MILITARY APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS

The apprenticeship program only gives you more paperwork. But you get to collect the BAH from your G I Bill for doing it.

FYI, I may have spoken to early.

I was thinking about older guys like me or those who have already used their G.I. benefits.

Mine were used up in the 90s, but Swift has the program open to all vets and it does not use existing benefits.

So to add another wrinkle, consider the dropout rate of new drivers. Yes you'll owe Swift the prorated am trying of 3400, but your G.I. benefits would still be untouched

FYI, I may have spoken to early.

I was thinking about older guys like me or those who have already used their G.I. benefits.

Mine were used up in the 90s, but Swift has the program open to all vets and it does not use existing benefits.

So to add another wrinkle, consider the dropout rate of new drivers. Yes you'll owe Swift the prorated am trying of 3400, but your G.I. benefits would still be untouched

That is cool. I just wouldn't use my benefits and sign a contract. That would be getting the raw end of a deal.

That is odd about making a new driver even with CDL sign a contract, but I see the point of it.

I meant to mention something about this yesterday.

Even though the student coming in already has a CDL, it still costs the company quite a bit of money to transport them, house them, and sometimes feed them for orientation. Then they send you on the road for a few weeks or even a couple of months with a trainer, which also costs them quite a bit of money. Then finally after the driver goes solo they're almost always going to run lower miles for a while, until they learn to manage their time and adjust to life on the road, which is yet again costing the company more money.

And many rookies wind up bumping into one or two things, normally minor things, during their initial few months. Another cost.

So it can easily take a company one full year or more just to break even after hiring and training a new driver coming out of school.

Now consider that most people who choose to pay for a private school will do so with the intention of jumping around a time or two during their rookie year. Well that's the worst case scenario for these companies doing the training. They bring in a new driver, invest the time and money and resources it takes to get them to solo status, and then the driver quits on a whim and goes elsewhere, leaving the company with a nice debt and no productivity to show for their investment. Pretty much a total loss of their time and money.

But it keeps getting worse. It turns out the training company has now trained this driver to work for their competition, who is now reaping all of the rewards.

It seems 99% of the new drivers coming into this industry are completely unaware of the time, money, and resources that go into training new drivers and just how long it takes to recoup that investment. Training someone to get their CDL is only the beginning. It takes most of that first year to recoup the funds for the road training and initial lack of productivity. And yet, how many times have we heard "I don't want to be a slave to a contract".

Yeah right. Poor students. Brand new to an industry, can't drive a lick, costing everyone a fortune and scaring the daylights out of everyone, and yet a large successful organization really, really wants to keep you around as part of the team for the long term. Most people in the world fight for that kind of dedication from their company. And yet truckers fight against it.

Duh. That's all I have to say about that.

Haha I see your point but they do have that freedom it's up to the individual and what their goals are. Whether a driver can drive a lick or not he's been trained and if the financial workings are benefiting them to support their families then they have options. If not signing a contract is the best thing for that individual then it's up to them the Company doesn't care if your bills aren't being paid they just want production at the end of the day.

That is odd about making a new driver even with CDL sign a contract, but I see the point of it.

I meant to mention something about this yesterday.

Even though the student coming in already has a CDL, it still costs the company quite a bit of money to transport them, house them, and sometimes feed them for orientation. Then they send you on the road for a few weeks or even a couple of months with a trainer, which also costs them quite a bit of money. Then finally after the driver goes solo they're almost always going to run lower miles for a while, until they learn to manage their time and adjust to life on the road, which is yet again costing the company more money.

And many rookies wind up bumping into one or two things, normally minor things, during their initial few months. Another cost.

So it can easily take a company one full year or more just to break even after hiring and training a new driver coming out of school.

Now consider that most people who choose to pay for a private school will do so with the intention of jumping around a time or two during their rookie year. Well that's the worst case scenario for these companies doing the training. They bring in a new driver, invest the time and money and resources it takes to get them to solo status, and then the driver quits on a whim and goes elsewhere, leaving the company with a nice debt and no productivity to show for their investment. Pretty much a total loss of their time and money.

But it keeps getting worse. It turns out the training company has now trained this driver to work for their competition, who is now reaping all of the rewards.

It seems 99% of the new drivers coming into this industry are completely unaware of the time, money, and resources that go into training new drivers and just how long it takes to recoup that investment. Training someone to get their CDL is only the beginning. It takes most of that first year to recoup the funds for the road training and initial lack of productivity. And yet, how many times have we heard "I don't want to be a slave to a contract".

Yeah right. Poor students. Brand new to an industry, can't drive a lick, costing everyone a fortune and scaring the daylights out of everyone, and yet a large successful organization really, really wants to keep you around as part of the team for the long term. Most people in the world fight for that kind of dedication from their company. And yet truckers fight against it.

Duh. That's all I have to say about that.

If not signing a contract is the best thing for that individual then it's up to them

Well the problem is that very, very few people who enter this industry have any idea how any of this really works. They come in thinking "Hey, truck drivers are in high demand" so they think they can play the field and take the highest bidder, jump around when someone ups the bid, like they're a classic car at an auction.

Nothing could be further from the reality, though. It's top tier drivers that are in demand, not some knucklehead with a month of experience who thinks he's a hot commodity and is going to make his company work for his approval.

New drivers jumping around often wind up costing themselves a ton of time and money, and they eliminate a lot of great opportunities they would have had if they didn't build a reputation as a job hopper straight out of the gate.

The industry already has way more poor performers, inexperienced drivers, job hoppers, and lousy attitudes than it needs. Companies are looking for quality, motivated professionals and they're hoping their new drivers will develop into that. But that takes time, and most new drivers don't even realize that. I've heard quite a few people say, "I have a CDL just like the guy with 10 years out here." It's scary when someone blurts out something that really shows how little they know, and they don't even realize how little they know.

Also consider that often times the second best recruiting avenue for large carriers is returning drivers. That's right, the guys who thought they could play the field and jump around when the grass looked greener. Turns out it doesn't work quite the way they thought it did and pretty much every orientation you attend at any major company will include a number of returning drivers.

There's actually a very long list of reasons to stick with a company for a year. In fact, I did a couple of podcasts on this subject:

Podcast: Why Stick With Your First Company One Full Year?

Podcast: Are Major Carriers Just Starter Companies?

Trust me, if I thought the best avenue for a new driver was to play the field and hop around from job to job I'd tell you that and I'd help you formulate a strategy for it. And yes, sometimes drivers do move on to better jobs during their rookie year. But far more cost themselves a ton of money, establish a bad reputation for themselves, and wind up in a worse position than they were in with their original company.