I think I'm done looking & trying!

[sbatson]

Well I have been all over looking for a driving job and I have found some but did not work out for reasons being my school is not approved or wanting me run illegal and now my funds are low so it looks like I'll have to find a job working at Autozone or something just to try to make ends meet. Its hard to get on with a company when your experience level is low, and you cant explain to them that you can drive the truck just to let you show them but I guess that is how it works. I'm going to give it until this weekend and see if anything comes up and if not I guess I'll start looking for some crap job here local.

[GMAN]

Autozone has their own trucks. I don't know if they are company trucks or owner operators. I would think that there would be a training program that you could get into with some of the larger carriers. Regardless, sometimes we need to take a step back to jump forward.

[Drew10]

sbatson....What is it you want?? You come on this forum asking question after question, poll after poll, and now your going to give up?? I agree with GMAN on this "sometimes we need to take a step back to jump forward".
What "kind" of driving job are you looking for??? Why not run OTR for a while get some "experience" apply Locally or whatever it is you are looking for while gaining your "experience" OTR. If driving is what you want dont give up so easily. You may not beable to walk into the perfect job right away....go get a job driving a dang truck.
GMANs advise about Autozone is also good, find out the job requirements and experience to drive there trucks.

[Fredog]

Autozone has their own trucks. I don't know if they are company trucks or owner operators. I would think that there would be a training program that you could get into with some of the larger carriers. Regardless, sometimes we need to take a step back to jump forward.

Autozone is company trucks, they require hazmat because of hauling batteries.

[sbatson]

Now dont get me wrong I want to go OTR for awhile to get that experience in my life and decide in 6 months to a year if I want to stay with it or go else where.It just seems like everything goes wrong like the Fed Ex deal was all good and then my school was'nt on there approved list so there went that and then I got on with this small o/o company and they wanted me to tear out log pages all the time and that wasnt safe so I got out.I guess its just hard to trust people any more but I am taking in the "take a step back" deal and maybe see what happens.

why not look into some medium sized carriers. Baylor is solid out of indiana, about 300 trucks. you need to quit coming here and listening to the CFM's and Lebron James of the world. there are lots of jobs out tehre if you go look and maybe not set your standards to high...until you got the experience to set them high. i myself am changing jobs here next week,, maybe the week after depending on if the current boss will take one week or not. i got same pay, home everyday, driving in daytime, well starting at 2am. benefits...which i have not had for four years, other than what i bought on my own. you got to be patient and take a good job until the dream job comes along. remember, don't listen to alot of crap on hear and on the cb. you gotta do what is best for you and your family and what makes you happy...not what CFM and others tell you will make you happy.

[Orangetxguy]

Halliburton, Schlumberger, BJ Services, Weatherford Well Services, Superior Well Services, plus a fistfull of smaller but similar companies, are all in the Dallas area, and all of them are looking for young, healthy and competent men and women, to work for them.

They all are service companies in the oil industry. The work they provide is hard and grueling. You will spend plenty of days sitting out on a well-site...but every second that you spend at work...from the time you walk through the door to dispatch, is paid for. The pay they offer is middle of the road to start, but once you prove yourself...YOU will set your own pay scale...but YOU have to prove to THEM that you are worth their time, effort and the "On The Job" education they will provide you.

The kids I have talked with, whom are working for all of those companies, are making in the $20 per hour range(plus overtime pay), working 75 to 90 hours a week (right now)...and all have said they are enjoying themselves, while learning things they had not thought of 2 years ago. BTW...yes..working 75 to 110 hours a week in the Oilfield" is legal, because of section 395.1(d) & (d)(2)in the fmcsa regulations driver handbook.

If you want to be "home every night" immediately..then..maybe truck driving is not the job for you.
But then again..unless you have a specific college education, that put's you in a work category that offers something better than driving truck...you have to put in some time doing the job(driving truck), before the premium "home every night" jobs will be offered to you.

SB...you are young. Give any one of those first five companies I wrote down a chance. Go by all or some of their offices in your area. Talk with them, see what they are willing to offer you. You never know...you might work for one of them for 40 years and retire from the job with a very decent check.

Just so you know...I worked for Dowell...which is the "Well Services" portion of Schlumberger, back when I was a kid (21-30 years old). If I had stayed, I would be looking at retirement in 3 years, with a monthly check in the neighborhood of $6700 a month + bennies. My best friend is still employed by Schlumberger...his yearly retirement income is going to be in the $83,000 range(2/3 of what he makes now),plus his 401K income & bennies, 3 years from now.

Stop being negative, hitch up your pants, (hide your tattoes and remove your piercings if you have them), and make a prospective employer want to hire you, based on a clean appearance, a positive attitude and a willingness to learn.

Oh yes...if you do go to work for one of those companies, and decide to move on 3 to 4 years from now..most any trucking company will offer you a job..just because of the calibur of company each of those 5 companies are. They all have a decent industry reputation..and expect their drivers to maintain that reputation.

[jonekatz1]

Yo, If you've been on these boards to the tune of 157 Posts you should know by now that you do have a number of Options, I don't know what Ur background is though, And I'm not advising you but, Knight Trans 4 months exp ,Melton 3 month EXP, Schneider Training, Gainey Trans Training, Steven Transport Training, Swift Training. So there are a few choices out there for U. Hope all goes well for U









Quote/ Depression loses it Power when fresh VISION Pierces the Darkness Peter Sinclair

[sbatson]

Thanks for all the help and I'm hitting it hard tommorrow and see what turns up, I already have a few that I found this weekend and I will look up those companies you posted on here Orangetxguy and I will update Monday and let you know what came out of them, but once again Thank You for all the help and I'll stay postive tommorrow and see what comes out of it.

[countryhorseman]

Thanks for all the help and I'm hitting it hard tommorrow and see what turns up, I already have a few that I found this weekend and I will look up those companies you posted on here Orangetxguy and I will update Monday and let you know what came out of them, but once again Thank You for all the help and I'll stay postive tommorrow and see what comes out of it.

Have ya checked with Texas Star Transport - their terminal was a little east of Dallas!

[sbatson]

Ya I checked them out, they want 2 years or a year with school, I only have 7 months with school.

[sbatson]

I posted in New Truck Drivers a fuel surcharge question but here is the deal, I can go with JB Hunt as company driver or they said something about going into there lease purchase, I know they have been talked about but it gets my foot in the door for the OTR experience or I can take this dump truck job and it should lead to me driving a belly dump for them but it starts out at 11.50 hr with time and a half after 40 and they are working 60 to 70 a week and it is 15 mins. from my house, so should I take it or go on with JB Hunt? If JB is the answer should I take the lease purchase or company driver? I dont plan staying with them forever , just use them for my OTR experience.

[Mackman]

i would take the dump job. The hourly pay sucks but you will be close to home and atlest you get OT out of the deal.

[Ironturkey]

You may even think about Ensign united states drilling I think they have stuff goin on down there. If you dont mind workin a month on and 2wks off Ensign also has drivin jobs in wyoming starting pay $20 an hr plus overtime they provide room and board and you are guaranteed 8hrs a day.

Just another thought good luck.

[JeffTheTerrible]

i would take the dump job. The hourly pay sucks but you will be close to home and atlest you get OT out of the deal.

I'm not sure I can agree with you here.. I really don't think a dump truck is a wise decision for someone brand new to driving. I mean, you have to have enough of a feel for the truck to know, for instance, when to follow the foreman's instructions, and when to risk pissing him off by telling him, "Look, superfly, I'm not dumping at this angle. Shuttle it with a backhoe, or scoop it out with a trackhoe, but I'm not flipping this damn truck over". And this is especially true if you're working on any sort of construction, where you'll be asked to dump at all sorts of awkward angles (and I'm saying this more for sbatson's benefit than yours, as I'm sure you're already well aware of this). It's kinda like driving a tanker.. it's just better to cut your teeth on something a little more conventional before you go taking that on.

[sbatson]

I kinda of was thinking the samething but when your choices are limited what do you do.

[Orangetxguy]

i would take the dump job. The hourly pay sucks but you will be close to home and atlest you get OT out of the deal.

I'm not sure I can agree with you here.. I really don't think a dump truck is a wise decision for someone brand new to driving. I mean, you have to have enough of a feel for the truck to know, for instance, when to follow the foreman's instructions, and when to risk pissing him off by telling him, "Look, superfly, I'm not dumping at this angle. Shuttle it with a backhoe, or scoop it out with a trackhoe, but I'm not flipping this damn truck over". And this is especially true if you're working on any sort of construction, where you'll be asked to dump at all sorts of awkward angles (and I'm saying this more for sbatson's benefit than yours, as I'm sure you're already well aware of this). It's kinda like driving a tanker.. it's just better to cut your teeth on something a little more conventional before you go taking that on.

Good advise for a newb JTT.

[JeffTheTerrible]

I kinda of was thinking the samething but when your choices are limited what do you do.

What exactly keeps you from going OTR? There's a lot of companies out there which provide the training, and, as much as the large companies get bashed, they tend to be consistent at keeping you on the move. And, if the lower 48 (and perhaps even beyond) is a bit than what you're seeking, a lot of these companies also have regional routes, as well, where you'll stay within a specific area.
A dump truck is a much less stable vehicle, with much more weight at the top, and this becomes even more of a factor when you're actually dumping out. I wouldn't recommend tankers, cattle trailers, dump trucks, or end dump trailers (especially frameless end dumps) as a first job.
If you're absolutely hell bent on working a local job, and adamant about not going OTR, you may find some difficulty, as a lot of these companies and fleet owners won't hire someone without a certain amount of experience. But, perhaps you might want to try driving a bus, or a garbage disposal truck. It's not the most glamourous occupation out there (then again, neither is driving a dump truck), but it's gainful employment.
If you are absolutely hell bent on starting off on a dump truck, then my advice would be to go directly to a major road construction outfit... forget about small fleet owners. A paving company might ask a contractor to dump at awkward angles which impose a risk, but they're not going to do that with their own vehicles, notwithstanding that a small fleet owner isn't going to hire you without experience, anyhow.
And, topping it off, maybe being unable to find a driving job is a blessing in disguise. I'm sure you've looked through the topics on this forum, and you've come to the realisation that a lot of people are less than content with the way the industry is in its present state. With fuel costs increasing, and the economy sinking as badly as it is, I'd dare say it isn't likely to improve in the immediate future. So, you may want to rethink your stance on the job at Auto Zone, and consider that such a job would leave you time to take some classes at your friendly neighborhood community college or trade school on the side. Or, if you know how to spin records, you could always DJ for me when I climb to the top and become the next famous white rapper, of course
But, back on a serious note, never assume that you're out of options, and don't be too proud to take a job which you may feel is below you, if it can help you get to where you want to go. I went to work for Swift when I already had 18 months of driving experience, and was the recipient of a fair bit of trash talk because of it, but it provided me with a paycheck, and that's where I first ran a flatbed (which I had no experience with previously), so it served a purpose.

[sbatson]

Ok here is the scoop, the dump truck job turned me down said I had to many speeding tickets but the only speeding ticket I had in 5 years was 2 years ago and the only way I would have to many is if they went back 7 and 12 years ago, would this be normal? So my choices are, JB Hunt has me ready or this Owner Op (dont know about this one been there done that) pulling mulch from Dallas to Arkansas or Dallas to Okalohoma and pulling lumber back .34 cpm and $20 tarp pay Monday- Friday( Saturday if I want but home ever weekend) paid 1099 or SRT ( Southern Refrigerated) they are pulling my MVR now. Any ideas.

[Goin Fer It]

So my choices are, JB Hunt has me ready or this Owner Op (dont know about this one been there done that) pulling mulch from Dallas to Arkansas or Dallas to Okalohoma and pulling lumber back .34 cpm and $20 tarp pay Monday- Friday( Saturday if I want but home ever weekend) paid 1099 or SRT ( Southern Refrigerated) they are pulling my MVR now. Any ideas.

Yes! Go back and read our thread beginning the May Trucking thread. My husband at one point would have been grateful to work with Central. Do what you have to do for now to look ahead for you future.

Life is not always easy but stick it through and do what you have to do to keep going.

Goin Fer It's Wife