New To The Forum!

Hi there Everyone!

Ben here in Central Minnesota. How are we doing? I hope you will indulge me as I tell my story here. I decided after 17 years of driving a school bus to go and get my Class A license. So at the end of January I passed the road test, and in Febuary of this year I got the license. Anyways I didn't go to a trucking school to do this.

Any ways I have been to alot of places, and I have gotten alot of no's! So what do I do. I do have an interview with a flatbed carrier on Monday in Princeton call Hibbs & Co. So I also want to ask Flatbed/stepdeck vs Reefer/Dryvan. Is one better than the other? Does get noticed more than the other?

-Knife River - No -Schneider - No -Knight - NO Swift - Yes Prime- Yes Centrasota - Maybe J.B. Hunt- No

Take care,

Ben

B, I pull reefers, there is difference in all of them, the choice however is up to you, reefer is all I have pull so far, it entails a lot of waiting on live loads and unloads but usually we get longer miles (usually) not all the time, dry box gets a lot of drop n hooks, but sometimes shorter miles, with experience this guys can make bank and match the miles, flat bed I hear it's a lot of mental and physical but rewarding work, they get more cpm but they work their tails off and their work it's always on display for everyone to see, you could really tell who the newbees are in the road, hope it helps,some of the other guys will tell their 5 cents in here soon,....out

Hi there Everyone!

Ben here in Central Minnesota. How are we doing? I hope you will indulge me as I tell my story here. I decided after 17 years of driving a school bus to go and get my Class A license. So at the end of January I passed the road test, and in Febuary of this year I got the license. Anyways I didn't go to a trucking school to do this.

Any ways I have been to alot of places, and I have gotten alot of no's! So what do I do. I do have an interview with a flatbed carrier on Monday in Princeton call Hibbs & Co. So I also want to ask Flatbed/stepdeck vs Reefer/Dryvan. Is one better than the other? Does get noticed more than the other?

-Knife River - No -Schneider - No -Knight - NO Swift - Yes Prime- Yes Centrasota - Maybe J.B. Hunt- No

Take care,

Ben

Ben is disappointed:

Any ways I have been to alot of places, and I have gotten alot of no's!

If you got your license on your own there is a problem. Yes, if you pass all the DOT tests and have a DOT medical card, the state says you're good to go.

But ....

Most companies want you to take a 160 classroom-hour course including rules, laws and some driving & backing practice.

Good news, maybe: you may get to test out of a company school. Then you still need to go OTR with a trainer for several weeks.

You can't simply walk in off the street with you license and get a trucking job.

So ...

Check with some Company-Sponsored Training Programs, tell 'em what you got. They'll tell you what you need to do next.

Welcome to the forum Benedict!

It looks like both Swift and Prime gave you a yes. Have you noticed a pattern here in your responses from trucking companies? I have, it is that the folks who offer company sponsored training are willing to take you on, and the ones that don't are saying no. The all important training certificate, which is required by the insurance carriers to make them willing to put some money behind the potentially colossal mistakes you are likely to make as a rookie commandeering an 80,000 pound machine down our interstates, is what has created this pattern. That is not going to change either, I doubt seriously that anyone will hire you unless you go through a training program. Now if you don't like the idea of the Company-Sponsored Training Programs then you can always pony up your own cash and pay for a truck driving school.

I realize you may not have known all this before, but that is why we are here, to help you navigate the way into a rewarding career as a professional driver. I know it seems like seventeen years of safely driving a school bus ought to count for something, but the reality is that it does not. Here's another kicker for you - I'm a top tier professional, but let's just say I decided to take a brief sabbatical from driving for about six months to work on some projects around my place. In order to get back to work, I would more than likely be required to go through a training program again to meet the insurance company's requirements.

Benedict, the hard lesson learned here is that there are no short-cuts to this career. Figure out how you want to get that training certificate showing 160 hours of training and then you can go out and get that job. Also remember most companies who offer local driving jobs want to see at least a one year stint of over the road experience before they will consider you as an employee - this is not the final word, but generally is the rule.

Hi there Old School: Please Call me Ben I would appreciate it! Thank you! I have also heard from companies to though that all I need is 1 year of experience driving a combonation vehicle. In my personal opinion what the insurance companies are doing are wrong. Is it justified. Maybe it is. The reason I didn't go to a school is.....I can't believe I'm going to answer this....I can't afford it, and I don't qualify because my credit is shot.

The reason I didn't go to a school is.....I can't believe I'm going to answer this....I can't afford it, and I don't qualify because my credit is shot.

Hey Ben, we are not trying to embarrass you, we completely understand the concept of being broke! That is the beauty of the positive responses you got from both Prime and Swift - they will pay for your training.

You have not elaborated as to why you didn't want to accept their offers. Let me just address a few things that will usually surface in a discussion like this. If you have seen some really scary reports on line about these companies and that puts doubts and fears in the back of your mind or a knot in your stomach about these places then let it go. We have several successful drivers for each of those companies right here in our forum, and I can testify that all that garbage one can dig up in cyberspace about how rotten all these trucking companies are is just what I labeled it - garbage! I worked for Western Express for the first sixteen months of my career. They were awesome, treated me like a king, and I couldn't hardly keep up with all the miles they were trying to get me to run - I did very well there and built a great foundation for my career. You should try and do a little research on line about those guys and see what you come up with - it is alarming - it is also in my opinion, slanderous. Online trucking company reviews are, in my humble opinion, useless. Here's why: 99% of them are written by rookies who were just trying to learn the trade, and they enter the business with absolutely no understanding of how the industry works. Any time a person doesn't really understand how something works, yet they have preconceived ideas of how it should be, they are going to be really disappointed, that is why there are thousands of disgruntled drivers out here spouting off about how badly they were treated by such and such a company, and it is usually the big companies like Swift and Prime, because they are willing to take and train a bunch of ungrateful wannabes.

It may also be that you are not necessarily wanting to go "over the road" and be away from your wife and or family. That is understandable, but misguided thinking as far as a way to break into trucking as a new career. Over the road is the standard measure of experience in this business. For the most part anybody who can land a local driving job has got to get some OTR experience first. We understand that some people don't love the lifestyle of the trucker, but we still try to help folks realize they may just have to make a one year commitment to and OTR job before they can start expecting to get a local driving job in a big rig. These are just realities that you may not have realized when you decided to get that class A license.

Ben, if you are serious about this new career, and want to start making some real money, we can help you find your way, but it will involve a few sacrifices along the way. The effort you put in now will definitely pay off if you can stick it out and stay safe for a full year as a professional driver.

Yes, Ben, your school can be easily financed. You do need to commit f to driving for a year or so to get that deal.

Swift actually pays you back over a two year period, so school could be free!

I went through Swift, the only thing I had to pay for was my permit and physical. And you already have that.

I am not married as of a matter a fact I'm divorced with no kids living at home with my dad and big brother. My divorced happened a couple of months after my grandma passed away (mom's mom). All this took place in 2009.

You're the perfect candidate!

I may have a shot at centrasota