New Truck Driver In AZ Possibly!

Hi Everyone,

I am researching to get into driving trucks. I have thought about it all my life really, I knew a neighbor with a classic cabover back in the 80s and I always liked the idea. I have gone back and forth several times in my life and almost pulled the trigger but life events kept me wanting to be home more often. Now I am really wanting to get out and see the country. On top of being laid off again from "normal jobs". I worked 10+ years in construction right after high school and the housing market crashed. I thought it was a good thing to force me to change careers because I was "stuck" in construction making 50k a year and could not find another career making that much with my experience. I got a job working on telescopes for the University (almost 6 years now) and that was pretty good, I even made my way into the IT field that I was passionate about. But alas state budget cuts have once again forced me on the job hunt. I've always liked working more by myself and away from people, I would love to get an IT job in town but the office life is still weird to me after construction for 10 years and isolated on mountain tops for 6. The more I think about it the more it appeals to me to take to the road! My wife and I always thought about team driving as a "retirement" after the kids were older so we could get paid to see the country :) Maybe I will just get a head start lol.

So my questions are does anyone have opinions on a good place to start, I prefer one with a training program like Knight or CRST. I have asked around with friends and searched online and heard good things about CRST, Knight, and Prime. Those are the 3 I was really looking into. I live in Southern AZ, Tucson to be exact. I really like the idea of Knight being HQ’d right up the road in Phoenix as well as Swift, Swift actually has a big yard here in Tucson and I see their trucks everywhere. I have heard bad things about Swift and their contract length is longer so that deters me. CRST doing mostly team driving also deters me. I think I would like to drive solo after training. Unless it was my wife or a friend driving with me. Knight and Prime have similar deals with more pay during training it seems so that's a plus.

Is there any really great companies for new drivers these days? I imagine they all are pretty tough on you the first year. Does anyone know good companies close to southern AZ? I imagine the more terminals close to home means it's easier to get home when it’s time to have a couple days off.

Thanks for any information you can share to help me with this decision!

-JD

So far I've heard I'm approved by Stevens and cr England, just the email, haven't talked to any recruiters yet.

Prime recruiter Don Bell is contacting me!

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I always thought about team driving as a "retirement" after the kids were older so we could get paid to see the country

So my questions are does anyone have opinions on a good place to start, I prefer one with a training program like Knight or CRST. I have asked around with friends and searched online and heard good things about CRST, Knight, and Prime. Those are the 3 I was really looking into. I live in Southern AZ, Tucson to be exact. I really like the idea of Knight being HQ’d right up the road in Phoenix as well as Swift, Swift actually has a big yard here in Tucson and I see their trucks everywhere. I have heard bad things about Swift and their contract length is longer so that deters me. CRST doing mostly team driving also deters me. I think I would like to drive solo after training. Unless it was my wife or a friend driving with me. Knight and Prime have similar deals with more pay during training it seems so that's a plus.

Is there any really great companies for new drivers these days? I imagine they all are pretty tough on you the first year. Does anyone know good companies close to southern AZ? I imagine the more terminals close to home means it's easier to get home when it’s time to have a couple days off.

-JD

19 hours later and someone finally got around to it. Apologize for such a long wait Jay. Its hardly ever that bad.

I'm going to dissect your entire post, paragraph by paragraph. There's so much I have to cover. Especially what I have underlined.

First of all, don't expect anywhere near 50K in trucking for awhile. Husband/Wife teams are the best things because you make a heck of a lot more money going into the same bank. H/W teams are the most profitable way of trucking, both for the drivers and the company. Every company is desperate for teams.

Alright, you have CRST, Knight, Swift, and Prime is mind. I can tell you this. You're choosing your company in the worst way you possibly can. Let me explain, for choosing a company you want to determine what type of freight you want to haul, you also want to take into consideration the hometime policies, regions that the company runs, how important is equipment to you? Pay? There's a good dozen questions that you've never asked yourself. How do I know?

Knight - Runs a ton on the West and does Reefer and dryvan.

CRST - Mostly dryvan , runs 48, and requires you to team drive. If you don't want to team drive then why are you interested in them?

Prime - Best pay, runs 48, runs dry/reefer/flatbed.

Swift - Tons of regional opportunities, runs 48 and does mostly dryvan.

Notice the pattern? All of these companies are different in a ton of ways. Before you do anything else, you absolutely need to ask yourself these questions:

What do you want to drive? Dryvan? Reefer? Flatbed?

How important is equipment to you? Prime has the best equipment with a ton of gadgets for confortability, but requires you to drive a LW truck unless you have a good excuse not to.

Pay? Want to get every penny you can? Or is pay not as important to you?

Do you want to eventually go on a dedicated account with that company?

Do you want to eventually go regional with that company?

You see, you must know what you want and then go after the company.

And I must cover this. It does not matter if a company has a yard/terminal near your place. Honestly, it doesn't make a difference at all. I live in CA and I'm working for a company based out of Missouri. I've never been late to come home. What matters is if there is freight in your area. And believe me, there's a ton of freight near Tucson for any company you choose. In fact, I actually think its a handicap to have a terminal or yard near your house.

Imagine this. You just go solo and you're going home with your truck for the first time to show it off! Except, you can't. Why? Because if you live within a close radius of the terminal/yard then you have to leave your truck there and someone has to come for you. Also, you have to drop your trailer at the terminal/yard on every hometime. And believe me, it can be a pain in the rear to find an empty trailer. Seriously, its awful!

Just because you work for a company doesn't mean its easier to get home. It actually means its harder to go home because there's more competition for those loads. There's a dozen of drivers wanting to go to that terminal for repairs, you will be competing with them. Terminal location has no impact on how easy it will be to get you home.

Alright, this really got my gulp. You don't like Swift because of the contract length. Swift has the same contract length that all of the other company have besides CRST. Take a look at your past, you've had to switch from job to job so why worry about having job security for a whole year. Contracts aren't a bad thing. You should take with your first company for a least a year anyway, contract or not. So that contract isn't even worth mentioning.

Training pay means nothing in the grand scheme of things. It really doesn't. An extra hundred dollars is nothing when you look at the big picture. Please don't take training pay into your consideration when choosing a company.

Check out these links and truly determine what you want to do. Then go after those specific companies that meet what you want.

This is a guide, shows you steps A through Z on how to get your career underway. Truck Driver's Career Guide

Educate yourself on these schools. Company-Sponsored Training

Study this! How To Choose A Company

Just some general information about the companies. Trucking Companies

Make sure you complete this before you go anywhere! This is a free educational program that will get you ahead of the pack. High Road Training Program

And an interesting read. Might as well. Brett's Book

Thanks for the reply Daniel! I wish I could make it to Phoenix and meet you.

I'm going to try to reply with as much detail as well :)

Yeah I know the husband/wife team would be good for everyone... except our kids. So we will be doing that maybe 12 years from now :)

I have thought about most of this stuff, I just did not get it across with the first post I think.

I am really easy going in this aspect in that I really haven't got a preference at this point in what our where I'm driving. I asked truck driving friends about their opinions on companies to start for and then searched the net for info to back that up. That's pretty much how I found this site. The more I read this site it confirms thoughts, if you work hard with the right attitude they will all be about the same. I believe I have the right stuff for that and I've proved this in the past working with supervisors no one else could work well for, I've worked construction and fought my way to leading my own crews, dealing with schedules, being my own boss, etc. I really have a passion for computers and tech and would love to get into IT but I have always preferred working out on own to bring cramped in a cubicle. That being said some of the gadgets in the prime truck really appeal to my techy side heh. I've been towing trailers with trucks(4 wheel) all my life, I've always enjoyed it. I also like a challenge, I've done a lot of tricky backing up. I don't mean anything by this as bragging just giving some background. I also know driving a rig is a whole different ballgame.

To answer question I think I would prefer dry van or reefer to start. I like the idea of flat beds, interesting loads and challenges of securing the load. I've actually always enjoyed figuring out how to secure loads for transport at home and on the jobs. But I think to start it would be less to worry about with the dry van or reefer. I'm not sure the differences past that point besides one thing I learned from reading your threads, that reefer loads don't seem to be as willing to receive early.

Equipment would be nice, as I said I like gadgets. I actually like the idea of the lightweight trucks from prime. Bigger trucks would be nice and comfy but it's hard to turn down $50 per 1k miles. That probably gives some insight to the pay as well. That's why we are here, to make money so I would like to make as much as I can relatively. I'm not gonna kill myself or risk safety to make a few more bucks but if all I have to do is give up some space for and extra $100+ a week I don't see a problem. Now when the wife teams up in 12 years we will want the biggest cab and sleeper possible ;)

Dedicated runs and regional would be nice eventually but I am kinda looking forward to really spreading my wings and seeing this country. The options would be nice, I like options.

I think I misspoke about the terminal close home. I really just mean loads close to home. I know some companies do most of their loads east of the Mississippi etc. I just want a company that does a fair share around here I guess. You mentioned knight works a lot in the west while prime does all 48, does that mean knight doesn't do as much in the east? This is the kinda info I like to find out and will be added to my list of questions to the recruiters.

Yeah contact lengths don't mean as much to me because I do plan to stay a long time. I mentioned being forced to change jobs buy I've actually worked for 1 company 10 years and the last company 6. I'm not a real big job hopper so I want to find a company I can stay at for the long haul (pun intended). I just don't want to be in a 2 year contract for a company I dislike. I have heard nothing but bad about swift except this page heh.

Training pay doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things but it does help pay rent the first month or 2...

I've researched most of those links and I really thank Brett for this page! I mentioned I held the class C mostly to show I've already passed most of the permit tests. I've actually had a class B with air brake endorsement permit for the dump truck at my last job as well, I just never finished the actual license test. But I week definitely try out the practice test stuff here as a refresher since its been a couple years.

I'm really enjoying the posts here, especially the blog type posts like yours. You really have a gift of writing Daniel!

Yeah I know I make the best threads :)

So... It sounds like you want OTR 48 states, top pay, good equipment (who doesn't) and the chance to be able to team up.

I know you had Prime in mind, and they so fit your needs, except that they don't do dryvan they only do reefer.

Oh, and check out my thread about Lightweight Trucks. (yes another legendary thread, I have many). I give you everything you need to know about them and even include pictures of how the interior and exterior are!

Daniel B.'s thread on LW trucks

Chance to team up is 12 years away possibly. I'm pretty sure I want to solo drive for awhile.

I've read your thread on the LW :) seen a bunch of YouTube videos too. The only downside of the LW would be the very rare chance of someday having someone ride with you. IE that time you picked up your friend and took him on a drop on your way home. I could see the kids wanting to go summers when they are off school so I've been keeping an eye on passenger policies. All that being said I still think prime is looking like top choice and the LW truck.

So I just emailed the Prime recruiter and asked some questions. Maybe someone here has some answers and insight as well. Any other things I should ask the recruiter as well?

Tomorrow is my last day of work for this company so this week has been pretty hectic and I haven't had a chance to call you. I have been thinking a lot about my decision to drive a truck and I had a few questions maybe you could answer in an email.

Do I need a CDL permit before going to Prime's school? I have seen paperwork saying I did and others saying I did not.

When could I start at Prime's school? I assume I would go to the SLC one(I live in AZ).

Do I need a Passport? Hazmat endorsement?

Does Prime have many loads to Tucson, AZ or Sierra Vista? I imagine Phoenix does from what I have heard.

What models of trucks does Prime run, what is the average age of the fleet? I will probably be in the lightweight truck from what I understand. What transmissions are in the trucks? I only ask because I have heard some people have issues switching from 10 speed to 8 and back and wonder if the transmission will stay the same all through training?

I think I have an understanding on schooling but basically its a week(or so) to get the CDL permit and do the simulator training? Then a couple weeks(10k miles?) in PSD training with a trainer, and that time we have the option to get an advance of $200 a week from Prime we would have to pay back? During this time do we run like a team or solo driver? ie does the trainer stay awake and next to you during the whole time? Then back to Springfield(?) to take the CDL test and become a licensed driver. Then back out with another trainer(TNT) for final on the road training until we get to 40k miles. During that time we make $600 a week orr .12 per mile, whichever is greater? During this time do we run like a team or solo driver? ie does the trainer stay awake and next to you during the whole time?

Jay, give me a call tomorrow and ill set you straight on everything. Just not today because today I'm spending it with the wife.