Looking For Good Train To Hire In Michigan!
Topic 4071 | Page 1
Steven, welcome to the forum, and thanks so much for your service!
I don't know of any training programs that aren't over the road. Here's the deal, over the road (OTR) is considered the standard in the industry as far as experience is concerned. Once you've gotten your year of experience you will have many doors open to you as far as local driving positions. Also, you don't have to be away from your wife for a year - they will let you take some home-time every now and then. Most companies allow one day home for every seven days worked. You can research the Company-Sponsored Training programs by following that link. Also check out the Truck Driver's Career Guide, and if you want to get an idea about life on the road take the time to read Brett's Book, it's a free on-line version that is easy and fun to read, and it just might get you stoked about the career.
You feel free to ask all the questions you want, and if that old hippie dad of yours won't help you then maybe a few of the old hippies around here can do the job.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Over The Road:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Thanks a lot for the reply. I'll look into everything you suggested and see what will work best for me. I still have a bit of time to decide, thanks again!!
Welcome aboard Steven!
Yeah, Old School is right - you won't have to be away for that long. In the beginning it might be anywhere from 4-10 weeks. Varies quite a bit from company to company. But once you get your training out of the way and you're running solo you should be able to get home either on the weekends or at least 4 days a month.
Soon you'll qualify for local positions with nearby companies that would get you home every night. How much OTR time you'll need will vary from company to company but often times you can find local work after as little as 3-6 months of OTR.
And every once in a while someone really digs around and finds a local position straight out of school and they skip OTR altogether. It's not very common and you'll probably have to dig through about 100 companies in your area but you might find a couple of opportunities like that.
So I would say the worst case scenario would be you go through a Company-Sponsored Training Program and you run OTR for 6-12 months, getting home about 4 days a month. Then you find a regional or local gig that gets you home on the weekends or every night.
That's the worst case.
A quite likely scenario would be going through one of the company-sponsored programs, going OTR for 3-6 months, then landing a regional or local gig that gets you home every night or weekend. I'm 85% sure you could make this happen, assuming you live in a decent area for trucking jobs.
The best case scenario, but far less likely (maybe 15% chance) would be to find a local gig straight out of school. The only practical way to do this is to go through an Independent Truck Driving School in your area because all of the company-sponsored programs are either regional (home on weekends) or OTR. You would have to use your GI Bill or somehow pay for the schooling up front, where company-sponsored training requires almost no money up front (maybe $150 max).
So you have quite a few options and opportunities but you'll have to do some research and digging to uncover them. We have some excellent resources to go along with what Old School gave you:
Truck Driving Job Listings to see what companies hire from your area
Trucking Companies That Hire Inexperienced Drivers
Understanding Pre-Hires will introduce you to pre-hire letters and explain how that system is used to see if you'll qualify to work somewhere without before committing to an independent truck driving school. Getting pre-hires before committing to an independent school will help insure that you don't pay for CDL training just to discover afterward that you can't find a job because of something on your record.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Pre-hires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Alright thanks a lot guys, I'm still waiting to hear back from a few of my ol mans buddies that might have an in for me with a few different excavation and trucking companies in Michigan. And a friend of mine down in Texas is doing oil field work driving... he told me to come down get my permit and drive with him, then once im comfortable enough to go take the road test and drive for his ol man once I pass. Sounds a little sketchy to me, and honestly I'm not feeling the whole desert thing anymore but I'm still looking into how that would work out haha.
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My first post so take it easy if possible. I'm in the Army and getting out after 5 years around January, my dad drove truck since I can remember (fuel tankers) and always provided for us real well. I'm married and have already spent the past 9 months away from my wife of just 1 year... I'm trying to find out if any company offers a train to hire program that isn't OTR or if I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and be away for another year. I might have a few ins with a couple local gravel train, and van companies but none of them help pay training and I gave up my GI Bill so paying for college yet again sounds terrible. Any suggestions from you experienced guys, my ol mans retired and a bit of a hippie now so he isn't to much help haha.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.