Originally Posted by
1xtruckindj
I'll give you my experience in a nutshell (if I can type...it's taken me forever just to get this line done with no typos!)
I trucked OTR for 8+ years, took 3+ off. SNI told me as long as I had a year in the last five and could pass a road test, they'd bring me in as an experienced driver. I did, I did, and I went.
Been there a year as of this past Friday (9/12).
I am NOT what one would call a particularly hard runner. They want you to be safe and legal, and I am. I took a week off in March, and three weeks off in August (both unpaid, my choice...both family functions that were planned far in advance). I grossed in the low 40s for the first 12 months (or actually 11, if you consider my time off). I stayed out either two or three weeks at a time. I've run both ways, pacing myself so as to never run out of hours while I'm out, and I've run hard and taken a 34-hour-restart during my travels. If I'm out three weeks, I like a 34 in the midst of it. For two weeks, I don't care...I just see how my hours go. I also take my tractor home, saving me about a hundred bucks a month in gas commuting in my very non-economical Jeep. They usually get me home on time, but I've had to, shall we say, debate with support shift once or twice when it looked like I wasn't going to make it (my kids live away from me, and the weekends that I have them I have to be home on time...otherwise, I'm pretty flexible).
They required me to do a sleep study. Thank God they did. I probably hadn't slept well in 20 years. I now use a CPAP, and can't begin to tell you how much better I feel. It will become mine with nothing owed as of Oct. 15, when I hit one year of usage.
Their operating centers are for the most part very nice...good place to crash (figuratively!), shower, and eat. Trucks are average in terms of equipment, but slow (that doesn't particularly bother me, though...I'm pretty conservative anyway). The people on my board are terrific, but I'm now on my third load planner in a year. Pretty fair amount of drop and hook, but you hit streaks of live loads/unloads (coming off one of those weeks now).
Minuses: pretty much the standard things you hear most anywhere...weekend/after 5 PM support shift is of little value. Long wait times in some shops for PMs and the like. Some micromanagement. But they stress "safe and legal". I like it that way.
Overall, I've been pleased. Others would disagree. But the key is get your year in, then find a place that works for you. Every company is right for some, no matter who they are. Even (ahem) CRE and Werner, much as I hate to admit it!
Best of luck!
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