Here Is An Example Of Why We Stress Staying With Your Company For A Full Year.

It is so important to stay with your company for at least one year. Also, job hopping is no good. I saw this in an ad for a local job with good pay and benefits. Would you qualify?

Thanks for the post. I see so many people asking about the magic moment when they are able to switch companies, whether it be 3 or 6 months or the full year and all. Seems like I should be looking at finishing a SECOND year so insurance costs go down and I can see how productive I really can be with a little experience under my belt.

The other part of the equation is if you get a signing bonus and tuition reimbursement, the company pays that out over an extended period of time. Changing companies eliminates that money coming to you every month from your original company. There are multiple reasons to get at least your first year in with one company, IMHO.

Next month I will celebrate my 6th anniversary with Swift... Here is an article I wrote describing my experiences beyond the 1st year.

The Benefits of Staying With Your First Company Beyond 1 Year

Here is what the "slide" into tough times in trucking looks like:

"But they aren't nice to me and I heard this other company that hires drivers with under 1 year of experience is, like, totally super cool to drivers."

G-Town, Congratulations on your 6th anniversary. As a side note, I was in my car yesterday and I saw a great decal on a Swift truck. Right behind the passenger side door was a black and yellow sign, about 12" square, that said : WARNING YOU ARE IN MY BLIND SPOT Every truck should carry that warning.

I particular like those trailers that have 2 arrows on the back. The one pointing left has “Passing side” under it. The one pointing right has “Suicide”. Cracks me up every time.

From EVERYTHING I've read? Its really more like 3 years, 2 years minimum.

Really depends where you go to work. I don't hop around as much anymore but where I live now down in south tx, they don't worry about that too much. I personally don't try to get work for big companies anymore. I stayed at the smaller companies a lot longer than when I was with the bigger ones. And that includes CfI. I started back in 05 and left in 05. Went to my first small company in Russellville ar right after CFI. Was with them for 3 years. Not hating on CFI. Just wasn't the right fit for me.

So Av8r I'm curious. What makes a small company the right fit for you?

Over the years I've worked at every size company there is, from companies with fewer than 10 trucks to companies with thousands of trucks. I worked the last 6 years of my OTR career at a major carrier with thousands of trucks because I felt the major carriers had every possible advantage over a small company.

To this day I can't think of one single advantage to working at a small company so I'm curious to hear your perspective on it.