[just_froggy]

With no OTR experience, most companies won't touch you unless you at least do a refresher course, whether you like it or not. Been there, done that. Out of school, my fiance' drove a coal bucket for almost a year, and he had to take a refresher before he went OTR.

[bacda]

I have no doubt that spending SOME time with a trainer is a great learning experience. I also read in a another post that a company puts "newibes" with a trainer for 100k miles. That's at least 10 weeks. That, to me, is freak'n nuts. I just think a better idea would be, IMHO, a couple of weeks of classroom/hands on training followed by a week or two of "trainer".

And Useless, What does me being picky have to do with anything? I'm not going to drive for a company that treats drivers like crap. I just would like to skip the whole, this is how you shift part, etc.

[Ian Williams]

GoldiesPlating, you make some good points. But a lot of the training you are talking about is more flatbed & TMC specific than just plane-jane van or reefer OTR.

My beef is that many companies choose not to distinguish between someone who already has his/her CDL but has just never been OTR or has been driving local for a while. They want to exploit them by getting getting a super cheap team driver while calling it "training". If the other person is on line 4 in the seat next to you you're not being trained.

New hires at Con-Way are given a week of training, three days with a veteran city driver doing P&D and two nights on linehaul.

1-4 weeks I understand, but 100k miles or 8-12 ?! Get real.

[bacda]

Originally Posted by Useless

As far as I'm concerned, any driver who has never driven OTR, but thinks that he knows too much to undergo OTR training is a driver that a company is better off without.

Sorry, I just re-read this part. Who said that "know too much"? My point is that some carriers take the training part way too far. Someone else said it perfectly, they want to run a super cheap team as long as possible.

As for TMC (or anyone else for that matter). I do agree that a person would need to learn the way that the company wants things done. It's they're ballpark so you got play with they're rules. I was simply saying that some companies get excessive with the time period.

[Splitter]

This is the same problem I'm dealing with now. Interstate Dist. Co. will hire a guy who's in CDL school, and has absolutely NO driving experience. They even place that new driver with a trainer after they sign on with them. But, when I try to sign on with them. Someone who has 12+ years local exp. They say I have to have 6 months of OTR.
Go figure that one.

[rvrjr7]

Now if someone has been doing local ltl for many years and got lucky and never went otr and decided to go a company should look at that doing the ltl alot harder than someone who has only been otr for a year. guys who do ltl sometimes spend more time in reverse than some do going forward

I dunno, but getting rooked an average of 10% off your paid miles due to HHG just don't seem kosher. Especially with so many carriers switching over to Practical Miles for their drivers.

Look at it like this: say you put 120,000 miles on the odomoter in a year. That's 12,000 miles you drive for free. So say you're making .35 cpm and that's $4200 per year up in smoke. Or figure it like this: 12,000 miles / 55 mph = 218 hours of freebies or about 20 days out of the year that you drive for absolutely zilch!

How many other industries have people show up to work 20 days straight for no pay? Well, there you have it, folks. That's exactly why OTR trucking is such a scam.

[dragracert99]

Call Falcon and get busy.
Up and coming company.
And TMC doesn't secure any better than I do,lol.

[panhandlepat]

i know in some business's they like "rookie's" better because they have NO preconceptions on how to do "said" job and can be trained to their specs easier.
EXAMPLE- well, we did it this way at XXXXXX

[GoldiesPlating]

Not to change the subject but just responding to the "vibe" that has started to run through this thread.
Drivers who choose OTR driving as a career should NOT pick apart what is "paid" and "not paid". It's NOT that type of job. If you want to get technical, since you are away from home 24 hours a day for a week (or more) straight, then using THAT type of reasoning one should be paid from the time they leave their house, to the time they return home. I DON'T see anyone getting million dollar pay checks so this is NEVER going to happen.
Instead consider that you will be working 14 hours/day and compare that to what you should make for the YEAR. If you are happy with the ratio, TAKE THE JOB. If not, find another company or another profession.
It's getting a little old hearing the same old posters complaining about "working for free". The door swings both ways. You don't like your job, open the door and walk away the same way you walked in. You would be AMAZED how much better your job can feel (and BE) if you work with a more positive attitude and stop thinking "Everyone's out to screw me".