Profile For Big Red

Yea you know my life and experiences and actually I do have experience in this industry from a long time ago but decided to serve my country so I do know what works for me. Just delete my account since you came up with this website. I don't have explain myself to you or anyone. You don't pay my bills and or anything. If you think I insulted you then you haven't seen anything and if you don't like it delete my ****ing account. Now leave me the **** alone. You don't know **** about me so you will not tell me how to live me life or how to make decisions.

You guys are a joke. You only see your way or the highway. You have what works for you and I have what works for me. Thankbyou guys and have a nice day. I see where this is going and I'm just going to simply end it here. Wish you guys the best of luck. Don't worry I'll delete myself from this forum. All I get is bashing and no insight on other companies. You so worried about what I choose to do with my decisions with a trucking company rather than give me some insight on other companies to check out. This one didn't work out for you so check this out. You say you have some years in mentoring but that's not what I call mentoring. Come to the military and Ill show you want mentoring is all about. You my friend are coddling these rookies. Wish you the best of luck. Goodbye

I think I'm being misunderstood. I have applied to these companies. Not just have a recruiter contact me. Actually done both routes. And yes I will actually not drive for a company because of the recruiter. At the end of the day Brett we all have our own ways of handling life and and have our own beliefs. Just because you don't agree with the way someone chooses a company does not mean it's a bad way to go about things. You are just upset they are not doing it your way. I got it you have 15 years in the truck driving business and have a lot respect for veterans like yourself. But having a military background makes me a little different from civilians. If you went to a recruiter for the military and he or she didn't do a good job on selling you on that particular branch I guarantee that you will not be joining that branch. It's your life and family at stake.

Brett, thank you for that article it was a great read. I'm still going to go with my gut and just cancel out Knight Transportation. I might be missing out on a great opportunity, but maybe it will present itself again later on in the future. Right now it just isn't my calling. I decided to set up orientation with Werner out of Lakeland, FL. I like the company, I like the equipment. I wish they had a regional account for me that was not unloading the trailer, but all they have is the Family Dollar Account, and that's something that will drive me away from truck driving. I want to drive trucks, we all do and love it very much so. That's why I chose to go OTR. And the pay difference is really not that big. I mean for average salaries on both sides you are looking at a $3,000 difference a year. That's not enough to unload a trailer by myself. Would love to go with Schneider too, but the training pay is a little low but it could mean all the difference in the long run. I could switch divisions if I wanted and probably get a better account for regional runs. I've been in the military so I guess I can suck it up one more time to be in a hotel room with a stranger I don't know and accept that low pay which is only for just 18 days. I will be reaching out to Schneider tomorrow for further details. Just wanted to get some insight on those two companies as they are my top two companies. And wanted to see if you guys have any other companies you think I should check out. G-Town. thank you for the recommendation of Swift. I was actually working with Swift a while back and been back and forth emailing him and requesting him to call me several times. I know they pull Wal-Mart trailers all the time and that's what I was looking for. But once again no return calls or emails and simply just fell off the face of the earth. LOL so that put another sour taste in my mouth. Maybe this is a sign to not get into the business. lol just kidding. I wont stop and wont give up until I'm in that truck and running those miles like you guys and joining the million mile club along with you guys. So if you have any other suggestions let me know. I greatly appreciate it guys very much. You guys have helped attain my CDL and all endorsements, including my TWIC card. I love reading your posts about different stuff.

Thank you everyone for the replies. I like the way Werner is sounding and yes Bret they did offer me a family dollar account because that is the only account open in my area. The other option is OTR. Which is what I decided. Old school I should have clarified this but I have contacted the Knight recruiter by email and phone call by leaving a message and still got no responses yet. I understand you have to call them to check up on your application but I'm applying my military skills and I expect a follow up. Same on the military. If you had a kid come in wanting to join the military then it is your job to make contact, do follow up calls etc. That's how recruiters work. Communication is crucial in any business. In the military if you didn't have good communication with your people well let's just say the outcome of it can be deadly. But I get what you are saying. I also think that just because you had a bad experience with an account doesn't mean the company is bad. The home terminal doesn't really bother me. I mean my dad works out of savanah ga and drives back home once a month. So that's not an issue. I just wanted my orientation close to home so I can go home every night and not have to worry about them paying for a hotel for me and sticking me with someone I don't know. But if need be I will do it because I'm military and know how to adapt to changes and living with 100s of people on a cot in a tiny space. The other thing that got me was the training pay. I could put with living with someone for a few weeks but like with Schneider the training pay is like $400. Werner is going to give me $750 because of my experience. So that's a little more doable. I have a family thatbi have to support and my income right now is what we will be going off of. I just wanted to see if anyone could shed some light on a few companies I should look into that i haven't mentioned. Not your personal experiences with an account. I don't care about that at all. I care about relationship with drivers, company overall and equipment and pay and miles.

Hey guys So I will be graduating from my CDL school on Friday. I'm so excited to get this new career started. I have a few questions about orientation locations if you guys could help me out. Sorry for the long post but I just want to hear from some experienced people. I'm going to make my own decisions of course but it doesn't hurt to get some insight from some veterans in the industry. First off I just got out of the Active Duty Army and decided this was the career for me. So an apprenticeship program is very important to me.

As I know starting out in this business you will not get rich and start at the bottom of the food chain. That's where the VA benefits will come in the play and help compensate the low pay every month at least for the 1st year. So I have some companies in mind but what is key to me is orientation near my location. I will be living in Davenport, FL which is roughly 20 - 30 minutes from Lakeland, FL or Orlando, FL. I will say Werner has been 1st choice from the jump. My gut has always told me to go with them for some reason. So I have an Orientation date of 29 March 2017.

I would have love to go to Schneider but I'm not willing to go all the way to Atlanta, GA for training. I did apply to Knight Transportation which is in Lakeland, FL as well but have not received a phone call from them yet. And its been over a month so that tells me right off the back they have bad communication in their company. I also applied to HeyL, which is about 1 hour away from me but when I asked about an apprenticeship program, they didn't even know what I was talking about. So thats off the list. So at the end of the Day its Werner. I signed up for OTR so I can go ahead and get that experience, but once I get to orientation I will put myself on a waiting list for one of those dedicated accounts besides Family Dollar and stuff like that.

I don't mind working, but I'm going to be honest. I'm not getting into this business to unload trucks. I want to drive trucks and the thought of unloading trucks again is horrible. I done that before the military and it sucks. I need to focus on driving and moving freight. So now that you got a little bit of my story what are your thoughts or suggestions? Like I said kind of looking orientation around my area maybe 2 hours out. I just applied to J.B. Hunt before writing here even though my father forbidden me because he use to work for them back in the day and by the way he has over 45 years of experience so I take what he says seriously, but come on over 20 years ago trucking industry and that company has changed since then. At least I hope so.

LOL well just share your thoughts and let me know what you guys think. Like I said I think Werner is the way to go, but would go with the right company if the miles and pay is there to compensate the VA Benefits. Just want to make sure I'm not over looking anything. Thanks for all the help guys and I really appreciate it and sorry again for the long post.

So week two is complete and not only do I have my CDL but all my endorsements except hazmat which should be next week. Jaguwar you must be using your waiver too or about to use it lol

Hello everyone. Well yesterday completed my first week of CDL training and I have received my actual CDL license. Not the permit but the actual license. The only reason is because of my military skill test waiver. But I was amazed at how fast I learned the material and the instructor gave me the tools I needed to pass all the test. We are on passenger right now and I plan on taking the test on Monday. This school is great and I recommend it to anyone. At this rate I will have my passenger, doubles/triples and Hazmat endorsements by the end of next week. Then we will start the driving part. I'm not worried about the test. I'm worried about driving. Never been in a truck where I had a manual transmission. I hope I can get the hang of it. Updates coming next week.

Man thanks I really appreciate that. I will definitely be pursuing that one.

Sounds like you have a great plan. Just an FYI, SWIFT has the Dedicated Transportation contract for the Winter Haven Florida Walmart Grocery DC.

Thanks. I already have pre hires with Schneider, Werner, and Swift. Those are my top companies with Werner being number one because the pay out for my G.I. Bill is better with the apprenticeship program. I'm thinking about Knight transportation too because I like their company as well. Either way it's going to be my own experience that makes the company what it is. I try to not let those negative comments about different companies affect my decision because there is something negative about every company just like the military has its negative things. It's what you make of it that determines your future with that company. Military isn't for everyone just like some companies might not be for them