Instructor Announced 1st Time EVER Newbie Hiring @ UPS & J.B. Hunt!

At the start of class today (Tech. College "400 hour" weekends class)...

School was informed that both J.B. Hunt and UPS are now hiring newly licensed CDL drivers for the first time EVER!

UPS salaries allegedly range from $100k to $175k with Teamster's Union benefits.

J.B. Hunt apparently just signed 71 new driver route agreements in S.E. WI. He read us the email where the area contact almost begged the school to work with them. We have a job fair scheduled for October and Hunt will be running ads for drivers saying they will be at WCTC Job Fair (which is open to the public). These gigs are mostly "drop and hook" and get most drivers home every night!

I may need to rethink this OTR thing a bit!

Still want to travel the country, but if I can make the kind of money they are suggesting, I may be content to drive truck closer to home and just take my Newmar 38' Class A motorhome on the road for fun!

Looks like I could even upgrade to diesel pusher too!

J.B. Hunt gig sounds real tough NOT! Drive to Pleasant Prairie (about 25 mi. S. of MKE, about 35 mi. from home), drive to a Meijr location, drop and hook , repeat).

Started hooking, driving with trailers, dropping and hooking today! Backing maybe tomorrow... Doing great in turns and in the roundabout. Even learning to get along with the most tempermental tractor in the fleet. (She does not like being shifted above 1,200 RPMs).

Oh boy... here we go again!

Marc, I've just about come to realize that every newbie in school will always take what their instructors say over what we say. It's a common theme played out in our forum repeatedly. I have no grand illusions that we are the final word on all things trucking, but I sure have witnessed a lot of people led down a rabbit hole with bad ideas when starting their trucking careers. We always teach that one of the most prudent ways of starting a trucking career is by Starting Your Career As An Over The Road Driver. That is backed up by solid statistics. It's not just some random idea or preference of ours.

I realize you are excited, and I'm not here to squelch that, but it is usually a dangerous thing when Prudence Is Lacking In A Rookie Driver's Approach To This Career. The benefits of one short year of over the road experience will far outweigh rushing into the pursuit of big money in trucking. Many a trucking career has been derailed completely by rushing headlong into a job where the driver was nowhere near prepared for the demands.

That's all I'm going to say at this point, but I'm convinced you need to take a much more cautious approach to this. Don't go chasing rainbows and pots of gold just yet. You've got a rude awakening lying just down the road. Throw on your flashers and slow down - there's trouble up ahead.

175k??? For a UPS driver?

If you believe that I have some beachfront property I want to sell you located in downtown Topeka Kansas.

Your instructor should be required to submit to a “random”, he’s smokin’ something and he blew it right up your tail end.

175k per year for any company driver is total barnyard, mid-summer simmering Bull Sh**...not gonna happen.

Rule #1, don’t believe everything you hear.

100k with UPS, maybe, but with years of experience and seniority. Don’t forget union dues come out of that...knocks it down quite a bit.

Let me offer some advice Marc; you don’t have your CDL yet, you just started, and have no basis or experience to call any gig EASY. I’ve seen the places where JBH drops their loads, you’d soil your drawers if you had to attempt it right now...and just as daunting the first several months of solo driving.

Rule #2, nothing is easy when you start this career...approach it with an over-confident, cavalier attitude and it will crush you like a bug in the blink of an eye.

If it sounds to good to be true it's as good as that beachfront in Topeka. Last year JB hunt was advertising for veterans for local gigs or intermodal rather. Stating it didn't matter how much experience you had. So I bit and when I did they said o those positions are filled how about being home every 3 days though? And Ups be very careful. They currently have driver apprentice programs where I believe you work the warehouse and go out with a driver maybe a few times during shift. Union means seniority you're going to come into ups dropping and hooking all day 9 to 5. Dont rush it.

Meant you won't come in doing that!!!

Thanks for all the comments...

I did say "Instructor Announced" and "salaries allegedly range from..."

Maybe even the salary thing is in question because it is my understanding that usually only dedicated routes are paid that way.

NOT discounting what you all are saying... just relaying what I was told. What seemed to be the big news (b.s.?) was the waiver of prior experience requirement.

Also... I realize "easy" was a bad choice... I know this won't be easy. What I meant was if it is even remotely as presented, it might not be a bad gig. A dist. warehouse nearby and delivery to stores in the area seemed, potentially, better than some alternatives. Guessing though, the reality will be more like Chicago during rush PERIODS, Co. GPS routing into low bridges, etc....

On another note... I got a call from the recruiter at and daughter of the owner of a local company. I met her Father at the DMV and when I asked if they hired new CDL drivers he replied "who doesn't?!?" I sent a nice follow-up letter which, as expected, found its way to her. She called to see how my training was going and we had a nice conversation. They do vans and flatbeds mostly regional , I think, if you believe their home-time claims. The only female in our class is an 18-year old young lady who works there.

FYI... While hometime makes a few things less complicated for me in the short-term, it is not really a major concern!

Marc, the reason I named this site Trucking Truth is because almost everything I found on the Web and everything I heard from truck drivers during my 15 years of driving was BS to some degree, and oftentimes a high degree. I lost count only a few months into my career of the number of times I'd be listening to some trucker stories thinking, "I wonder if he thinks I believe any of this? I wonder if he believes any of this?" But I'd just smile and listen and enjoy it like any good piece of fiction.

Fortunately I no longer have to do that. Unfortunately you're "listening career" is just beginning, and it's off to a great start. Smile big!

Also... I realize "easy" was a bad choice... I know this won't be easy.

People say that, but they don't realize that at all. I've never met anyone who could honestly tell me trucking was easier than they expected. Everyone famously underestimates this career, which is why 75% of the people who make an attempt at it never even get to the point that they're driving solo. At the Paid CDL Training Programs I'm told 50% of the students who show up never even manage to get their CDL!

So you think you're being respectful by telling us you expect this career to be hard, but have no worries. We won't be offended if you think it's going to be easy. From the outside it seems like it would be. In this country the general consensus is that any idiot can drive a truck if they can't do anything worthwhile with their lives, but we don't take offense to that either. That's just public perception.

And all of those "too good to be true" opportunities that ask nothing of a driver but pay big money? They're exactly what they seem - too good to be true. But heck, they make for an exciting story, don't they?

when I asked if they hired new CDL drivers he replied "who doesn't?!?"

Almost no one hires new drivers. You see a ton of advertising about it, but that's all coming from a very tiny percentage of the companies out there. The overwhelming majority can't hire new drivers because their insurance companies won't allow it.

The best thing to do is apply for Truck Driving Jobs everywhere you can, see who offers you an opportunity, and choose the one you feel suits you best.

Definitely take what Old School says about starting your career OTR very seriously. You can't believe how many drivers manage to wiggle their way into a local gig and immediately find they're in over their heads. Many get fired from that first gig, others get lucky and hang on for dear life long enough to figure out how to handle that rig.

I’ve seen the places where JBH drops their loads, you’d soil your drawers if you had to attempt it right now

It's true - this job is way tougher than you think.

I will have to chime in here about UPS Parcel salaries because i do talk to a bunch and am friends with a few drivers here in NJ. Yes their top salary is $35/hour here but that differs around the country since each area has different contracts, etc. Starting salary of a 1st year UPS driver is $18/hour, during peak season usually September through January/February every driver makes top rate regardless of new hire, casual driver (hired just for peak season) or regular driver. And their hours per week they can work max goes from 60 hours a week to 70 hours per week during leak season. For hired drivers they get double time pay if they work on Sundays and have one or two triple time days they can use whenever and i think a couple of holidays are also triple time days. So yes it is very possible to make 100k with UPS in a year, they pay your pension and benefits, you just need to take care of your union dues. And they do run teams as well doing cross country stuff running from hub to hub and they also make a very good salary, u dont know many of the details about that side kf it. But like I said what I said above is based on NJ and their contract setup, they pay and everything else will vary from state to state depending in their contracts

Once again... points taken!

To be clear here... I am NOT chasing "big bucks". I am also aware there is nothing I can do to prepare for the chalenges ahead except to be a sponge and try to learn everything possible. This, if course, includes everything shared by the great resources here. I am truly grateful...

The overwhelming majority can't hire new drivers because their insurance companies won't allow it.

Recruiter specifically mentioned that their insurance company vastly prefers that they hire graduates of the program I am in. Pethaps this is more b.s. but it sounded like most of what you said about this is correct, but then again... I guess that is the best way to sell a lie, right? (In your case...)

Gotta go learn to downshift with a trailer and begin the backing journey!

Safe roads!

It might be the company prefers your school over other schools in the area, but i dont believe they would prefer a school graduate over someone with 1 year OTR. bull.

when i came.to prime a friend had started at a local. He told the instructor i was at prime and the guy said "oh thats ome of the worst companies out there" yeah ok. im still here after 3 yrs cause it sucks right? then when i got on the road and drove 400 miles my first day behind a wheel, the instructor told him i was lying. so i screen shot my QC miles to him. Three months later i was in my own truck and he still hadnt test. my friend mentioned that and the guy said "what do you expect, prime is one of the best companies around." sounds like a reliable source lol

and correction to Brett 50% dont make it through orientation! at prime they never make it to the permit phase, let alone get the CDL.