What companies recognize "local" experience?

[Elmdor]

I work for a big international private career, (its divided into several smaller divisions and each division can do their own thing so it feels like a small company) and the drivers in my district are forming a union. These drivers are all Class B drivers who run local routes, except I drive one of the three Class A trucks. (there are two dedicated intra-state routes and one OTR route that goes into 2 of the surrounding states).

The reason for forming the union is pretty justified, but really only if your the Class B driver who is getting screwed because the company is growing too fast. I really don't want anything to do with the union because I have a dedicated route which is just fine, but with the union coming in, it'll just hurt my route because I drive a bigger truck then the other drivers. What I really want is to take over the OTR route, but management doesn't want to give it to me, even though I've been asking for 2 years. Now with the whole union thing they are dangling it in front of me like a carrot. If the union vote does go though (99% of the drivers are voting yes) you can pretty much bet that I wont get it. They are outsourcing it right now to a temp company and I've heard from other drivers that it is because they can get them to work cheaper and can get them to work over hours.

I've been working for the company for 5 years, and I was originally only going to do it for a year or two. I took the job when I was 21 because none of the OTR companies (including Swift and Werner) wanted to hire me because this would be my first real job.

Okay, now that I have some background info out of the way ... I've been thinking about just quiting and working for a common carrier since my current employer doesn't want to promote me. I've submitted a few applications and I haven't really been trying too hard because I have a pretty good job for right now. The problem is that I have been hearing the same responses, "you need OTR experience, local experience doesn't count". I haul hazmat, I have to secure my own load, I have to run a log book and I log about 1,500 miles a week in Colorado. I've had to drive in blizzard conditions for 250 miles and other winter conditions, and several times in high winds. I've never had a ticket or any kind of incident because of the weather and I've never had one backing accident. I don't feel like my "local" experience should be ignored. Its not like I'm a dumbass soda truck driver or a food service driver who never leaves the city.


I've only had 2 moving violations in the last 3 years. I got a ticket in 2005 in my Jeep because I busted a light off roading and was using my 55w KCs (not the 100w ones) as headlights to get home. The other one was in Jan 07 because a SUV side swiped the rear corner of my trailer with her driver side mirror. We both got tickets for 'failure to maintain a single lane' because she didn't make any attempt to stop me or flag me down and didnt report it for 4 hours and I got one because "I wasn't paying attention". (the officer's words, not mine)



I should mention the companies I've sent Apps to.

Gordon (GTI) - Wants me to take a refresher class. Ummmm, I drive every day, what am I going to learn by paying a CDL mill $2,000 that I don't already know?

CFI - They want me to RETAKE driving school! Of course they want to me attend their own school and I told them no way in hell. I already took a 240 hour class, I can't think of any reason why I need to take another class with other brand new drivers.

Marten, Knight, KLLM - no replies or returned phone calls

Crete - They said they would accept my experience, but I'd have to ride along team with another driver, which is fine with me but its been a month and all I get back is 'we're still working on your application'.

Melton said they would love to hire me if I had 3 months OTR.

I haven't applied to Werner, Swift or Scheinder yet. I'm kind of reluctant because it sounds like they to treat their drivers very poorly because they can be easily replaced. Although I've thought about staying with Werner for 3-6 months then looking for something better.

I'm sorry for the long post but after lurking through the forums I think some people might have a better idea of what companies would recognize my experience driving then I could find on my own. I also think the more info I can give up front the better someone here could help

[Cluggy619]

I work for a big international private career, (its divided into several smaller divisions and each division can do their own thing so it feels like a small company) and the drivers in my district are forming a union. These drivers are all Class B drivers who run local routes, except I drive one of the three Class A trucks. (there are two dedicated intra-state routes and one OTR route that goes into 2 of the surrounding states).

The reason for forming the union is pretty justified, but really only if your the Class B driver who is getting screwed because the company is growing too fast. I really don't want anything to do with the union because I have a dedicated route which is just fine, but with the union coming in, it'll just hurt my route because I drive a bigger truck then the other drivers. What I really want is to take over the OTR route, but management doesn't want to give it to me, even though I've been asking for 2 years. Now with the whole union thing they are dangling it in front of me like a carrot. If the union vote does go though (99% of the drivers are voting yes) you can pretty much bet that I wont get it. They are outsourcing it right now to a temp company and I've heard from other drivers that it is because they can get them to work cheaper and can get them to work over hours.

I've been working for the company for 5 years, and I was originally only going to do it for a year or two. I took the job when I was 21 because none of the OTR companies (including Swift and Werner) wanted to hire me because this would be my first real job.

Okay, now that I have some background info out of the way ... I've been thinking about just quiting and working for a common carrier since my current employer doesn't want to promote me. I've submitted a few applications and I haven't really been trying too hard because I have a pretty good job for right now. The problem is that I have been hearing the same responses, "you need OTR experience, local experience doesn't count". I haul hazmat, I have to secure my own load, I have to run a log book and I log about 1,500 miles a week in Colorado. I've had to drive in blizzard conditions for 250 miles and other winter conditions, and several times in high winds. I've never had a ticket or any kind of incident because of the weather and I've never had one backing accident. I don't feel like my "local" experience should be ignored. Its not like I'm a dumbass soda truck driver or a food service driver who never leaves the city.


I've only had 2 moving violations in the last 3 years. I got a ticket in 2005 in my Jeep because I busted a light off roading and was using my 55w KCs (not the 100w ones) as headlights to get home. The other one was in Jan 07 because a SUV side swiped the rear corner of my trailer with her driver side mirror. We both got tickets for 'failure to maintain a single lane' because she didn't make any attempt to stop me or flag me down and didnt report it for 4 hours and I got one because "I wasn't paying attention". (the officer's words, not mine)



I should mention the companies I've sent Apps to.

Gordon (GTI) - Wants me to take a refresher class. Ummmm, I drive every day, what am I going to learn by paying a CDL mill $2,000 that I don't already know?

CFI - They want me to RETAKE driving school! Of course they want to me attend their own school and I told them no way in hell. I already took a 240 hour class, I can't think of any reason why I need to take another class with other brand new drivers.

Marten, Knight, KLLM - no replies or returned phone calls

Crete - They said they would accept my experience, but I'd have to ride along team with another driver, which is fine with me but its been a month and all I get back is 'we're still working on your application'.

Melton said they would love to hire me if I had 3 months OTR.

I haven't applied to Werner, Swift or Scheinder yet. I'm kind of reluctant because it sounds like they to treat their drivers very poorly because they can be easily replaced. Although I've thought about staying with Werner for 3-6 months then looking for something better.

I'm sorry for the long post but after lurking through the forums I think some people might have a better idea of what companies would recognize my experience driving then I could find on my own. I also think the more info I can give up front the better someone here could help

I hate to say this, because I'm a really big fan of this company, but you might want to get ahold of Sheepdancer, a recruiter for JB Hunt.

[MADLUX]

Your pretty much s.o.l., unless you take a refresher course, It's not the companies, its the insurance companies.

Maybe an O/O might take you, thats about your only chance.

[Elmdor]

I've already learned that most companies are run by the insurance companies, but it just seems repetitive and a waste of money paying someone to remind me of what I already do every day. Seriously, what exactly am I suppose to be 'refreshing'?

[BigWheels]

Well...you're "refreshing" the wallets of whomever you take your refresher course from (courtesy of the insurance industry). :wink:

[Karnajj]

I drive for Crete and the same thing happened to me. I was driving dedicated regional for a small company out of Cincinnati and nobody would recognize it as OTR. Ended up having to go out with a finisher for two weeks even though I had been driving for 11 years at the time.

[silvan]

Maybe an O/O might take you, thats about your only chance.

Wouldn't bet on an O/O. I drive for an O/O now, and I had to go through twice as much BS with the company he's leased to as I would have if I had been trying to get on as a company driver.

They even wanted the O/O to "train" me for "not less than one week." I've been driving since 1997 dammit.

It's these damn insurance companies man. There's nothing for it but to appease them.

[Rockee]

Hey Elmdor, what do you mean they are dangeling it in front of you like a carrot? Do you mean they are offering it to you to not vote for the union or...........? How will being in the union hurt your route later?

[Rockee]

Hey Elmdor, what do you mean they are dangeling it in front of you like a carrot? Do you mean they are offering it to you to not vote for the union or...........? How will being in the union hurt your route later?

[Rockee]

Hey Elmdor, what do you mean they are dangeling it in front of you like a carrot? Do you mean they are offering it to you to not vote for the union or...........? How will being in the union hurt your route later?

[Elmdor]

what do you mean they are dangling it in front of you like a carrot? Do you mean they are offering it to you to not vote for the union

BINGO!
but obviously they cant come out and say that because it'd be illegal to do something like that.

It's one of those rare local/dedicated/OTR routes that everyone would want but people never quit from. Its all drop and hook for a private carrier with no time schedules or deadlines. So you never have to deal with shippers/receivers, wait times on the dock, or worry about having a late load. You're only out for 3-5 days and get paid a straight salary of 50K a year. But they are using a temp company so they can pay .32 cents a mile and can have the truck run 6 days a week so that our district looks better on paper then the other districts to the upper management people. They are saying that they can't promote anyone right now because of the union activity.

How will being in the union hurt your route later?

We only have 3 Class 8 trucks, 2 Daycabs and 1 OTR truck. The rest of the fleet is about 20 straight trucks. The company doesn't want a union so they have said that if it gets voted in that EVERYONE will get treated the same. Since we want to be a collective unit then they are going to treat us like one. That means we all get the same of everything, even though my truck uses more of somethings and has different sizes then the straight trucks. Like in the winter time, I'd only be allowed 1 bottle of anti-gel instead of 2 because "everyone else will be using only 1 bottle and you all want to be one collective unit" and anything extra that I need such as gear oil, the correct sized wiper blades, etc will have to be paid for out of pocket and then get sent to corporate for review and then get reimbursed for. It'll just make things a lot more inconvenient and a huge pain in the ass.

[Rockee]

Man sorry about the mitipule posts I dunno what happened. Well I say stick with it until after the union gets voted in and see what happens. If they say they cant promote you now because of the activity but they are hanging that in front of you they probably have no intention of following through anyway but....after the union gets in maybe your rep can get it in the contract that they have to go through your shop before they outsource it, and if your the only one available to do the job..............I wouldnt worry about "everyone being treated the same" as far as supplies and stuff go. Anyway good luck and I would see what happens before you jump ship just in case it would turn out to be a good thing for you after its all said and done

[Mackman]

We only have 3 Class 8 trucks, 2 Daycabs and 1 OTR truck. The rest of the fleet is about 20 straight trucks. The company doesn't want a union so they have said that if it gets voted in that EVERYONE will get treated the same. Since we want to be a collective unit then they are going to treat us like one. That means we all get the same of everything, even though my truck uses more of somethings and has different sizes then the straight trucks. Like in the winter time, I'd only be allowed 1 bottle of anti-gel instead of 2 because "everyone else will be using only 1 bottle and you all want to be one collective unit" and anything extra that I need such as gear oil, the correct sized wiper blades, etc will have to be paid for out of pocket and then get sent to corporate for review and then get reimbursed for. It'll just make things a lot more inconvenient and a huge pain in the ass.

I think they mean you will get treated the same when it comes to pay and benfits etc. Good Luck with the union i hope you get it. :wink:

[ddog]

Don't know if it matters, but training time is almost no-risk budget-freight time for company, especially if graduated rates start from zero each time.

Insurance sucks no doubt, and they want as verified expert as possible. Too many people got under the door before evidently. The less wrecks the better though imo.

Job hopping advantage goes to the trucking companies now in the short term, and drivers in the long term if they did their homework which is not always possible due to family starving.

[Elmdor]

I think they mean you will get treated the same when it comes to pay and benfits etc. Good Luck with the union i hope you get it. :wink:

That's what I thought too, but I asked about it and its not. They told me that with the union they don't and will not purchase supplies and equipment for every specific indvidual based on their needs unless they have a different job title because we're one collective unit of drivers. The union contract says that they only have to provide good working materials for the employees to do their job, and since the majority of the workers drive different trucks then thats what they are going to buy equipment for. It doesn't say driver x gets this and driver y gets that, because that wouldn't be collective bargining. That's how I was explained it :/


Anyways, I'm guessing the answer to my original question is basically no one does.

[Rockee]

Elmdor I think someone is pulling your chain. I am not all that union versed but I believe collective bargaining is nothing more than bargaining between two parties and there will be no contract specfics until, after you form your union, I could certainly be wrong on this. Since there are three class 8 trucks the contract would probably mention those and even if the contract dont, the company still has to upkeep them, you might have a the same job title, Driver or whatever, and maybe even the same job discription, but they are providing you with a different means to transport their product and its their responsibility to maintain their trucks even if they are different. If they dont reimburse you for a wiperblade or tail light or whatever then just dont buy that stuff and report them to DOT or OSHA. If they try to make it hard on you drivers with piddley stuff like that dont let them, its their problem. Even though it might be a rough transition for both you and the company, it could be good in the long run and you will still have the option to quit after the fact.

As for you question about experience, it might be tough but I am sure there are lots of companies that would take what you have to offer even though you dont have any OTR experience. With your resume I would type a cover letter stating all your skills and experience (like you did here). I dont think you are SOL but maybe you might have to look around for smaller companies. The no returned phone calls is pretty common with some of these guys. Anyway I would not make to big of an issue about the union things until the company does. Good luck.

[Colin]

I think they mean you will get treated the same when it comes to pay and benfits etc. Good Luck with the union i hope you get it. :wink:

That's what I thought too, but I asked about it and its not. They told me that with the union they don't and will not purchase supplies and equipment for every specific indvidual based on their needs unless they have a different job title because we're one collective unit of drivers. The union contract says that they only have to provide good working materials for the employees to do their job, and since the majority of the workers drive different trucks then thats what they are going to buy equipment for. It doesn't say driver x gets this and driver y gets that, because that wouldn't be collective bargining. That's how I was explained it :/


Anyways, I'm guessing the answer to my original question is basically no one does.

*****holes. That company is full of *****holes.

Yes, you would be a unit of drivers all striving for the best pay and benefits the company was willing to pay. But each vehicle is different and is not part of any bargaining unit. It would appear the company is trying to scare you into not forming.

They have to keep the vehicles in DOT approved condition. End of story.

I was hired by JB Hunt in 2002 at the highest starting cpm with 7 years of local experience.