The Benefits Of Staying With Your Starter Company Beyond One Year - Article By G-Town

We have an awesome new article from G-Town called:

The Benefits Of Staying With Your Starter Company Beyond One Year

For those who have looked around the Web you've certainly heard time and time again how you should only stay with your first company for a short time and move onto something better. At TruckingTruth we disagree strongly with this notion, and our members have demonstrated in so many ways how the largest carriers out there, the ones who hire and train students, are some of the best companies in the nation to work for.

This article is a really in-depth look at the experiences G-Town has had as a driver on Swift's Walmart dedicated account for over 5 years now. Swift is the only company G-Town has worked for and he's benefited from that in such a big way.

Not only that, but he shares a story of his original road trainer and how he also benefited from staying the course at his "starter company" for quite a few years.

So before you go believing that baloney about "starter companies" and moving onto greener pastures, have a look at this article and see what you think.

I'd love it if some our members that have stayed with one of the major carriers for a long time would share their experiences here also so that incoming drivers can see that the majors aren't just "starter companies."

The Benefits Of Staying With Your Starter Company Beyond One Year

Spot on G-town. I wish we could eliminate "starter company" from the trucking lexicon.

I wish we could eliminate "starter company" from the trucking lexicon.

That has proven to be as difficult as removing sleeveless shirts from the clothing racks in Truck Sops.

True. Unfortunately.

I wish we could eliminate "starter company" from the trucking lexicon.

That has proven to be as difficult as removing sleeveless shirts from the clothing racks in Truck Sops.

I stayed with my first company my whole rookie ride . It was my plan from the start because I'm generally not a rabbit ( hopper ) for starters but also it has paid off for me . I have never ( well there's one exception but that's a different story ) gone to another company for less pay . My salary has always increased . I stayed with Knight my first two years then during a transition to leasing my first truck , with a horrible company , I worked for an independent guy for about 2 months . Following my horrible lease I them worked for cypress for 3 years flatbedding . Regulars have heard that story and I eventually got another job after all the experts agreed I was very likely telling the truth and actually again , after that mess due to a failed drug test , got another contract and a raise . The fact is when looking for greener pastures it's worth your while to keep your nose in the **** of one bull because face it ... IT'S FERTALIZER AND IT LEADS TO BETTER GROWTH 👍

We have an awesome new article from G-Town called:

The Benefits Of Staying With Your Starter Company Beyond One Year

For those who have looked around the Web you've certainly heard time and time again how you should only stay with your first company for a short time and move onto something better. At TruckingTruth we disagree strongly with this notion, and our members have demonstrated in so many ways how the largest carriers out there, the ones who hire and train students, are some of the best companies in the nation to work for.

This article is a really in-depth look at the experiences G-Town has had as a driver on Swift's Walmart dedicated account for over 5 years now. Swift is the only company G-Town has worked for and he's benefited from that in such a big way.

Not only that, but he shares a story of his original road trainer and how he also benefited from staying the course at his "starter company" for quite a few years.

So before you go believing that baloney about "starter companies" and moving onto greener pastures, have a look at this article and see what you think.

I'd love it if some our members that have stayed with one of the major carriers for a long time would share their experiences here also so that incoming drivers can see that the majors aren't just "starter companies."

The Benefits Of Staying With Your Starter Company Beyond One Year

Schneider paid for my CDL in exchange for a one year commitment and that year has flown by like you wouldn't believe. It's been over a year now and I have no plans to go anywhere. Are there other companies out there that are better? Maybe. Are there other companies out there that are worse? Definitely! I've worked hard and I've shown myself to be dependable and reliable. I can handle most situations out on the road on my own. My DBL (driver business leader) has better things to do than hold my hand every time there's a problem. When I was on a local daily run last year (home nights and weekends) I stepped up and offered assistance as the "go to" guy since our base of operations for this particular account is in Indy. Don't think that didn't get noticed and it's paid off far more than just dollars. By the way, I discovered a local, dedicated run wasn't for me; I was bored silly driving the same route every day.

When I was a VIP chauffeur with a "world wide chauffeured sedan service" a few years ago, our general manager told me he knew he didn't have to worry if I was picking up the Emperor of the Universe at Detroit Metro at one in the morning. The last thing he wanted was a phone call from an irate client demanding "Where's my car??" He knew I'd stay on top of the flight and be there to pick up my client. I hoped I'd be held in the same regard at Schneider and I believe I am. I've developed a great relationship with management and that doesn't happen overnight. You have to prove yourself.

I've had three (or is it four?) raises, bonuses, Schneider merchandise (shirts, jackets, etc) perks at six months and one year not to mention a new pair of very nice boots. I'm not interested in the aggravation of rolling over my 401K and changing health insurance not to mention my other employee benefits. I'm no kid and I really don't know how many more years I'll drive but I have no intention of going anywhere.

If Schneider was a lousy employer then yes, I'd probably start looking elsewhere but I did my due diligence prior to applying to Schneider and I'm satisfied. I had a very short list of companies I planned to apply to and very specific reasons why I wanted to work for them.

A lot has happened in a year and I see no reason to throw that away and start all over again someplace else. Sure I think about it once in a while but actually, I'm pretty happy right where I am today.

As a recent rookie in training, I've heard my fair share of plans and strategies from fellow students whom seemed to have gleaned some sort of hypnotic insider information (and just couldn't resist the urge to tell everyone how clever they really are.)

These folks seem to have a master-plan figured out down to the time and date they will make their move from here to Company X, or whatever the secret formula entails.

The thing is, beyond some piece of inaccuarate advice we may have gleaned from some obscure corner of the web, very few of us can even speak the language of trucking, yet.

Further, most of us honestly don't even know what we don't know, yet. .

As for myself, at the moment I believe I am exactly where I am supposed to be. My company took a chance on me and I owe it to them to repay that courtesy (because no matter how great their need for drivers, they didn't need me personally.) So, I'm going to take a chance on them.

And honestly, the more I learn and see, the more reason I have to believe there is great potential for me in this company. Of course, that's "so far" because, again, I still dont even know what I dont know. But things sure look attractive right now!

I am going to touch on favoritism of those drivers that get it done.

There was a new employee that was put in contact with me, for any help he may need. We have become friends. He has fallen to the greener pasture syndrome. I found out Wolding was his 4th company. He has 3 months less driving experience than I do. Unfortunately, he only stayed at Wolding the requisite 90 days to not have to pay back his hiring bonus.

To my point, we both had over 1 year experience, so we both earned the same cpm. As I said we have become friends, we still talk although he has moved on. So we would "compare notes" on our paychecks. I would consistently bring home $200-$300 more a week than he would. I also had insurance to pay and he didn't. I was grossing $300-$400 more than he did. The other day he asked the load planner why he don't get the same kinda rubs I do. The load planners answer: "You're new". Who would of thought it.

By staying with a company and becoming proven asset, you WILL get the better runs. This easily equates to better pay.

Great article. My story so far is a fast paced version of that. Lol. With the big company I drove hard but my dispatcher barely complimented me nor asked what I wanted for loads. Usually I would say whatever is best for revenue and getting me out. With my new job, I’m local, but within one year I’m on their special loads and get first dibs on certain loads especially hot loads because of my dependability. I did receive a phone call from the owner asking my opinion on a driver who keeps no call no showing or not delivering on time. They also have been including me in more company oriented details. I think it’s my grasp I have learned on trucking my short time by listening to the older truckers and understanding most things. I have been top 2 driver on the fleet at least 7/8 months with them. And I have the least exp next to their boy that just started.

All in all. Great article. Can’t learn or grow if you jump around.

Excellent article G-Town, really great stuff!

I just now finished my busy day and had a chance to read it. Many of you know that I started my career at Western Express. Despite all the online horror stories about them, I did remarkably well there. I learned so much by working at a company that was bringing in approximately 150 new drivers every week, because they were also losing that many each week.

I learned that good solid drivers always manage to come out on top - it makes no difference who's name is on the truck's doors. I also learned that trucking companies quickly recognize those drivers who exhibit a consistent ability to keep things moving efficiently. Those drivers are consistently favored and put in the best positions for maximizing their pay.

The outrageous falsehoods that people believe about trucking companies begin to be verified in their minds the very moment they hit a little snag in their job. Now who doesn't hit a few snags when trying to start their trucking career? But when we start it with the ill conceived ideas that we allowed to be planted in our mind by fools we've never even met, we do ourselves a real disservice. Most trucking careers are doomed because of foolish online lies that have morphed into legendary "facts" concerning this whole career. It's hard enough overcoming the mountain of difficulties inherent with this career, but on top of that, today's rookies are up against a virtual flood of misinformation that hamstrings most of them right from the start.

I have invested a lot of my personal time over the years trying to raise a standard against the flood of Bovine Excrement that has literally destroyed many budding truck driving careers. I think it's sad that a career that I have found to be extremely rewarding is so maligned by the riff raff who never had what it takes to succeed at this stuff in the first place. I know what we do here has helped so many people, but it is just alarming at how many are still being blown off course by all the bad information that they find when researching this career.

Just yesterday I was sitting in a terminal rat's nest at our terminal in Atlanta, GA. Two driver's were discussing how they started their careers at Western Express, but they both quit within 90 days because of how bad the company was. They couldn't get any miles, their pay was never right, their driver manager wouldn't answer their phone calls, blah, blah, blah, until I wanted to vomit. One of them told me he was waiting on his driver manager to route him to the Gulfport, Mississippi terminal because he was "quitting the company." (Knight) When I asked him why he was quitting, his response was clear and bold, "I told myself that I would give these guys three months to show me what kind of operation they had going here, but so far it's been the same old bull s**t type of treatment I got at Western Express. I'm moving on to someplace that will show me some respect. There's a big demand for drivers right now, and I'm going to find me someplace with a nice fat sign-on bonus."

Haha! He had stepped right into it at that point. I calmly told him, " I've worked for two trucking companies who treated me with great respect and big fat paychecks." "Which ones were that," he asked. I paused, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Western Express, and Knight Transportation." They looked at each other and pretty much fell silent. One of them decided he needed to go outside to smoke a cigarette, and the other one said he would come out and join him.