Any Companies In New England That Hire New Drivers? And Other Questions...

A little bit of background about me first. Im 30 years old, from southern Massachusetts. I plan on having my CDL A sometime around late January. Im currently looking at Schneider as my first choice, as they have a drop yard 50 miles from me. I plan on doing OTR and am pretty sure im going to question why i made this career choice for the first couple months, but i am not really a people person, so I think its a good career move for me. Ive been working at a boat yard for 5 years and have lots of experience hauling boats around on the road, anywhere from 16 to 28 feet long, and 13 feet high. I know a 53 foot trailer is different, but i feel it gives me a leg up... hopefully.

Anyways, a few noob questions. 1. I have seen that some companies allow drivers to take their truck home, barring they live far from a yard. I live on a crowded city road, so this isnt an option for me at all, right? Basically, i need to live close to a yard? Ive got no where else to park a truck, except for on the street. Ive thought about a park and ride, but i feel thats a big no no, for insurance reasons. 2. Are there any drop yards in southern New England besides Schneider and USxpress? Ive tried to do my research here, but i cant find any other companies that have any close to me. 3. Whats the realistic pay like for a new driver? Currently i make around 480 a week, and am completely expecting to make basically the same pay as that, give or take $70ish or so. 4. My topic header. Are there any OTR companies around me that hire new drivers with no experience besides the big name companies? I want to do OTR preferably, or be out for a week or 2 at a time if its regional. Thank you all very much!

A. Duie Pyle is a NE regional company, they are not a huge carrier but do have a terminal and training center in Mass. They run as far south as Virginia, west to Ohio and north to Maine. They may run into southern Canada as well

I'll leave the questions regarding hometime parking for other drivers that do OTR and can speak from their experiences, but regarding the pay we tell people you can expect about $35,000 your first year. We've had members make over $50k their first year, it all depends on how quickly you "get it". Expecting $480 a week shouldn't be a problem at all. If you start on the lower end of pay at say 33 CPM that's only 1500 miles to make $495 which is very easy to do. There are even companies that will pay you more than $480 during training. For example, Prime Inc. Pays $700 a week for your TNT training after you have your CDL. You cant go wrong with any of the Mega carriers and I dont see it being problem getting hired by any of them in the northeast as long as your criminal and driving records are relatively clean.

I live in CT, and I had worked for Werner for 4 years. I never had a problem where to park, because they will allow you to park at a truck stop for home time, unless you had a "high value load", then you would have to drop the trailer at a secured lot, but they have them all over the country. They always try to get you a load close to your home to deliver just before or after your home time, depending on how long you were going to be home....

The big thing to remember, no matter what company you go with, is communicate with your DM/FM/Load Planner. Also, something else to look into for companies you have narrowed your choices to, is visit local truck stops at meal time, usually breakfast or dinner/supper time around 6 am or 6 pm and see if the company drivers can or will tell you if they have dedicated accounts in your area. For example, I got onto a dedicated account out of Vermont, averaged 2200-2500 miles a week, and averaged 1100-1300 week, and I was home here in CT every weekend, usually noontime Friday until about 10 am on Sunday, and my relationship with my manager was great, and he knew that if he needed someone to deliver a difficult load or a long distance load, he could count on me and a couple other drivers. And also, he knew that the same drivers would do longer loads and stay out for 2 weeks at a time if needed, and we were compensated well for it....

Pyle and Schneider are both good carriers to work for, I know several people who work for them, and they are very happy working there.

Like Rob T said, you will not go wrong with any of the major carriers. As soon as you "get it" and get into your own groove, the sky is the limit with wait you can earn. I have seen people post that their first year earnings ranged from $35k to over $50k their first year. From your second year on, most drivers I know see an average of 10%-25% increase in pay every year.

We hire for northeast hourly, and have a few spots reserved in Westfield MA for parking.

Thanks everyone for your help. Ive ultimately decided to go with Schneider as my next employer. I called a few companies located within 20 or so miles of me, but they all required 2 years of experience. The goal is to grind out for 2 years then switch closer to home.

I feel like I'm going to really dislike OTR for a couple of months and curse myself for even considering this a career. Lol I'm going to give it my all though and do the best I can!

Did you try TMC. I don’t know if they hire in your area but I see them pulling boats sometimes. SOLO rookies make good money there. Solo I’ve heard.

Did you try TMC. I don’t know if they hire in your area but I see them pulling boats sometimes. SOLO rookies make good money there. Solo I’ve heard.

I just looked into them a bit, checked out their page and whatnot. I didnt want to start off doing flatbed, and they are a good deal further from where I live. I will probably still give em a call when im in CDL school and see what they have to offer.

If hometime is your concern I get that. Having a terminal near home probably does help in some situations but it probably doesn’t matter to much. What matters is the freight lanes they run and the accounts, customers and so on. I was offered a different job within my company and they said I was on the fringe of the hiring zone. They said I’d still get home weekends but because I understood the freight lanes of this account they offered me I could see how hard and out of route it would be for me. So I passed on that. I thought about this when I was in school and passed on maverick because there terminal was so far from my house. After I went solo and started parking at a local business for the weekends there would always be a maverick truck sitting there and always home before me. What matters is what the company says they can do for you as far as home time goes. Maverick said I’d be home most weekends but I didn’t trust them due to where they was located. I was wrong. The company I settled on has gotten me home every weekend and for every holiday for three years now. They said they would and they did.

Did you try TMC. I don’t know if they hire in your area but I see them pulling boats sometimes. SOLO rookies make good money there. Solo I’ve heard.

I just looked into them a bit, checked out their page and whatnot. I didnt want to start off doing flatbed, and they are a good deal further from where I live. I will probably still give em a call when im in CDL school and see what they have to offer.

Ive actually looked into TMC quite a bit last night, and I honestly think I will try them fresh out of school. Ive watched many videos from their drivers on YT, and so far so good. Sitting pulling dry or reefer all day just drop and hook sounds less appealing to me than flatbed. It seems more hands on and diverse, which I feel Id like more. I appreciate you telling me about them. As for hometime, thats no concern of mine right now. The concern to me was having a place to park the truck where I live. I live in a typical northeastern city with narrow roads that 2 cars can barely fit down. Think Boston, or some other crammed city. Ive actually seen a few flatbeds, dry vans and bobtails parked at the grocery store I go to, so maybe thats an option for me. Im going to call them Monday and flesh out the details and see what they say. Monday also happens to be the day I start CDL school, so hopefully its a good day for me!

If hometime is your concern I get that. Having a terminal near home probably does help in some situations but it probably doesn’t matter to much. What matters is the freight lanes they run and the accounts, customers and so on. I was offered a different job within my company and they said I was on the fringe of the hiring zone. They said I’d still get home weekends but because I understood the freight lanes of this account they offered me I could see how hard and out of route it would be for me. So I passed on that. I thought about this when I was in school and passed on maverick because there terminal was so far from my house. After I went solo and started parking at a local business for the weekends there would always be a maverick truck sitting there and always home before me. What matters is what the company says they can do for you as far as home time goes. Maverick said I’d be home most weekends but I didn’t trust them due to where they was located. I was wrong. The company I settled on has gotten me home every weekend and for every holiday for three years now. They said they would and they did.

Did you try TMC. I don’t know if they hire in your area but I see them pulling boats sometimes. SOLO rookies make good money there. Solo I’ve heard.

I just looked into them a bit, checked out their page and whatnot. I didnt want to start off doing flatbed, and they are a good deal further from where I live. I will probably still give em a call when im in CDL school and see what they have to offer.