First Trucking Company, Prime, Con-way Or Werner: Pros, Cons, Favorite, Experiences.

I went with Prime back in Sept. 2012. Prime is the only company I can speak to specifically (even though I researched them all over and over again). I will say this 1st, you need to find a company that YOU think will fit based on your needs and research.

I'll give you a brief report on what I know from Prime.

The training is very good (as long as you get a trainer that cares, I saw 1st hand that some trainers were more about the extra $$ than the training of their student). I got assigned a trainer that had 16 years under his belt with around 2 million miles and was pretty good. The only complaint I had, but never said anything was he didn't teach me much about driving, I did that my own and through my observation of him and others. He taught me more about the company stuff and do's and don'ts and made me drive 100% nights (usually from around 9pm till my clock ran out). But, I got to see some amazing sunrises!!!

Prime has their act together in terms of training, equipment and miles. The only problem I had was they pretty much kept me in the North and Northeast and I did not care for that (as most people don't care for either). I made decent $$ for a newbie and I appreciate all they did for me while I was new. If you have any specific questions, please ask. I will answer as best as I can and I'm sure we have other Prime Drivers that will help out too.

A recruiter from Maverick came to the school today. Since their pet policy is "No pets", I had already ruled Maverick out. That is the only reason. It is a very attractive company. I did ask him about my three choices. Without hesitation, he said Con-way. That definitely added weight.

I have graduated trucking school and have my certificate in hand. All of the driving training had been pulling a empty van. On the last day, I asked if I could pull a tanker. It is loaded with water. The difference was significant. It will definitely take some getting used to pulling an actual load.

I still haven't decided on which company to pursue. Instead of narrowing it down any I have even added PTL to the mix. I will spend more time talking with the recruiters and see how can woo me their way.

Thanks for all the assistance TT!

I have graduated trucking school and have my certificate in hand. All of the driving training had been pulling a empty van. On the last day, I asked if I could pull a tanker. It is loaded with water. The difference was significant. It will definitely take some getting used to pulling an actual load.

I still haven't decided on which company to pursue. Instead of narrowing it down any I have even added PTL to the mix. I will spend more time talking with the recruiters and see how can woo me their way.

Thanks for all the assistance TT!

Word of advise in terms of recruiters. Only believe about 1/2 of what they say and get as much as possible on an email paper trail. Remember, it's their job to talk to you into picking them. My 1st job out of school was with Prime. I feel they are a great company to start with, but as a company solo driver you will be on the N/NE a ton until you request home time. I see you're in Texas, not sure what part. But a lot of my trips home with Prime was coming in loaded, dropping at a near by Walmart DC, after that dropping my trailer at a drop yard and bob tailing home. When I went back out, they sent me to Laredo to pick up a Mexico load and off I went again.

I will spend more time talking with the recruiters and see how can woo me their way.

Yeah, I'm not sure that is the best plan. Some of them are better at wooing than they are at trucking. Better to determine what you want or need and then go for that. Hopefully you have looked into How To Choose A Company, and if not then get yourself in there and do your own research. Use the company web sites for gathering information, and or talk to actual drivers at truck stops. DO NOT trust job review sites like Glass Door or the heavily used moan and groan trucking review sites - they are absolutely worthless, and not only are they worthless, but if you are like me they will make you sick at your stomach after just a few minutes of reading their trash.

Old School / Sly48,

Thanks for the input. Don't worry about me falling for all that the recruiters have to say. I do take it with a grain of salt. Most of what they say corresponds with their respective web pages. If someone was to offer me something that sounded too good and out of the ordinary, I would make sure that I got it in writing. I started my training here at TruckingTruth and and believe that I have garnered way more information here that I did at school. I tried pushing it to the other students at school without getting on the instructors bad side. The director had seen too many bad sites that offered training and had to correct the results to be swayed. I did get some old trucker stories from school. That was interesting. They were for historical and entertainment purposes. Multiple state licenses and multiple log books wouldn't pay off for very long in today's trucking industry.

I have read some of the negative things that people say about the various companies. About the only negative things that I might be inclined to listen to are things like the hotel you stay at for orientation is not good. While I can see that as something that might be true, orientation is really even a week long and I slept on a ship for many a months at a time. When I occasionally do see something good about a company on one of the whiner sites, it stands out.

I have narrowed my list to what it is by "determine what you want or need" and am in the process of determining which one on my short lists offers me more of my wants. I don't want a dedicated run like Dollar General. I am fifty-two, and while I don't consider that too old, I just don't want to spend hours lifting, carrying and unloading. I don't want flatbed for similar reasons but also for the weather. I hate the cold and don't want to be tarping in freezing rain. That narrows it down to dry-van or reefer. I rather go with dry-van. I want a company that is pet friendly. I want my wife to ride with me eventually, and when she does, her minpin is coming with her. One criteria that also narrowed the list down is that I want to start out with a manual transmission. My first year will be training. I want to start it out right and I don't think that an automatic transmission is the way to do that.

OK, that is wordy enough. Thanks again for the input, TxsGent

Oh, the place I call home is a little bit north west of Fort Worth.

TxsGent, Sounds like you have it figured out!! that's great and good luck!! Keep us posted!!

I will add this, you said you are 52? I'm 51, 49 when I first went out on the road. I agree with what you said about a dedicated run like Dollar General (I've seen some of those places and they look like a royal pain to maneuver around at. Maybe a dedicated Lowes or Home Depot or the likes wouldn't be too bad....but they small stores are difficult at times plus unloading too. I also didn't want flat bed due to the reasons you listed. I ran reefer before and went to a lot of Walmart DC's and ports and for the most part I did not like those, but you tolerate them because it's all part of the job.

I'm now getting back into trucking and this go around I want to give tanker a try for several reasons. 1) It's always fun to lean new things and there are so many types of tanker loads, you will have your fill of learning (I think). 2) No bumping crowded docks with a tanker. 3) No scaling loads and adjusting tandems. 4) Since I already have experience driving a 10 speed, I'd like to see what automatics are like and I've noticed several Tanker Companies use them. 5) With the company I'm hoping to go to work for in the next couple of weeks, they run out of my home town loaded and return empty, so no headed to tank washes while out on the road. Come back to the yard and grab a clean trailer.

I'm now getting back into trucking and this go around I want to give tanker a try for several reasons. 1) It's always fun to lean new things and there are so many types of tanker loads, you will have your fill of learning (I think). 2) No bumping crowded docks with a tanker. 3) No scaling loads and adjusting tandems. 4) Since I already have experience driving a 10 speed, I'd like to see what automatics are like and I've noticed several Tanker Companies use them. 5) With the company I'm hoping to go to work for in the next couple of weeks, they run out of my home town loaded and return empty, so no headed to tank washes while out on the road. Come back to the yard and grab a clean trailer.

The director of the school thought that tankers was the way to go. If you live in an area where there are oil wells or are willing to spend weeks at a time there, that is where the money is at. Hauling water is apparently very lucrative. I wanted to get other experiences first. I might try that after a period of time.

I'm now getting back into trucking and this go around I want to give tanker a try for several reasons. 1) It's always fun to lean new things and there are so many types of tanker loads, you will have your fill of learning (I think). 2) No bumping crowded docks with a tanker. 3) No scaling loads and adjusting tandems. 4) Since I already have experience driving a 10 speed, I'd like to see what automatics are like and I've noticed several Tanker Companies use them. 5) With the company I'm hoping to go to work for in the next couple of weeks, they run out of my home town loaded and return empty, so no headed to tank washes while out on the road. Come back to the yard and grab a clean trailer.

The director of the school thought that tankers was the way to go. If you live in an area where there are oil wells or are willing to spend weeks at a time there, that is where the money is at. Hauling water is apparently very lucrative. I wanted to get other experiences first. I might try that after a period of time.

Agreed. I'm in Houston, so we have many oil refineries within 20 minutes of downtown at the ports, etc. So there are many tanker companies here.

The director of the school thought that tankers was the way to go. If you live in an area where there are oil wells or are willing to spend weeks at a time there, that is where the money is at. Hauling water is apparently very lucrative. I wanted to get other experiences first. I might try that after a period of time.

-TxGent

Did I already mention that Thomas Petroleum out of Addison is hiring frac drivers fresh out of CDL school, here in Greeley? Since their head office is in Texas, I thought I'd mention them too. I wanted to go with them but Greeley is too far away for me, till I can move North. Check them out, though.

-mountain girl