TransForce Class A Or Class B??

If I recall, your in the springs? I commuted between the springs and Denver, it about 2 hours real time, and then about 2 hours through Denver traffic to Henderson and that's on good weather days. It's worse in the winter. I'd rather drive in Dallas traffic than Denver, that's how bad it is.

Most of the restaurants do not allow the pallet jack inside. Our route drivers use a rail gate or ramp to get the product on the ground with the electric pallet jack. Hand trucks are used to get product into the store or restaurant. There are ramps on the curbside doors as well.

Like I said, you’ll likely be handling every case. My suggestion? Follow one of their drivers around to see what their day entails.

Here is a pic of a rail gate...

And a ramp...

Did they say Shantiwa where all you’d be delivering to? Grocery stores and Restaurants? Or just one of the two.

May or may not be true. I started out straight truck and then switched over to class a after 8 months when a spot opened. Transforce may allow a transfer. Or maybe not. Especially with some companies needing drivers like they do.

The problem with taking the B job is after a few months many companies will consider your A license stale and you might have to redo school all over again.

Personally I'd keep looking for an A job that doesn't involve such a commute. Unless you can relocate quickly, that commute after driving a truck all day will wear you down quickly.

That makes sense, thank you for your input! A lot of things I hadn’t thought about, I looked into Bus driving and the hours are very sparse unfortunately. May still be worth it to just get a job right now while I’m trying to find the best fit for my kids and I

Hey there!

I worked for Transforce for a bit. I was trying to put my Class A to use, but didn't have the experience required to take on those positions. I was placed on the assignment of delivering wine and spirits in a straight truck. It was HEAVY touch, and that was the main reason I got out of it (started getting nagging elbow pain).

Good company from my experience, but an even better opportunity opened up for me 😁😁😁

Good luck!

Hey y’all, I just got done talking with TransForce and they’re willing to hire me! There’s two situations they’d hire me for. 1. Class B local box truck unloading for produce carriers, here in Colorado Springs where I live. $21 an hr 6am-6pm M-F Do this job until I can move up to Henderson area for their new graduate Class A position OR 2. Just take the job up in Henderson about a 1.5 hr drive for the class A new graduate position $33 hr touch freight for produce 4-6am start time and 10-14 hours a day M-F

My concerns are with finding a babysitter for my kids and the travel time before I can move up to that area. Also, what do y’all think about TransForce?

Thank you!!

Hay Trevor W. and welcome to Trucking Truth!

I'm curious . . . what IS the better opportunity that turned up for you?!??! Maybe it could benefit Shantiwa !!!!

Shantiwa .... I agree with all the above guys on this one.. especially the COMMUTE time. Tom's is 35 to 40 min's one way; often he brings the t/t home. Saves US time, sleep, fuel, and his clock. That CDL with the A job? Um... I know you'd LOVE TO, but ... I wouldn't. Too many variables and unexptected with kids, being far away!

Ask the guys here; I'm still waiting for my youngest to 'age up' so I can drive, even though he is perfectly sufficient at home alone. It's a mom thing.

I hear ya!

Keep looking, girl. IDK about the box truck job .... so hopefully you'll heed the above, and await Rob T.s wisdom, m'lady.

No interest in buses, though?

Take care!

~ Anne ~

The hours ARE sparse, but IF you sign on the 'extra board' (ie: sports & field trips) and could work that out with a sitter for an evening or weekend run (or maybe even take your kids!) it could work.

Also .. as mentioned, the CDLA would get stale. Sheesh. Just know that in Ohio (not sure around you, but check!) the sign on bonuses are ridiculously huge! The shortage is crazy! Some schools have had principals get their CDL's paid for .. so they can drive, too! LoL.. it's a back pocket idea, anyway.

Keep looking, as the others have said; just make sure it's an 'above board' company... preferably not a 1099.

Wish you the best, ma'am!

~ Anne ~

I would absolutely find out what type of businesses you would be delivering to. Is it restaurants that require you to use a 2 wheeler and ramp? I did it for PFG for about a year and a half. You can read the diary I did about my rookie year in Food service.

Currently I'm delivering to grocery stores using an electric pallet jack. We're owned by the grocery chain Hy-vee. Stores are required to have an electric pallet jack charged and ready for us to use. Of course sometimes we have to track it down just to find its nearly dead. In that case We're expected to grab a manual pallet jack to unload. Some manual jacks don't roll easily and are trash. I'll often just give it a quick charge for a couple minutes and use the manual jack to move small/ light pallets. We're expected to put the pallets where they want them at the store which is usually in their respective coolers. The 2 distribution centers that are under the Hy-vee name just drop their product off in the back room and leave. Some stores the coolers are just off the dock other times it's a long walk. We have several stores that you get your steps in, 1 of them you could very easily walk nearly 3 miles if they take the entire trailer which isn't uncommon.

The commute going to the Denver area is going to suck. My commute is 45 to 50 minutes in good weather on my way in between 12 and 2am usually. About 2 weeks ago we had freezing rain and it nearly took me 2 hours. Regardless of how long it takes to get home you may be expected to be back to work in 10 hours from when you clocked out. Let's just say the commute always takes the 1.5 hours each way. Your 10 hour break is down to 7 hours. Now you need to get home and shower, make and eat dinner, tend to your kids and try to find time to sleep. Is the idea of moving to Denver because of better employment opportunities? Would you have family or any type of support there? This career in general is taxing on families. Fortunately my wife is able to stay home with our 3 young kids (6,4,3) so it helps with the challenges of parenting and trucking. Often times the hours local drivers work are outside of normal day care hours.

I would talk to the recruiter and get a better idea of what the job will actually entail. Both type of positions will likely put you through a strenuous workout to make sure you're physically fit enough to do the job safely. They're not looking for people in perfect health but they need to know you can safely do the job. Even with my current gig using an electric jack I had to do a physical capabilities test. Pallets will tip over, or be too high you need to downstack them so they need to know you can safely handle it.

Typically I'd suggest going straight to Class A but given your circumstances it may be better to do the straight truck job where you're already at. I would hate for you to move up to Denver for this job just to find you hate it. Heck, you may even find that you dislike driving and it isn't for you. It sounds like you currently have a plan in place for the kids. It may require a little tweeking but also look at it from their perspective. Do you really want to uproot them and take them from their friends? At the end of the day as a parent ya gotta do what is in their (and your) best interest for the short and long term. Only you can decide what's best in that aspect.

I just did that Denver area driving thing for the second half of 2021, pulling Walmart loads from the Cheyenne DC. I was in or through the Denver metro 5 of every 6 trips on I-25, 70, or 270. I would not want to do that on a daily basis as a new driver, not even factoring in any commute to and from work.

I’m not even sure how much produce can weigh per pallet 😂 Excuse me while I Google this

Well I’m just speculating. You could very well have a well kept battery powered pallet jack and be just fine. And the pallets may not be that heavy filled with produce. I was slinging milk which was as heavy as 1000 pounds a pallet. Produce doesn’t get that heavy. I was just bringing up that aspect of it.

Thank you, I was worried about that and not sure what to really do with these class B jobs

1.5 hour commute will grow old real fast.

The problem with taking the B job is after a few months many companies will consider your A license stale and you might have to redo school all over again.

Personally I'd keep looking for an A job that doesn't involve such a commute. Unless you can relocate quickly, that commute after driving a truck all day will wear you down quickly.

That’s a lot to really think about. I have no support really, I’m just on my own with my kids. No family to really help. I do have childcare for both kids though and will need to find someone to watch kids after childcare regardless. I thought s lot about moving to Denver area so I can make better money and have better job opportunities, unfortunately as a single mother with no support system, I’ve had to move a lot and I know it affects my girls so I was trying to stay down here for at least another year but the jobs down here are so sparse so that’s what got me thinking about moving up North. Old dominion has a local position P&D for 28.90 hr list 10 min from my apartment, They just won’t look at me until I’ve got all endorsements which I’m currently working on. The hazmat takes a couple weeks. They hire new drivers so I’m praying I can just get on with them. I hear they’rea really great company to work for. I need to call that recruiter back to ask more specific questions and honestly I probably won’t be able to physically do the job. I know that the recruiter mentioned that if I take the class B job that I’ll be able to transfer to the class A no problem within the company but I’m really wondering if I can really do that. Thank you so much for your input, it was very helpful!

I would absolutely find out what type of businesses you would be delivering to. Is it restaurants that require you to use a 2 wheeler and ramp? I did it for PFG for about a year and a half. You can read the diary I did about my rookie year in Food service.

Currently I'm delivering to grocery stores using an electric pallet jack. We're owned by the grocery chain Hy-vee. Stores are required to have an electric pallet jack charged and ready for us to use. Of course sometimes we have to track it down just to find its nearly dead. In that case We're expected to grab a manual pallet jack to unload. Some manual jacks don't roll easily and are trash. I'll often just give it a quick charge for a couple minutes and use the manual jack to move small/ light pallets. We're expected to put the pallets where they want them at the store which is usually in their respective coolers. The 2 distribution centers that are under the Hy-vee name just drop their product off in the back room and leave. Some stores the coolers are just off the dock other times it's a long walk. We have several stores that you get your steps in, 1 of them you could very easily walk nearly 3 miles if they take the entire trailer which isn't uncommon.

The commute going to the Denver area is going to suck. My commute is 45 to 50 minutes in good weather on my way in between 12 and 2am usually. About 2 weeks ago we had freezing rain and it nearly took me 2 hours. Regardless of how long it takes to get home you may be expected to be back to work in 10 hours from when you clocked out. Let's just say the commute always takes the 1.5 hours each way. Your 10 hour break is down to 7 hours. Now you need to get home and shower, make and eat dinner, tend to your kids and try to find time to sleep. Is the idea of moving to Denver because of better employment opportunities? Would you have family or any type of support there? This career in general is taxing on families. Fortunately my wife is able to stay home with our 3 young kids (6,4,3) so it helps with the challenges of parenting and trucking. Often times the hours local drivers work are outside of normal day care hours.

I would talk to the recruiter and get a better idea of what the job will actually entail. Both type of positions will likely put you through a strenuous workout to make sure you're physically fit enough to do the job safely. They're not looking for people in perfect health but they need to know you can safely do the job. Even with my current gig using an electric jack I had to do a physical capabilities test. Pallets will tip over, or be too high you need to downstack them so they need to know you can safely handle it.

Typically I'd suggest going straight to Class A but given your circumstances it may be better to do the straight truck job where you're already at. I would hate for you to move up to Denver for this job just to find you hate it. Heck, you may even find that you dislike driving and it isn't for you. It sounds like you currently have a plan in place for the kids. It may require a little tweeking but also look at it from their perspective. Do you really want to uproot them and take them from their friends? At the end of the day as a parent ya gotta do what is in their (and your) best interest for the short and long term. Only you can decide what's best in that aspect.