Crete / Shaffer Or Schneider - Southeastern PA

Before I signed on with Crete, I visited the Marietta, GA terminal. I was able to speak with the recruiter in person, as well as view the facilities and equipment. There are also drivers hanging around the terminal as well. I would suggest stopping by the terminal or call ahead before you go. They would not mind at all for you to come down.

Before I signed on with Crete, I visited the Marietta, GA terminal. I was able to speak with the recruiter in person, as well as view the facilities and equipment. There are also drivers hanging around the terminal as well. I would suggest stopping by the terminal or call ahead before you go. They would not mind at all for you to come down.

Great idea! I know the recruiter will be at the school I'll be attending in York, PA. I never thought to see if I could just visit the terminal.

The phone number for the New Kingstown terminal is 1-800-669-1181. I suggest giving them a call and setting something up. They should have a recruiter located at the terminal that you can speak to.

OK please everyone take note... US Xpress DOES NOT have all automatic trucks. They have both automatics and manuals! Automatics are not that bad anyway, I do prefer manual myself.

But if you did go with US Xpress and get an automatic truck, you could always ask for a manual once you prove yourself as a worthy driver.

I have also heard that US Xpress is getting rid of their automatics, or at least not buying anymore. So there should be less and less of them in the fleet as time goes on.

I have also heard that US Xpress is getting rid of their automatics, or at least not buying anymore. So there should be less and less of them in the fleet as time goes on.

Back a few years ago when I drove for them they had automatics exclusively for quite a number of years. So if it's a mixed fleet now then they're definitely moving away from the automatics, which most companies have already done. I think for right now the idea of automatics has been shelved. A lot of major companies tried working with them for quite a few years but apparently they haven't engineered them well enough to be worth having. I think someday you'll see automatic transmissions be prevalent in the trucking industry. In fact, I thought they would have been today. I thought they'd have it figured out by now. But I guess they have a lot of work to do at the drawing board.

I might suggest looking closely at the Trucking Truth's company's that offer training and look for a couple that offer mostly dedicated routes These will allow you to get closer to home and do it sooner than OTR companies that lack a lot of dedicated routes. TT has most of the research for you. Those companies don't need to be near your home, just have freight lanes near your home.

Steer clear of NYC? Pittsburg is way worse. But anyway why focus on just companies with terminals near you? You are eliminating about 98% of the companies out there. I drive for Werner and they have no terminals any where near my house Where you live only plays a 1% into your ability to work for a company. The rest is up to you. If your concerned about home time then don't be. It does not matter if you live 10 feet from the terminal or 500 miles. You home time will be the same. Every 3 to 6 weeks on average.

Either company will be a great company to start with and even stay with. Though SNI has more divisions you can get good miles with either company. The main deciding factor that makes and breaks a driver at a company is attitude.

Thanks for your response. I have my reasons for looking for companies that are close by w/ terminals. One of which is because for the long term, I am not interested in OTR but more regional or local - preferably a dedicated account if available. SNI requires that you live within a certain distance of those terminals / cities where dedicated or regional jobs are offered.

Hey guys - interesting info on US Xpress. I wasn't sure if they had nothing but automatics, but I didn't want to get stuck driving one ;) Joking aside, they're a company I'll keep on my short list. It's great to have so many options where I live.

Phil P. - Thanks again for another suggestion. I'll be the first to say that I REALLY have appreciated all the work that has gone into Trucking Truth. Especially all the research that has been done to give people a start to do their own research. Besides the forum, resources like blogs, and of course the practice tests, the one thing that has really jumped out to me has been the culture of the website. Compared to some other forums on the web, Trucking Truth seems to be full of POSITIVE helpful people. I haven't read any company bashing yet.

I've looked into a few companies that pay for your training, if that's what you're referring to, and I haven't found any that are close to where I live. Again, without going into details, I need to be by my family for my schooling until I'm actually hired by a company. How do you find companies that show their lanes, save for going on their websites? Companies like Prime Inc and Werner Enterprises are others I have looked into that hire students, but their websites don't show current job openings, like Crete/Shaffer and SNI, which would give me an idea if they have any regional or dedicated accounts. I know they have OTR. Both Prime and Werner have terminals in PA.

Great info on the companies not needing to have terminals near my home, but rather freight lanes. I guess I just don't know how to figure out if they do have regional and/or dedicated regional near my home. I suppose I could ask a recruiter, but I've heard horror stories of recruiters fibbing. I'd hate to sign on w/ a company, only to find that I'm doing OTR w/ no opportunity to transfer to a more regional gig.

Werner has tons of regional and dedicated accounts across the country. Dollar General and Walmart being two of them. Then there are the Conway and UPS and ABF accounts which I run a lot of. Not to mention Werner has one of the largest Bass Pro Shop accounts in the country.

Werner has tons of regional and dedicated accounts across the country. Dollar General and Walmart being two of them. Then there are the Conway and UPS and ABF accounts which I run a lot of. Not to mention Werner has one of the largest Bass Pro Shop accounts in the country.

Conway, UPS, and ABF are frequent flyers around here. I had no idea Werner 'partnered' up with them! I know you run for Werner, and it looks like you enjoy working for them. Any suggestions as to how I could find out what is available in regard to regional or dedicated accounts, near where I am? Harrisburg, PA is about a 10 minute drive from my home. Do you know if a rookie driver can transfer to one of these accounts after training? Shaffer Trucking confirmed I could join the Harrisburg Dedicated Fleet once I finish my 8 week training. I suppose I could contact a recruiter from Werner. Not sure if this is right or not, but I'm leery about what recruiters say. Which is frustrating because who are you supposed to trust when trying to get info about a company?! I'd like to think that most recruiters wouldn't straight out lie about things, but I'm also not naive.