I am a newbie and still looking for a "good" starter company. All I have read here scares me away from every where. I have very limited experience but do have a cdl. I was wondering, with all things being eqaul who is the "better" starter company to get some good training/experience needed to get on with a "good" company? Seems like the only ones who will hire me are big mega carriers. I live in South Georgia and a lot of companies don't hire in my area and the ones that do tell me to go somewhere and get experience first. I am really intersted in hearing from other newbies who have worked for these companies with firsthand knowledge. Thanks.

 

I don't know how they are to work for now, but at one time PTL (Pachall Truck Lines) wasn't all that bad. You can also check out KLLM and MCT.

 

Jim, I started @ SNI. I loved every step of the training and the job. The only reason I left was becuase I wanted to haul cars and get home more. The terminals are nice and they have great food. The Showers are 10x better than any truck stop shower and th water is always hot.
As long as you don't complain and learn everything they teach you, SNI will run you to death. Avg haul for me was about 900mi. I did my fair share of short loads but there was always something long on the other end.
Keep the door shut and leave all the cry babies alone, I promise you can make a good living. SNI has more freight than they can handle. Give them a call.
Anymore questions, just PM me.

 

There was a Chick on the forum that went to work for Schneider right out of CDL school last summer...don't know if she ever drops in here, but you might find her over at pumpkindriver.com.

Gigi-"something" her s/n name was.

I've run into a lot of happy SNI drivers the last few month's.

 

I'm a current SNI driver...coming up on a year on 9/12. I wasn't a newbie, but came back to OTR after 3 years out of trucking altogether. They gave me a shot to return as an experienced driver, so long as I could pass their road test (which I did, twice in two weeks...the second was attached to their winter training).

I know they're hiring fewer new drivers lately depending on where you live, but I think they'd be a fine company to start with.

 

I started out with JB Hunt years ago lasted 6 months, quit when they did not get me home in time for a family funeral

 

As new driver you should stay away from Swift they have trainers there with under one year experience :!: :!: Swift thinks if you have six months experience you are a seasoned driver ready to train :?