[joettanne]

Originally Posted by Mars

After graduating from Ontario School of Trucking, through their co-op program I have 3 companies that want to hire me. $500/week training pay and then .36 cents km.

So what company did you go with??

[Mars]

Originally Posted by joettanne

So what company did you go with??

Probably none of those, as I am looking to go with Crete in US, just waiting on some paperwork.

[murray]

If you're not working at a job right now give that company a shot , you have nothing to loose---right.Nobody wants to work for nothing but it is only a week out of a lifetime. There are lots of jobs out there but your'e right ,they all want expierience and how do you get that without a chance. I got my licence last Sept. and finally start driving on Monday.I think it was more my age than any thing that got the job, boss said it's not like your'e 22. I didn't think it was going to be as difficuclt as it was to find a decent paying otr job with the driver shortage . It's mostly the insurance co. that mandate the hiring. I just gave up a really good job of 13 years to change careers, found a co. 3 weeks ago that hired me ,shook hands (and that means a lot to me,I'm old school) and my wife took 3 calls this week from companies willing to hire me . They were all ones that i had applied to a couple of months ago And had the lanes that I am looking for.I don't know what your situation is like compared to mine but even a local company or what ever for a few months, just to get your feet wetmight help,not sure but also check out the trucknews - truckwest website, Lots of great info and a great career website . Good luck and safe driving.

[tracer]

I started with Challenger Motor Freight in Cambridge, ON in Aug 2005. They hired me right out of the driving school. 4 days in the city with a trainer, 4 days on the highway in US with a trainer and I got my truck. They gave me a 1999 Volvo with 750,000 km first, but after 6 months I got a brand new 2006 FTL Columbia with an automatic transmission. They have lots of trucks, have great maintenance program, brand new yard with Wi-Fi in the parking lot, showers, LCD TV you name it. I quit because I got my own truck and their rates for owner-operators are low; but if I were a company driver I'd probably stick with them. You get $50 a day only while training, though... Check out www.challenger.com or email [email protected]. They pay around 40 cents Cnd per mile for most trips...

[steverb1]

Originally Posted by murray

If you're not working at a job right now give that company a shot , you have nothing to loose---right.Nobody wants to work for nothing but it is only a week out of a lifetime. There are lots of jobs out there but your'e right ,they all want expierience and how do you get that without a chance. I got my licence last Sept. and finally start driving on Monday.I think it was more my age than any thing that got the job, boss said it's not like your'e 22. I didn't think it was going to be as difficuclt as it was to find a decent paying otr job with the driver shortage . It's mostly the insurance co. that mandate the hiring. I just gave up a really good job of 13 years to change careers, found a co. 3 weeks ago that hired me ,shook hands (and that means a lot to me,I'm old school) and my wife took 3 calls this week from companies willing to hire me . They were all ones that i had applied to a couple of months ago And had the lanes that I am looking for.I don't know what your situation is like compared to mine but even a local company or what ever for a few months, just to get your feet wetmight help,not sure but also check out the trucknews - truckwest website, Lots of great info and a great career website . Good luck and safe driving.

Thanks Murray, My situation is not as solid as yours. I presently have a good paying job but have only been there for 2 months. Before that I was out of the country for 13 years and not working. Before that I was self employed and so is not verifiable.

I have an interview on monday with the trucking co. that made me an offer. I will probably give it a go so as to gain some work experience that will open up the door for me to other companies. I'll check out the website you mentioned though.

Question. Why did it take you so long to get behind the wheel after graduating? How did you do on the road test with the company you got a job with after not driving for 6 months?

[steverb1]

Originally Posted by tracer

I started with Challenger Motor Freight in Cambridge, ON in Aug 2005. They hired me right out of the driving school. 4 days in the city with a trainer, 4 days on the highway in US with a trainer and I got my truck. They gave me a 1999 Volvo with 750,000 km first, but after 6 months I got a brand new 2006 FTL Columbia with an automatic transmission. They have lots of trucks, have great maintenance program, brand new yard with Wi-Fi in the parking lot, showers, LCD TV you name it. I quit because I got my own truck and their rates for owner-operators are low; but if I were a company driver I'd probably stick with them. You get $50 a day only while training, though... Check out www.challenger.com or email [email protected]. They pay around 40 cents Cnd per mile for most trips...

Hi Tracer,

I checked out Challenger already. They have a 2 to 3 month training program now, that I would have to attend. They do things differently now, probably due to the insurance companies. I agree they seem like a reputable comany but after talking with them they said I would have to come back in 3 months as they don't have very many driver trainers. While I was in the office there was a younger man getting briefed about leaving next week to go to Ontario to attend the training course. I overheard he would be attending classes with 30 other fellow students. It seems to be that there really is no shortage of wannabe drivers around but the shortage is experienced drivers that one other poster said.

[murray]

Thanks Murray, My situation is not as solid as yours. I presently have a good paying job but have only been there for 2 months. Before that I was out of the country for 13 years and not working. Before that I was self employed and so is not verifiable.

I have an interview on monday with the trucking co. that made me an offer. I will probably give it a go so as to gain some work experience that will open up the door for me to other companies. I'll check out the website you mentioned though.

Question. Why did it take you so long to get behind the wheel after graduating? How did you do on the road test with the company you got a job with after not driving for 6 months?

steverbi
1st I didn't graduate, I self taught myself in my brother-in-laws truck and passed my driving test. 2nd , I had a really good paying job of 13 years that I still had to mull over to make sure I really knew this was for me, plus I didn't want to start applying in the fall just in time for winter driving, As far as the road test I did O .K. a little rusty still at down shifting for some reason. Boss give me the truck for the weekend to drive around a bit to do some practiceing before Monday. I feel a lot more confidant now that I finally found a good driving job. You'll get there in time. Good luck and safe driving 1-800- Big Truck (Murray)

[Graymist]

Originally Posted by johnnylightning

Here in Canada unemployment is high. The companies advertise for new drivers because they pay and benefits are terrible. Most new drivers quit in the first year.

There to many cdl holders, it would be nice if the government would cut out subsidizing the cdl schools and let see a real demand for drivers.

I must say that your comment is extremely odd. I live in Edmonton, and recently joined the Mullen Group, after driving a mixer truck. You have only to look up the classifieds section of the Edmonton Journal for truckdriver jobs, or you could even look it up on the net.....there is most definitely a shortage of drivers here in AB. But yes, as a new driver, you have to be willing to move out of your comfort zone, grab the Yellow Pages, or go to jobbank.gc.ca, and do some good old-fashioned "pavement pounding". No company in its right mind would be willing to trust an untried & untested newbie with expensive highway equipment & cargo.

In Vancouver, try Consolidated Fastfrate...I started my driving career with them in AB, when I was fresh out of driving school. Before you go OTR, it's better to do city P&D, which would really help you with your shifting and backing skills, not to mention your confidence levels. Besides, ConFast is Teamsters, and they start out at $17.36/hr, I believe.

Not too many trucking companies would be willing to hire you to drive OTR straight out of driving school, especially since driving in BC is challenging due to the mountainous terrain. If you've ever driven to Prince George, once you get to Goat Creek & Dome Creek, those are challenging even in the best of conditions....not to mention the Coquihalla in winter !! You might even wish to try http://www.cpx.ca/ , who have a programme for new drivers. As someone else has suggested, you might want to get in touch with Bison & Yanke, but its highly unlikely that they'll take anyone without any experience. But, whatever you do, please, for the love of God, stay away from Sikh / Indo-Canadian trucking companies....they'll work you to the bone, cheat you at every available opportunity, & may even run "BC bud" in your truck without you knowing it.

If you have any questions, do feel free to PM me. Like you, I too was new to this industry a year ago, but have learnt a fair bit, and also realised that there is still a lot more to be learned. I lived in Van for 3yrs, and moved to AB a while ago, so I have some idea about both AB & BC, which I'd be happy to share with you. Good luck !!

[Graymist]

Originally Posted by tracer

I started with Challenger Motor Freight in Cambridge, ON in Aug 2005. They hired me right out of the driving school. 4 days in the city with a trainer, 4 days on the highway in US with a trainer and I got my truck. They gave me a 1999 Volvo with 750,000 km first, but after 6 months I got a brand new 2006 FTL Columbia with an automatic transmission. They have lots of trucks, have great maintenance program, brand new yard with Wi-Fi in the parking lot, showers, LCD TV you name it. I quit because I got my own truck and their rates for owner-operators are low; but if I were a company driver I'd probably stick with them. You get $50 a day only while training, though... Check out www.challenger.com or email [email protected]. They pay around 40 cents Cnd per mile for most trips...

Glad to meet somebody from Challenger. They're one of the companies I'll be looking at, when I plan to move to Pittsburgh in about a year or 2. To avoid the hassle of a green card, I'll be using my Canadian license to work for a Canadian cross-border trucking company like Challenger.

What lanes do you run to the US, and what kind of loads do you haul ? How many miles do you get on an average ? Do you know of any cross-border tanker yanker outfits ? I'd really appreciate a response from you.

Thank you.

[Yanke_driver]

sorry it took me so long to get here...just got home from an awsome California rounder, big miles!! (and I won 250 bucks playing blackjack in Primm, NV when I parked there the other night!) Yeah, Yanke requires 2 years or 150,000miles...I got on when they were trying out a new program taking newly graduated drivers and putting them through a 17 week training program( which has now been terminated, too many guys quitting during the training) Yanke is not hiring solo's at this time either, teams only. Bison has pretty much the same hiring requirements I believe. I'd look into Day & Ross, Reimer(team operations only), out on the west coast I think there is a company called Coastal Pacific Express, thy might hire new drivers.

Good luck!