Profile For Emily

So, here's the deal. I'm still serious about a trucking career and have just now started to get my research done. Before I start calling companies, talking to recruiters, and sending my information out there, I've tried to get a very thorough list of questions I'll need to ask or look up the answers to. Take a look at these, feedback is welcome, and if I'm forgetting anything, please feel free to let me know!

-----

The Company :

1. What is your slip-seat policy?

2. Do you provide travel to your training?

3. How long is your training?

4. How many miles can your drivers expect a week?

5. What is the average age of your trucks on the road?

6. What is your lumper policy?

7. What percentage of your freight is no-touch?

8. Do you pay for motels?

9. Do you operate in New York City? Canada?

10. Is there a standard physical?

11. Do drivers do their own maintenance?

12. Do you have a designated company to fuel with?

13. Are your trucks governed? What speeds?

14. What are your policies if trucks break down?

15. Are drivers penalized for break downs?

16. How long do new graduates drive with trainers?

17. What's your company idling policy?

Pay and Personal :

1. What is your home time policy?

2. Do you have layover pay?

3. What can a driver expect in pay for their first year?

4. Do you offer bonuses? What kinds?

5. Do you reimburse for scales and tolls?

6. Do you have a pet policy?

7. What is your rider policy?

8. What are your pay options? (Check, direct deposit)

9. Is the truck allowed at my home during off time?

10. Does the company hold the first pay check?

11. When are your employees paid?

12. Do drivers pay their own commercial truck insurance?

13. Will you pay for a trainee's CDL training?

14. Does the trainee pay back any of the training investment?

15. How long must a new trainee sign on for to make up for debts?

16. How much cash will I need to bring for orientation?

17. Do you provide meals at orientation?

18. Does your CDL training offer special endorsements?

19. Do you provide insurance for drivers?

20. What are your retirement plans for drivers?

-----

In addition to those questions, I've got a list of twenty five companies I'm going to take a peek at. Yeah, I know it's a lot of work, but I want to cover all my bases. I'm going to compare the pros and cons of these guys. If you have any other companies I should add and look into, please, let me know! I'm also happy to hear feedback from any of the drivers of the companies I've listed. As I find the answers to the questions per company I'll be sure to post the results.

-----

1. JB Hunt

2. Con-Way

3. Swift

4. Schneider

5. Landstar

6. Old Dominion

7. Wener

8. US Xpress

9. Estes

10. Prime Inc.

11. C.R. England

12. Knight

13. Covenant

14. Celadon

15. Stevens Transportation

16. Saia

17. Averitt

18. Marten

19. Heartland Express

20. Arnold

21. Baylor

22. Crete Carrier

23. Gordon Trucking

24. KLLM

25. TMC

I remember reading over that somewhere, that the recruiters and trainers will try to get under your skin and stress you out. All part of the training. I'm good with this and prepared for it. I called her back this afternoon, and I'm definitely not opposed to calling once a day to check back on my application. It also gives me time to continue researching other companies and compile a list of questions and compare answers and such. Seeing as how I still can't drive for another month and a half, I have plenty of time as it is.

Goodness, so much do to with so much information. You guys are great, and I'll definitely get started with the guides, quizzes, and training.

I already had a recruiter from Prime call me this morning and leave me a voice mail. I was completely shocked, because all the little part time jobs around here you have to fight for anyone to even talk to you. I'm going to get a list of questions and points to discuss with them though before I call them back. I'm hoping that they'll have a local recruiter or we can communicate continuously via phone or email; regardless, I've never been happier to live near one of the south's largest cities.

I want to thank all of you again, I imagine I'll be doing that much more as I continue to explore this. You're all awesome! I look forward to sharing my experience, good, bad, short term, or long term with you guys ~ I'm glad I came across such a great community to offer information and point me in the right direction.

My application has been sent to Prime Inc. as of right now...I feel so official! Hopefully if a recruiter doesn't contact me by tomorrow, I'll contact them and get the ball rolling. I'm excited.

Thank you for finding that for me. Prime's program looks great and actually intrigued me from the start. Guessing my next issue is, 'Should I go ahead and get in touch with a recruiter, or should I wait until the day after I'm 21"...Oh, decisions, decisions!

Thanks lots Road Hog! Really loving the help and input here...I was looking at Prime, I was actually quite impressed with them. One of the things I'm curious for is how you get involved with their student courses to get a CDL and experience. Is it really as simple as applying online?

That is actually extremely helpful. I'm started reading and will finish out reading it I'm sure. Thank you!

AH! I forgot, my birthday is next month. Whoops.

I'll definitely be keeping you guys updated, and I'll check out TMC. When I say perfectly healthy, I mean that I'm strong. My last job was part time and I stocked, so lifting up to one hundred and fifty pounds wasn't that big of a problem for me. Thanks for the feedback though! Tell me how your orientation is going?

Well, I guess we can't say that I'm entirely new to the life of a trucker. While I never went into the cab of one, my grandfather was a trucker his entire life, as is my step grandfather. I'm twenty years old, and a little after a year of college I decided I was exhausted with school. I'm exploring career alternatives. I've already loved driving. I have been to thirty nine states, so driving for long hours at a time is not a problem for me. Neither is the being away from 'home'. Whenever we were on one of our trips, I was always the one out of my family begging to stay gone longer. I am wholeheartedly aware that trucking doesn't involve getting out and doing much else when you're on a drive. What I am looking for in this forum is people who have had both great and awful experiences with their companies, advice on where to begin working on obtaining my CDL, and if the lifestyle is even right for me. Thanks for time and consideration, I know you're all busy people!

Also -- I am a completely healthy female. I'm under the impression that the world of trucking is a male-dominated profession. Hints, tips, suggestions, advice, all is welcome, thank you!