Which Companies Hire New Graduates Straight Out Of CDL School ?

Struck a nerve?

Marc...you seemingly continue to ignore what all of the moderators have been trying to tell you. I’ll stand by what I said, the tone of your reply is consistent with what I have read from you. No surprise.

I’ll focus on one thing:

Hunt hired you, not your school. You really have no idea why, except they are giving you a chance and you’ll need to prove yourself. At this point your CDL isn’t worth more than anyone else’s. And your school taught you just enough to pass the tests. That’s what they taught you. You are no better prepared to handle the Amazon job than any other graduate. That’s is why I made the promotional comment.

Once with your trainer no one will care where you went to school...it will make no difference to them and I highly suggest not bringing it up with anyone at that point. It will just look foolish.

You seem to be completely missing that point Marc...and I am not the only person who has attempted (and failed) to set you straight.

Of course I don't really need to because we also discussed Target in Oconomowoc, Family Dollar (not sure where) and another account or two where they were also willing to start me right out of school, home every day, very similar rates.

I'm sure they will. ANY trucking company with a Dollar Store account will take anyone who applies, because NO ONE wants those jobs.

That is exactly what we have been trying to tell you. It has nothing to do with your school. It has to do with the fact that they can't get drivers with experience to accept the jobs, because those drivers know the jobs aren't worth it.

Step back, use some logic, and think about this from an outsider's perspective.

If the jobs were great jobs, drivers would line up to take them. Do you really think if that were a great job, they would offer a 10K bonus? Or a $1400 guarantee, for any length of time? If it were a great job, paying $75K, with a 10K bonus, and you would be home every day, do you think they wouldn't attract so many experienced drivers they wouldn't be able to hire them all? Why would they take a chance on a driver fresh out of school, if they could have their pick? Do you REALLY think your school is so great, they would pick you over a driver with 1, 5 or 10 years experience?

I almost called to apply at Hunt, but I don't want my company of choice to see it and think I am having second thoughts about driving for them. But, go to Glassdoor, and search Buffalo, NY for A Duie Pyle jobs. Every job calls for experience. Yet, their recruiter came to my school and offered me a Family Dollar job that paid $70K, and motivated employees are making around 100K according to the recruiter. Home every day. 78 cents a mile. With zero experience.

Sounds great, right? Except you hand unload 9,000 pieces of product a week, at 8 cents per piece. You drive in city traffic, backing into impossible places, all day long.

That is why they are accepting a new graduate, not because the school I went to is a great school. Because the drivers who know what the job entails is not interested.

No matter how good, or how bad your CDL school is, at the end, you end up at the same place as all the rest. A graduate with a license, with a few hours of driving in an empty truck, with no real world experience. I paid to go to what is billed as a great school as well, though I'll let you know in 3 weeks how great I think they are. So far, I'm a bit underwhelmed with the administration. The instructors are good. But in the end, I will pass, get a license, and be one of thousands. No better or worse than anyone else. Zero experience pulling a load, backing into docks. Or any other real world experience. That education I will get on the job.

You make a big deal out of the fact that: "I have been in ongoing discussion with a company which "requires" 2 years of OTR experience. After going to his boss, his bosses boss and the owner, they were continuing to move forward with me."

Would someone that high up need to be involved, if the job were so awesome? Or would experienced drivers be lined up? Do you think the OWNER has nothing better to do than be involved in recruiting?

I'm done with this discussion. But do us a favor, in 6 months, stop back and let us know how it is going. Don't disappear when you find out we were right, and that great job turns out to be a nightmare, and you don't want to admit it.

People here are trying to give you good advice, but you are so convinced your school has given you an education so superior to everyone else, that you are a superstar. I'm sure you are a great guy, with talent, but right now, you are just a rookie with a CDL.

Heck Grumpy 9,000 is on the low end. I was averaging 12 to 20,000 pieces a week. Usually 3 loads sometimes 4 a week averaging 4,500 to 5,000 boxes q trailer. Boxes to the door up to the roof. The first stop you had to open the door and run for your life from the boxes of pickle jars that come tumbling does that are "supposed" to be on the bottom. Good times.

Heck Grumpy 9,000 is on the low end. I was averaging 12 to 20,000 pieces a week. Usually 3 loads sometimes 4 a week averaging 4,500 to 5,000 boxes q trailer. Boxes to the door up to the roof. The first stop you had to open the door and run for your life from the boxes of pickle jars that come tumbling does that are "supposed" to be on the bottom. Good times.

I hear you.

And they hired you with NO experience, correct?

Yeah no experience.

Grumpy gets it...and below is exactly what the moderators have been trying to convey to Marc...

People here are trying to give you good advice, but you are so convinced your school has given you an education so superior to everyone else, that you are a superstar. I'm sure you are a great guy, with talent, but right now, you are just a rookie with a CDL.

We are indeed trying to help Marc. But like many before him (and there have been many), he seems to “know better”, hung-up on the wrong stuff and posting information that isn’t helping anyone. That’s what ticks me off, (no disrespect intended), but you know very little about trucking or what you actually signed-up for, you have a CDL. Nothing more.

My patience wears very thin with students, zero experience, repeatedly touting false information and elevating themselves for superficial reasons that in the end game, are meaningless.

Grumpy gets it...and below is exactly what the moderators have been trying to convey to Marc...

People here are trying to give you good advice, but you are so convinced your school has given you an education so superior to everyone else, that you are a superstar. I'm sure you are a great guy, with talent, but right now, you are just a rookie with a CDL.

We are indeed trying to help Marc. But like many before him (and there have been many), he seems to “know better”, hung-up on the wrong stuff and posting information that isn’t helping anyone. That’s what ticks me off, (no disrespect intended), but you know very little about trucking or what you actually signed-up for, you have a CDL. Nothing more.

My patience wears very thin with students, zero experience, repeatedly touting false information and elevating themselves for superficial reasons that in the end game, are meaningless.

And when I graduate, I will be exactly the same level, a rookie with zero experience. Regardless of how Sage touts their school as the best, once I graduate, I'll have a CDL , just like a graduate of the worst school in the nation. Sage touted their Rome school as having the only "shifting range" in NY. God, I hope not, because that means every other driver was only able to shift from 5th to 6th until they hit the road. When I got really good at shifting (relative to when I started), I made it to 8th once, and immediately had to start downshifting to slow down for the turn at the end. Starting from 5th.

Wolding requires 6 months experience, but once I graduate, I'll be going to the next available orientation, where they will see if I am teachable. Hopefully the one on one driving I paid for will pay off and give me enough experience to be able to continue with my real training. Is it because my school is so much better than others? No, it is because they need people, and IF I can prove myself, I will luck into a job with a good company, just like every other graduate. If I can't, Sage's reputation won't help me one bit, I'll be sent home just as fast as if I graduated from Joe's CDL school.

Now what MIGHT have given me a SLIGHT edge, is that I have a perfectly clean driving record, and while my criminal record does have a blemish, it was over 30 years ago, and I have lived a law abiding life since, and didn't try to hide it. I learned from my mistake, owned up to it, and learned from it.

I almost called to apply at Hunt, but I don't want my company of choice to see it and think I am having second thoughts about driving for them. But, go to Glassdoor, and search Buffalo, NY for A Duie Pyle jobs. Every job calls for experience. Yet, their recruiter came to my school and offered me a Family Dollar job that paid $70K, and motivated employees are making around 100K according to the recruiter. Home every day. 78 cents a mile. With zero experience.

Sounds great, right? Except you hand unload 9,000 pieces of product a week, at 8 cents per piece. You drive in city traffic, backing into impossible places, all day long.

That is why they are accepting a new graduate, not because the school I went to is a great school. Because the drivers who know what the job entails is not interested.

No matter how good, or how bad your CDL school is, at the end, you end up at the same place as all the rest. A graduate with a license, with a few hours of driving in an empty truck, with no real world experience. I paid to go to what is billed as a great school as well, though I'll let you know in 3 weeks how great I think they are. So far, I'm a bit underwhelmed with the administration. The instructors are good. But in the end, I will pass, get a license, and be one of thousands. No better or worse than anyone else. Zero experience pulling a load, backing into docks. Or any other real world experience. That education I will get on the job.

You make a big deal out of the fact that: "I have been in ongoing discussion with a company which "requires" 2 years of OTR experience. After going to his boss, his bosses boss and the owner, they were continuing to move forward with me."

Would someone that high up need to be involved, if the job were so awesome? Or would experienced drivers be lined up? Do you think the OWNER has nothing better to do than be involved in recruiting?

People here are trying to give you good advice, but you are so convinced your school has given you an education so superior to everyone else, that you are a superstar. I'm sure you are a great guy, with talent, but right now, you are just a rookie with a CDL.

Can we please stop arguing about things which are not things I have said or believe?

1) I do not think my school is "special", that I have somehow received a "better" education. I have received my CDL-A. AKA my "license to learn."

2) I accept just about everything I have read and learned here, in Brett's book, the "Commencement Address", and 100's of posts and articles here.

3) I get that I have no way of knowing what this job will really be like. I believe it will be different, harder, more exciting and challenging than what I am doing now and I am willing to put forth the effort to try to learn to do it like the many pros here who are willing to spend time advising, discussing and yes, sometimes arguing with me! And yes, I hope it will let me make more money than I am making now, see more (and more) of this great country, and maybe, at some point, be able to stop working before I die!

4) I do not believe I have found a dream job. It sounds, to me, like I have been given a place to start which is a good fit for me. Better in some ways than others I have looked at. Maybe it will be a total disaster. I have no way of knowing. But unless someone makes me a better offer soon, this is where I am going to wind up.

5) I believe I have been offered some opportunities because I went to a "type" of training offered at the place I went. I do not think it made me a better driver. If a potential employer thinks so, GREAT! If a potential employer's insurance company thinks so... GREAT! (I was "corrected" when I mentioned that at the small company Tuesday). Daughter of the owner said "Actually our insurance company prefers that we NOT hire new drivers BUT IF WE DO they prefer that they come from a place like WCTC." (She said they have hired several... there is a video of the one I knew about on their web site).

6) I will continue to provide updates as long as they, and I, are welcome. The good, the bad, the ugly.

Please don't question my motives. I have no agenda. What I chose has worked for me, so far. But please also do not criticize the choices I have made (as some have on this site in several places).

I do not think not quitting running a small one-man show "business" and attending school on weekends so I could continue to have an income and transition vs. abandoning it and some good and loyal clients and going to a company school showed a lack of commitment. It was a decision. Best one for me I thought at the time. Still do. Not what you would have done? Great! Not what you think I should have have done? OK. I appreciate the feedback. Do I think I made a mistake? Dunno. Like "they" say... hindsight is 20/20.

In the end... this is (as far as I know, from my "limited research"), the only life I've got. Most likely same for the rest of you. I believe all I can do is get the best information available, make the best decisions possible for me, at the time they need to be made, and live with the consequences.

I believe I have done that in regards to getting my CDL and an opportunity to use it. I hope to continue to do so.

Shinny side up! Rubberside down!

Happy Holidays!

Marc Lee

$15/hour while in training $15 per stop (average 20 stops per week) Top earners will make between $75,000 - $80,000 annually

Training pay is $15 per hour. So 11 hours per day? times 5 days equals 55 hours per week.

$15 × 55 hours = $825 $15 for stop pay average of 20 stops a week = $300

so $825 + $300 is $1125. You can be a lot.lower.

Where's the $1400 guarantee?

Average miles per week at 54cpm is $1080. Add the $15 per stop and you COULD get $300 + $1080 = $1380

But again that is average, meaning some weeks could have a lot fewer miles. If you only got 1500 miles a week you could.make less than you will in training.

And what makes you think you are getting that through training? They specifically stated training pay is $15 per hour. Im.not even sure by reading if trainees are entitled to the stop pay.

Also, does it say they wil train with NO EXPERIENCE?

Dont get hung up.on the no touch freight as you seemed to on the other thread. In 3 years I pulled off 2 pallets...both were at Amazon. Thats it.

Thanks Rainy.

It's $15/hr. plus OT after 40 hrs. (in an email). Pretty sure email includes the stop pay during training. Can confirm.

$1,400 guaranty through end of February (not much time in my case) per email. Asked what happens after... haven't heard back.

As I have a "start date" to go out with a trainer and have completed all required pre-start training (online), it certainly looks like they plan to hire me with no experience, for this position, at this location, at this point in time.

As far as no touch and drop and hook , miles, etc.., as we all know... there are no guarantees (for the most part).

But do I think this is better for an old man than LTL? I think so.

Reefer? I think so. Flat bed? Again, FOR ME? I think so.

Marc Lee wrote this in response to Grumpy:

I do not think my school is "special", that I have somehow received a "better" education. I have received my CDL-A. AKA my "license to learn."

Okay,...then please stop posting statements in direct conflict with the above, like this from yesterday:

Like I said at the start of this thread... Where you attend school makes a difference (when it comes to minimum experience requirements).