What's A Good Company To Start Out With?

You're probably going to make the same money no matter where you go in your first year. Schneider and TMC have some of the best training programs for new CDL holders, or so I've heard. That can go a long way.

That's not true. I've seen companies pay from 21 to 27 cpm ( I think CR England is 27cpm)... while other companies are paying much more. Prime pays 39 to 44 cpm to rookies.

I've said it a dozen times. I love prime. We have a ton of vets... they are family oriented with great terminals good bonuses and lots of perks. Love my dispatcher. . He's awesome

Some of those companies give raises throughout your first year, other companies that supposedly pay well don't have as many miles available, hence so many people's complaints. According to my research, which I admit is flawed, most rookies will make between $30K-$35K. A lucky few, or those who work flatbed, will make $40K.

Thank you for your service.

I'm researching companies as well and the resources on this site are great. I've spoken to Prime and waiting to hear back from Roehl. I'm looking for a company sponsored training program, so I'm in a different boat than you. Both of these companies have top notch training from what I've read thus far.

Some of those companies give raises throughout your first year, other companies that supposedly pay well don't have as many miles available, hence so many people's complaints.

This is actually a common bit of misinformation spread by the many malcontents out here struggling to make it in this rewarding yet challenging career. I don't know what it is about success in this business that eludes people so easily. The top performers come out at the top of the pay scale, the ones who think they should be making money while lounging in a comfortable chair taking in the latest re-run on the T.V, at the truck stop drivers lounge are the ones who never seem to understand why they can't make any money. Incidentally these are the same folks who are constantly jumping from one company to the next because the company they are currently working for is "bad." Never mind that said company has a nice long list of million mile drivers on the wall.

This whole notion of "this company is bad, and this company is good," is so baseless that it is difficult to understand how it so rampantly weaves it's deception into each and every newbie's research. People put such undue stress on themselves while researching which company to start with, and then even after they get started they are stressed to an even greater degree with the anxiety that they may have made the wrong decision. We struggle daily here to dispel these modern day internet "old wives tales." It is ludicrous to believe that one company is going to pay you more per mile because they don't have as man miles to give you, or that another is going to pay you less per mile because they have got so many miles they don't know how to get it all done.

Brandon, my philosophy is that you will make this job what you want it to be by your work ethic and willingness to push through what ever difficulties arise to hinder you. As far as which companies are "good" I consider them all to be trucking companies - they've all got the same issues, because they are all trying to do the same thing, move freight from point A to point B. So many people jump into this career with false assumptions based on foolish reports and notions that they have picked up from internet "review sites". Have you ever noticed how 99% of the people who post reviews are people who are dissatisfied in an extreme way? That in itself should be a big red flag to any thinking person. This business of being able to be anonymous, and being hidden behind a keyboard, has emboldened a bunch of people, who are generally failures at most things they attempt, to lay the blame for their ineptitude at the feet of "big greedy trucking magnates who are still practicing slavery in their business models".

Continued...

What I'm trying to say is choose a company that you seem to like, and then get out there and prove yourself to them. Don't be looking for them to prove themselves to you - that is the current trend of thinking and it is so backwards that it is a huge reason for the current 100% turn over rate in trucking. They don't have anything to prove - if you take a look at the walls of the offices of almost any trucking company that is being unfairly slammed on the internet you will find photos of drivers who have been there for ten and twenty years and put in millions of miles safely and very productively. Those guys didn't do that because it was a "good company" - they accomplished that because they were "good" drivers.

I just like to point things out like this not only for the person who originally asks the question, but also for the many others who will read this later on. Your willingness to succeed and your drive to excel are the main ingredients for your success at this career. So don't worry so much about whose name is on the doors of the truck. I spent the first eighteen months of my career at a trucking company whose reputation is absolutely in the gutter by all internet review accounts, you couldn't ask for a company with more disparaging remarks against it. I excelled there, was always in the top group of drivers for productivity, and made some very good money despite the fact that their pay rate was very low. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but rather the truth that you are the driving factor of your success at this. Any company out there who has a really hard working dependable driver who knows how to "get er done" will do all they can to keep that driver moving and satisfied. I have since moved on to a different company, but it wasn't because I thought the other guys were scumbags. I received a much better offer and I took advantage of that offer. That's the way it works - you prove yourself first, then you will find the doors of opportunity opening up to you.

One of the biggest problems with getting started in this career is the sheer difficulty of getting oneself accustomed to all the many consequences of your own decisions and choices while out there on the road. It is tricky, to say the least, to get the hang of all this stuff during the first six months of doing this. People end up with negative consequences due to some of their own poor choices or decisions as to how to handle their job or manage their time. It is not easy breaking into this career. New drivers will inevitably make some bad choices while on the road. It is important to recognize when you make a mistake and learn from it. Your driver manager will come to depend on you and treat you really well if you are a dependable driver. People tend to give up and blame their company for not getting enough miles, or not making enough money to live on, as if they were being mistreated by the greedy company. But I can guarantee you that at which ever company that is getting slammed on the internet for mistreating their employees, there are a group of competent drivers who are getting more miles dispatched to them than they know how to handle because those drivers have proven themselves again and again. The reason you don't hear from them on those internet reviews is because they are in their sleeper catching some much needed rest so they can give 110% during their next on duty time period.

I'm sure a lot of what you said is true, and what I said is definitely an oversimplification. But why is it so hard to believe that some companies, regardless of their industry, are just plain horrible places to work? We, in America, always blame the worker but never management. As if those higher up and the ladder are angels and the rest of us are scumbags. But both sets of people are equally human and susceptible to human flaws like nepotism, bullying, greed, sociopathy, and just plain being an *******. And when they form a corporate culture around such things, word gets out.

I wish I lived in the America you live in, Old School, where responsibility on the job is rewarded and managers aren't a bunch of sociopaths. The one I see is where jobs are always temporary/seasonal, management constantly tells workers they can't do anything right, and high turnover is created intentionally to keep wages low and benefits minimal (among other things).

And you haven't even addressed all the claims that this or that company will threaten to fire you if you don't take part in their lease-purchase program. I guess all the people who said that online all know each other and all lied. I know it's illegal, but that never stopped corporate America.

You're right that a company owes you zero proof that they're a good place to work, and its the new guy who has to prove himself. But in so many jobs out there, regardless of industry, one can bust their ass all day and still get told they aren't doing well enough. At the end of the day, work is about making a profit of those at the top, and whatever happens to the little guy is of no consequence.

You've had good work experiences, I believe you and your feelings are valid. But so many people have had just the opposite experience and they're valid too. It's a big world, and it's cold. Very cold.

Blue contradicts himself:

But why is it so hard to believe that some companies, regardless of their industry, are just plain horrible places to work? We, in America, always blame the worker but never management.

Part A: assume there's a horrible place to work. You must be referring to the jobs of the "little people" on the line, like truck drivers, are in horrible conditions.

Part B: "blame the worker" Eh? Who runs the show and makes the place horrible for the workers? The workers did all this?

This or that company will threaten to fire you if you don't take part in their lease-purchase program.

If this is illegal, then it doesn't happen. Sure some company can really sell you on a lease, and if someone gets the impression it's required, that's a different story. No company would last very long if they did illegal things at this level.

I'll stop there. Mr. Hotel, you are so consistent in taking the darkest, blackest point if view in any situation. That glass that's half full of half empty? You'd say it's completely empty and the glass is filthy anyway!

I wish they was a way you could lighten up and enjoy your trucking adventure instead of feeling like you must slog through life knee deep in crap.

If this is illegal, then it doesn't happen.

Firstly, companies do illegal stuff all the time. You can just Google this, look up "employer labor law violations." Do you honestly believe companies are managed in the most squeaky clean way? Illegal stuff happens, even in trucking. I don't know how often trucking companies do try to pressure people into lease-purchase, but enough people are saying they try. Of course, they can't force you to do anything. All they can do is treat you differently for not accepting a lease-purchase offer, or fire you for a made up reason. This happens across the world in every industry and every field of work all the time.

This is corporate America we're talking about, the law doesn't matter to them. They have company lawyers and contracted law firms on retainer and politicians in their pockets.

As far as contradicting myself goes, I don't see the contradiction at all. There are bad workplaces in the world, plenty of them. But instead of blaming management, which often plays an active role in making workplaces bad, too many people blame the workers for being "bad workers." And, in your mind, the company and management are squeaky clean.

I am a veteran and decided to go with Maverick out of truck driving school. I have post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and I went through a private truck driving school. Not only did the GI Bill pay the entire tuition but I also got an additional $1400 in BAH for the 3 weeks of school even though I went home every night.

I chose Maverick because they also are going to reimburse my school tuition as well at $150/month but they also offer an OJT benefit through the GI Bill program that pays tax free money every month for the first year I'm employed with them. I don't know the exact figure yet (I just got off the trainer's truck today and have to wait until I go solo to begin receiving it) but for the first 6 months it pays 100% of whatever it will be then months 7-9 pay 80% of that and then months 10-12 pay 60%. Again, tax free money you earned when you decided to join the military. Plus, their starting pay is as good or better than most others. There may be others offering similar benefits so be sure to check them all out thoroughly. Good luck and thanks for serving.

Grrrrrrrrrr. This is a nice forum I like to read daily. Not giving my opinion. Grrrrr. Old School rules by the way.

Errol also.