Profile For Country boy

Good luck at Schneider, I'm not sure about the van side.. I was on the Bulk side, training for the bulk side is 5 weeks for inexperienced drivers and 3 weeks for experienced. The training was very thorough and they connect you with an independent liason to get your thoughts on how things are going the first 6 months. I was there for almost a year and a half running dedicated for a year of 2 loads a day 6 days a week 512 miles a day.. for $1257 gross per week.

Input would be great

Mine stays on also, and has helped a few times with traffic and parking spots.

Just trying to share what I have learned myself, through research and what the company I work for does.

The learning curve is not as great when you have a support team during the first year... I can't speak for other companies, I can tell you that Schneider puts you with a Driver leader that is trained to help beginning drivers and they provide an outside driver coach, to help you with any issues that you may come across with the company or customer. This is something that some others do not do, as per conversations with some of my friends at other companies. Seems like a great resource for a beginning driver to help become successful.

choosing the right company to start with, will have a huge impact on your success early on. What I'm saying is that some companies are better than others as far as how they support you while you are out on the road. That will be something that you will have to research and find which companies are better or worse at this aspect.

I'm curious what verifiable evidence you can provide us to back this statement up. I'm not sure I even understand what you're referring to when you speak of the company's habits of "how they support you while you are out on the road." Can you elaborate on this? Maybe I'm just tired and not understanding what you're talking about. Most companies hiring newbies are big self insured operations, and all of them will help with issues out on the road. They are the companies with national accounts for tires or repairs.

I love this advice that you gave...

Your success will also be directly connected to your work ethic, if you bust your butt daily, then good things will happen

I've always been an advocate for ambition and rugged self reliance. Independence and creative problem solving are critical to success at this. The idea that you've got to be with some super special company is contrary to all my experiences with this industry.

I was brought up to believe anyone can do anything, as long as they put their mind to it.... Having said that, I wont discourage you from this career. I will however tell you that your beginning success hinges on your ability to learn and retain information quickly and that choosing the right company to start with, will have a huge impact on your success early on. What I'm saying is that some companies are better than others as far as how they support you while you are out on the road. That will be something that you will have to research and find which companies are better or worse at this aspect. Your success will also be directly connected to your work ethic, if you bust your butt daily, then good things will happen with the right company. I wish you the best of luck in your continuing research in this career choice.

I've been looking at truck driving for a while now, when I was told what the money could be and how long it would take me, I was really interested. I've lived on $1000 per month or LESS for years now. I'm not able to be on my feet all the time, I'm not able to do these fast paced jobs like factories and the like. I've tried office work but that well dried up fast as you need a degree for most, and the rest well...they're a joke to be honest. I've spent the past year or so now delivering food. I need something more though, food delivery is pretty fickle. I have found a really good school for CDL that will get me every certification except buses/public transport. I still have to see about tuition funding, but I've been doing research as they have companies that are willing to hire me on as soon as I graduate. I have never in my life researched a more confusing topic. Yeah everyone and their mother wants first hand accounts of what its like to work with X company or to do Y job. Me, I'm...a bit more lost. I did read that if I jump from company to company I'll be shooting myself in the foot so I'm trying to make sure I do this right. I don't like the sound of being gone so long, not so much as being away from home, I have few, if any ties, but its made out like I'm going to be working 18 hours a day, passing out, sleeping 3-5 hours, then back at it, continuously, for days on end, and that I have to be this flawless human being in order to do this work. Sounds like a ton of exaggeration. I was told this is the hardest job ever. That it is maximum stress. I've been told nothing about this is hard but it will chew you up and spit you out. I dunno what to believe. I'm rambling aimlessly. Let's see if I can condense this, Here's what I'm looking for honestly:

I don't want to be working all the time. Driving is OK, though I do get fatigued from that. From what I can tell I'll be driving 5ish days if I max the legal driving time each day. But I'm not 100%. I need down time. I need it to stay sane. I need it to be able to unwind and sleep and do life things. I don't rush for anyone but myself and only when I have to.

I'd rather not have people breathing down my neck all the time. Yeah I get it's a stats game. But I work better alone. Hence part of this industry's appeal. Support when I need it, otherwise let me go.

I'm not that motivated by money. See the first bit of this post. I know what my budget is, I know what it takes for me to get by. I'd be happy doubling what I make now.

I'm a bit worried about not passing the drug test. I had one hit of cannabis back in December, the Saturday before Christmas. Before that i had some about daily for two weeks sometime no later than September, before that it was March. I can be as heavy or as light on it as I wish, and if I have to give it up, so be it. But from what I read the companies have some sort of super test that goes back years or something.

I come first. Shock and awe, I know. I'm expected to lay down and die for a company that will replace me in a day. Nope. I tried that hard work gung ho bust tail approach. Now I'm in the situation I'm in. No Gods. No Masters. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to do my part, but again, no more sacrificing what little of my life I have left to enjoy.

It's ok if it gets tough. I may seem like a pansy to you. A baby. Ok Boomer. It's fine if I have tough moments, I just would not rather get to the point to where I dread going to work.

I'd rather do shorter range but again I'm more interested in how much down time I get than I am home time, but home time is nice too.

Should I avoid this industry? Would I be in too deep? I'm probably more flexible than you, or even I think, I just want something normal. Before you tell me go to trade school. Guess what? I did. Oopsie I spent that year and a half ish and magically I did it wrong. Or something. I dunno. That's a story for another time. But you know another reason why I was interested in this industry, the time. I don't have time to faff about and drive myself insane balancing school and work yet again for ages while risking nothing coming from it. Shorter time and seems to be, from what I can tell, and I have been researching job listings in my area, I can do a lot more with a CDL.

Questions, comments, concerns, general insults, etc are all welcome. I'm just trying to get more info.

Another driver was telling me and showed me his cell booster set up on his truck. He claims to get atleast two bar signal boost with it. I would say do some research on those things and see what they claim you can achieve with them.

You have to hustle to get good runs and learn to manage that clock that is steadily ticking away, don't let that clock manage your productivity. These guys are very wise and well versed in this business. Stay get your year or better in and things should start happening for you and maybe sooner if you make yourself stand out in a good way... Remember you and only you are the master of your success.

They towed it to the shop and put me in a motel... The crazy thing is, that the nuts in Chicago kept running over my safety triangles and pulling up behind the truck.