Finished First Week Of Schneider Orientation

I talked to my TE (training engineer) about this and he said he thinks that Schneider is trying to transition into mostly team drivers.

Yeah, that's definitely not the case. Although they may be considering putting new drivers together for a short time as a team after training to "augment" the training you could say. Schneider has the shortest training period in the industry that I know of. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to have new drivers team up for a bit after their time on the road with a mentor.

But that has nothing to do with you because they haven't made that decision. I'm just speculating. So at this point I totally agree with DoubleCutter - just relax and let it work itself out. If you don't get anywhere with it on Monday call someone a little higher up the ladder and see if they can get you rolling. This situation is indeed very common. I've seen it at every large trucking company I've worked for and I've been on both sides of it. I've been issued a truck ahead of others who have been waiting and I've had to wait while others bypassed me. You haven't burned any bridges or made any enemies. Just keep a positive attitude, speak professionally with everyone you deal with and this will get worked out very shortly.

Thanks Brett, I just relayed a theory my TE had regarding teams. He also said that he thought the day cab drivers could take up a lot of the work performed by the solo guys. I don’t know enough about Schneider’s operations to even propose such a thing. I never believed they were phasing out solo drivers.

Of course I will continue to deal with Schneider in a professional courteous manner as always. Just because I may speculate and vent here it doesn’t mean that I’m going to say those things to Schneider. Thanks again.

Its interesting to see how many currents drivers are former IT guys. From what i have read on here, that are a few of you guys. I am one and i am considering the career changes as well. Big difference in money, but job satisfaction and the love of the road is wooing me.

One job I had, I used to commute 50 to 75 each way to work and enjoyed the ride to and from more than my job at one point.

Don't mean to hijack the thread .. just an observation!

Good luck Jeff!

Its interesting to see how many currents drivers are former IT guys

I just saw a statistic a few weeks ago that said people with a Bachelor's Degree in IT have the highest unemployment rate of any Bachelor's Degree out there - over 14%.

I like so many others, have worked in the IT world. I did for 15 years (10 of that owning my own IT business). Although I did not have a BS degree, spent a lot of time/money getting the education that I needed to get to the position I was. Still found it very rewarding.

But because of so many changes, I found that I did not enjoy it as much towards the end.

I had wanted to go into trucking when I first retired from the military, but did not because of family obligations.

I find that trucking suits my need to be out checking the sites and not having someone looking over my shoulder all day.

So yea, there are lots of us former IT guys here on TT & in the truck driver world.

Ernie

Ernie, I noticed there’s a lot of college grads in trucking. BTW, thanks for the well wishes.

Here’s an idea I’ve been tossing around. I wonder if I could lease a truck with Schneider right from the beginning? I know you guys aren’t too fond of leasing but Schneider is supposed to have a good leasing program (from all my research). I was thinking about running this by my manager at French Camp just to let him know how serious I am about beginning my solo driving career. Don’t beat me up on this it’s just a thought :-). Thanks.

Just something I’m curious about. In a large company like Schneider who has the power to fire somebody, and how does the process work. I mean if you happened to tick off a DBL or something could he fire you? Wouldn’t a firing have to go through some chain of command or process before it could happen? Thanks.

Called Schneider and manager said he found a truck for me in Phoenix. The only problem is that there’s lots of a driver’s personal stuff in there. He said I might have to drive to French Camp to get the truck cleaned out. He asked me if that was a problem and I just said that the main thing is a truck and removing personal belongings doesn’t seem like a problem to me.

He said he’s going to find me a ride to Phoenix on a truck. I told him I was packed and ready to go.

Congrats Jeff.

I figured if you gave this a little time it would work itself out. That's why I told you to take chill pill and relax.

Good luck and keep us posted on your adventures.

Congrats Jeff.

I figured if you gave this a little time it would work itself out. That's why I told you to take chill pill and relax.

Good luck and keep us posted on your adventures.

Thanks DoubleCutter, it’s been hard for me to chill because, despite this teaming power play, I really like the company, the people, and want to drive for them. I know the grass isn’t greener on the other side.

One thing I learned in the Navy is that if you choose to disobey an order you better be damn sure you’re right. If you’re wrong you’ll get reamed, and if you’re right cooler heads will prevail. Cooler heads prevailed here and kudos to Schneider.

Now I’m waiting to hear from my ride to Phoenix. Thanks again.

You will soon. Hang in there. Glad to hear you are getting a truck. "Good things come to those who wait."

Going to be a good start to a New Year!