way, you have at least the choice to pick. I can't remember much from MTA anymore. But one thing I do remember, you heard all the horror stories that can happen to you when you are not cautious. AAA on the other side I was highly impressed. Sure, they go through the manual like everyone else. But our instructor, Beth Greiff, she missed no opportunity to have to say something to a lot of things that are mentioned in the manual. I can truly say, and this has been confirmed by truckers who came to visit, her information can be many times a life saver. Not only that, she also lets you know what to do to cover your own back i.e., running your own log even so you have one of these callcom systems that is to be found in most trucks nowadays. Only for the reason that the system could be down when you happened to be in a weight station and the DOT wants to see your logs. For anyone out there I would highly recommend to pull the money out for AAA. I will make it a point in my own life to keep revisiting them and share my stories.