NEEDING SOME SERIOUS HELP/ADVICE!
Topic 1149 | Page 1
What are your reasons for not wanting to go company sponsored?
Mainly because of my moms health situation. And just being able to have several options on who I could drive for.
I tried to go the WIA route. The Texas Workforce Commission, that I had to go through to apply, told me not to bother until October because there was no money in the program at present. I would rather just go with a company sponsored program and just not even deal with the dang government.
I am totally convinced that as Brett and others have pointed out, it does not matter much which starter company you go with, as they are all going to be pretty much the same. It is the individuals you must deal with day to day that most often determine how it will go, and that is most often the case with any job. Besides, I think most of the pre-hires newbies receive from OTR jobs coming out of schools are from mega carriers anyway. Since I prefer dry van of reefer OTR, I might as well let one of them finance my cdl training and stick it out for a year or so, then if I am not happy, find another job that might be better.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Pre-hires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
OK I am a little confused as to why you are even considering trucking at this point? OK I understand that you want to be close to home in case your mom needs you while in school but have you ever though about the very real possibility that you finish school then head out OTR for training once school is over and your 2000 miles away if something were to happen?
Very real possibility you would not make it home. If your moms health is to a point that it might turn critical at any moment then trucking might not be for you at this time. Might want to wait till a later date.
I lost my grandmother while I was on the road and my mom when into the hospital for heart problems while I was on the road. In both cases it took a few days before i could get home and that was with my company telling me to head home right away dead heading.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Michael I have to agree with Guyjax on this one. If your mother's health situation requires you to be close by and or if you are the only person available to her for support this just may not be a good time for you to get into this field. I've a friend at TMC who actually missed his mother's funeral and the company did everything possible to get him there, but the bus they put him on missed a connection which caused a huge unexpected delay in hes travel plans.
Being on the road causes some logistical problems as far as emergencies go, and it can be very heartbreaking for all parties involved when you can't be there for the people you love. I realize we don't know your whole situation, but this is definitely something you'll need to weigh in the balances to determine if this lifestyle is right for you.
Michael I have to agree with Guyjax on this one. If your mother's health situation requires you to be close by and or if you are the only person available to her for support this just may not be a good time for you to get into this field. I've a friend at TMC who actually missed his mother's funeral and the company did everything possible to get him there, but the bus they put him on missed a connection which caused a huge unexpected delay in hes travel plans.
Being on the road causes some logistical problems as far as emergencies go, and it can be very heartbreaking for all parties involved when you can't be there for the people you love. I realize we don't know your whole situation, but this is definitely something you'll need to weigh in the balances to determine if this lifestyle is right for you.
It's not that I can't go into trucking. That's why I was wanting to go to private school. There is several places around here in my home town that hire people straight out of CDL school. Such as coal trucks, logging, and a few others.
That's why I was asking if anyone knew if there was anything else I could do other than company sponsored training or taking out loans (which there would be no way I could do that). Especially in my case that might help my situation out a little bit. Something I could do/say to the WIA people to help them pay for it.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
And just to add. I could even go OTR if that's what I wanted to do(which I do want to do at some point). The two main reasons why I don't want to go to company sponsored training is because of the month worth of training, then the what? 2-4 weeks or more out a time is what would cause the problem.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
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I was planning on going to private school for my training, but I needed the money. I turned to my local WIA program for the funding I needed. So I do everything they ask, did all the tests, paid for my own physical. Then all of a sudden their funding changed at the last moment and they said I needed to get a job offer. Which I said you don't get job offers you get pre-hire letters. And they told me that should work.
Then I applied for a pre-hire with some companies and I was accepted to them all. I took my letters to my case worker who turned them into her supervisor. A couple of days go by and I get an email from my case worker telling me i've been turned down for funding all because my pre-hire letters didn't have my name on them, they didn't give a hire date. And she told me that there is nothing they can do for me now.
So other than taking out loans and going to company sponsored training. Is there anything else I can do to get them to change their minds? Or am I just going to have to go down the road of company sponsored training.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.