Professional Truckers

[Rust&Smoke]

I just got my CDL this week and looking for a job. Wondering if there is any professional truck drivers on this post that could give me a little advice about some of these big companys. I have been looking at Werner,Schneider,H.O.W., Prime, and U.S.Xpress. The recruiters all make their companys sound great. Any advice would be greatly appriciated.

[fordman]

i wouldnt work for werner or scheidner from the stories i heard about them. nor prime either. also stay away from england. but then again. you can always quit if you do join them and dont care for thier bull or never getting home in other cases. havign a governor on the thier trucks sucks too. soemtimes yo uneed power to get certain driving situations under control.

[basketcase0302]

Chattanooga, (my home) is also the home of USExpress but i can't tell you how they'd be to work for. Do know they have a very...nice building sitting on a ridge here.
Frank (Freakyfords) has driven a truck for many years-and I believe he still does. Maybe give him a shout. And good luck with your new profession!

[flyboy2610]

Do not lease on with Prime. They do not give you a truck to drive, you lease one from them. At first you get plenty of miles, and the lease payments are easy to make. Once you get about about halfway through the lease, the miles dry up, you can't make the lease payments, they repo the truck, you're out of a job, and they lease the truck to the next sucker, err.... driver, in line and start the scam all over again.
Same with England.
USexpress drives mostly teams, two driver to one truck. You CAN get a solo job, but all you'll be doing is shagging trailers to a major freight route, where a team will pick it up and take it to cross country.
The big carriers, Werner, Schneider, Crete, ec. all operate pretty much the same. You'll be teamed with a trainer for a month or two, then out on your own. Don't expect the good runs for a year or two. I drove for Werner during training and have no complaints about them. No big carrier is perfect, just understand and expect that and you'll be fine.
Here's a couple of sites you may want to check out:
http://beta.truck.net/
http://www.pumpkindriver.com/ (For Schneider drivers)

Just remember, trucking is a lifestyle, it's NOT a job.

[Rust&Smoke]

Thanks for your replies guys, still shopping for the best deal.Now if I only can figure out how smuggle some rust free parts back east on my return trips.

[crazyhorse]

My brother drove for P Y A Monarch.
He liked it and made very good money.

I wish you the best.
Let us know how you come out.

[Effie]

Prime Inc stands for: Please Remember I Mortgaged Everything, I Need Cash.
Swift: Student With Idiot F'in Trainer.

I've heard to stay away from Swift, and Werner and JB Hunt.

There's a ton of info on this forum: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/

They even have separate forums for the big companies, so you can ask and read about each one.

Oh and I'd just like to say, I'm not a driver... just some chick that's totally fascinated with big trucks and I talk to a few drivers.

[flyboy2610]

SWIFT: See Why I Flunked Training?

[Ranchero50]

We've had two Schieder trucks try to deliver to our plant via roads that don't exist... They drive along a disused railroad track for a mile and run out of gravel to drive on.

I work for Quad Graphics, the companies trucking outfit Duplainesville transport seems prety decent, the drivers don't complain too much unless they are running the extended bunk 53's into the city, .

Jamie

[Rust&Smoke]

I think alot of the younger guys rely on the GPS way too much. I was taught to use the motor carriers road atlas and some common sence

[Manny]

I take it you got your manual transmission certification as well. Half the people down here don't understand what a clutch is. A pity in my opinion. Might look at Con-way i worked for them as a tech strong company, and you got choices of in-city daily transit or truckload in major coast to coast stuff.

[cdeal28078]

I HATE unions but grew up in a Teamsters home. They treated my dad great and still are treating him great. Only way I would want to drive for a living these days in with a Teamster job but they are impossible to get.
I have hear all kinds of stories about Sniehder and their drivers leaving the trucks all over the country and catching a bus home.
Same with JB HUnt. It is a tough field to get into and not get worked to death or not worked at all. I held a CDL for most of my life but mostly drove straight trucks hauling tools for the job I worked at so I don't know much more than what me dad told me after retiring with 35 years on the road. He retired from Yellow Freight. A great company.
Good luck on finding a good company.
clint

[Rust&Smoke]

I was taught to double clutch every gear, shift up at 1500 and down at 1000. I have driven all different vechicles over the years with sticks, but trying to learn to shift a 10 speed smoothly was a humbling experence.

[Manny]

Ah nothing too it after time need one that's got some wear in it not one that has been beat up by students. They not teaching progressive shifts anymore?? 1300 2nd 1350 3rd 1450 4th so on so on hmmmm.....
One thing is to find a good driving job your gonna have to build a base up. The real good small companies are gonna want some safe driving history. SO best bet pick a company who will let you in deal with the horrid BS that is gonna occur. Build safe smart miles up on your record be a GOOD driver. Then when you develop a resume the smaller companies that care about the people who are driving there trucks in both ways, want good drivers care for drivers will be more to hiring you. Also over the road can be numbing all day at 65 on cruise high gear whew. Dumps, and concrete was more fun in my book. However i wish you the best wherever you may land. From a guy born raised breed, and still working on Trucks.

Fun videos for ya.
13speed
1.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrtfTovN ... re=related
2.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKGenPPR ... re=related
Takes me back to being a kid with my dad.

[wildcard]

IMy best OTR job was with a smaller company with about 15 or 20 company trucks and several O/Os. He treated everyone like they were family. The bigger ones I drove for treated you like the lowest employee.
---NFI was the worst.---
Have you decided if you want to pull dry van, reefer, tanker, flatbed, vacuum or specialty trailers ? Personally I prefer flatbed anytime. That may narrow down your choices of companies for you.
Best wishes in whatever direction you decide to go.