Recommendations Needed

Hello all. I’m in the Reno/Sparks area looking to begin my career in trucking. I’ve read every single company review and fact sheet posted here and I’m torn between Prime and Knight. Also, does anyone know of any other local outfits willing to train a newbie? I have a class b and a current dot card but no class a. I’m a married man with children so home time will be important to me, after I get myself the much needed experience of course. I’m also poor so upfront costs aren’t something I can handle a great deal of. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I'm sorry you read all the outdated reviews. Several of those companies no longer exist. I would suggest you look at our training diaries for some current experiences. Also, you can put company names in the search bar at the top of the page and find tons of threads on those companies. As far as starting local, you may be able to get a dock to driver position at an LTL company. Check them all out for the local companies in your area.

Hopefully some others can give you some more ideas.

Good luck.

Of the two companies you mentioned, Knight will probably be more willing to be less strict about keeping you on the road for lengthy periods. That's just my opinion.

You and your family need to commit to one difficult year of you being gone a lot. Once you've completed a full safe year at your original job, opportunities will be abundant for you to get an LTL or home every night job. You will almost always work very long hours no matter what trucking job you do. That's not ideal for raising a family.

Have you considered other careers? Trucking is really demanding. I love it, but my children were mostly grown when I started. My wife still struggles at times with my absence. Think twice before jumping in. You can always walk away if it isn't working for you, but it's best to know what you're getting into. It's a huge commitment.

Hey Old School!

I’m 44 and have definitely pursued other careers. The first year being very difficult is something my wife and I have talked at length about, I’ve also sat down with my kids and told them what to expect. I’m not concerned about the first year or two. And when I say home time is gonna be important to me, I just mean it’s gonna be important that I get it every so often, some of the horror stories I’ve read about drivers being kept out months on end isn’t something I’m interested in. 3-5 weeks at a time, sure, that’s fair new or not but if a company requires more than that it’s not gonna be the company for me.

Of the two companies you mentioned, Knight will probably be more willing to be less strict about keeping you on the road for lengthy periods. That's just my opinion.

You and your family need to commit to one difficult year of you being gone a lot. Once you've completed a full safe year at your original job, opportunities will be abundant for you to get an LTL or home every night job. You will almost always work very long hours no matter what trucking job you do. That's not ideal for raising a family.

Have you considered other careers? Trucking is really demanding. I love it, but my children were mostly grown when I started. My wife still struggles at times with my absence. Think twice before jumping in. You can always walk away if it isn't working for you, but it's best to know what you're getting into. It's a huge commitment.

Those horror stories are usually lease ops who cant go home due to truck payments. Most training companies will get you home every 3 to 4 weeks. . Personally i would go with Knight between the two.

But you said "local" and when it comes to OTR , locality often doesnt matter. So dont limit yourself due to area. Training is often OTR, not local.

I started my career with Knight, I found them to be a great company to start with. They proved to be very flexible with home time and even flew me to home time at their expense on several occasions where I agreed to take loads that prevented me from getting home. They also have a free college tution program for drivers and their family members.

You can find my comprehensive diary of working with them from the ground up in our CDL diaries section.

Like any company, your attitude, performance and work ethic will ultimately decide your success.

Thank you for all of the feedback. I really appreciate all of you and the expert advice. I decided on Knight. I head to Phoenix on Saturday to start classes on Monday January 13th. I’m excited to begin and see what I got. I’m prepared to give it everything for atleast that first year to earn my stripes and hopefully get placed on a more regional type of route. Or I might find that I love OTR and stay on it for a while. All I know is I just wanna get behind the wheel, do the best I can for the company and finally be able to provide a comfortable quality of life for my family, if that means my absence for a while then so be it. I’ve always promised to do whatever it takes to be the provider and this my way of finally being able to do just that. Thanks again!!

There is so much terminology in trucking that causes confusion. You mentioned looking for something regional as opposed to OTR. Whatever terminal you work for at Knight will have it's own set of opportunities. Terminals are run somewhat independently of each other in Knight's network.

Try to learn the various opportunities available to you. There may even be home daily opportunities where you are. I've been on a "dedicated" account at Knight for over a decade. Those accounts will typically pay more and have some benefits that a regular OTR job may not offer.

Keep yourself committed to that first year and keep your ears open for opportunities available at your terminal. They may occasionally ask you to do something different. Be willing to try something they offer temporarily. It will give you a chance to experience something different and learn whether it appeals to you or not.

Good luck in your journey. If you get the chance, please read My New Book. It's filled with tips and stories from the road, and it's all designed to help you face the myriad of challenges that throw most rookies off their horse. That link goes to a former conversation containing a link to the book.

Please keep us informed. You may even want to do a diary of your training time in our diaries section of the forum.

Thank you, sir! I appreciate that! I’m definitely gonna give that a read and I’ll do my best to post updates.

There is so much terminology in trucking that causes confusion. You mentioned looking for something regional as opposed to OTR. Whatever terminal you work for at Knight will have it's own set of opportunities. Terminals are run somewhat independently of each other in Knight's network.

Try to learn the various opportunities available to you. There may even be home daily opportunities where you are. I've been on a "dedicated" account at Knight for over a decade. Those accounts will typically pay more and have some benefits that a regular OTR job may not offer.

Keep yourself committed to that first year and keep your ears open for opportunities available at your terminal. They may occasionally ask you to do something different. Be willing to try something they offer temporarily. It will give you a chance to experience something different and learn whether it appeals to you or not.

Good luck in your journey. If you get the chance, please read My New Book. It's filled with tips and stories from the road, and it's all designed to help you face the myriad of challenges that throw most rookies off their horse. That link goes to a former conversation containing a link to the book.

Please keep us informed. You may even want to do a diary of your training time in our diaries section of the forum.

I'd highly encourage you to start a diary of your own and read from those of us who went through Knight.

In general, there's definitely a trend for those of us that started our careers being part of the community here that seems to generate top tier drivers that find successful careers.

My Diary at Knight