[Darin Younce]

Useless, you bring up some good points. I admit that I am one of those noobs that had stars in my eyes when I laid my money down for CDL training. My original plan was to get my CDL , buy a truck and go into the auto haul business. After attending some classes and listening to a few recruiters, trainers, and other students I got the feeling that I must go to a trucking company and get experience , then I might have a shot at the car haul business. I had no idea what his whole thing was about . From the look of other noobs eyes when a recruiter came thru the school I know I was not alone when I asked my self " what have I gotten into". Even at maverick where I went for orientation there were a lot of deer in the headlight looks from recruits ( myself included ) after a few days of orientation. I decided to leave Maverick and do what I had intended all along. I am now in the process of getting my authority and will be
hauling car soon. Anyway , I learned thru all of this that recruiters will in fact dodge certain questions and answers. As I have posted on this site
and another site , there were some things I learned at orientation that were suprising to say the least . While at orientation it was brought up that over 50% of us new recruits would probably not be there ( at Maverick ) in six months . I remember I told the gentleman who said this
that if the recruiters were more clear on what to expect , this # might
be a bit less, his response was " well you let me know if any recruiter
tells you something that is incorrect or lies and I assure you , he or she will no longer be employeed" . There sure were a lot of wispering going on by fellow recruits when he said this, and some laughs as well. Anyway,
I suspect this is pretty much standard in any trucking companyand I believe if the recruiters were more "clear" the turnover rate might be a bit lower.

[Bigmon]

Originally Posted by Darin Younce

I suspect this is pretty much standard in any trucking companyand I believe if the recruiters were more "clear" the turnover rate might be a bit lower.

As long as there are new people wanting to get into trucking the companies and recruiters will keep doing the same thing. Kind of the supply and demand thing.

[BeauteousRot]

Well I keep hearing everyone use the words "do the proper research". Why don't you old salts tell us what proper research is?

I would presume you to mean do an internet search of the company and get basic information, call the recruiter to verify or ask new questions, and then sit on your hands while they do a back ground.

Really, I'm no know-it-all, but I have driven for a year and have started looking for other companies. And as someone said, the good companies don't advertise. That is pretty much the process I use.

When you leave a job you leave because the pay or miles or hometime or driver treatment was poor. So why wouldn't you ASK this information of a new job? I got the impression here that just asking for the basics wasn't enough.

Well, if the basics are all I care about; miles, pay, hometime, length of haul, tractor, areas of operation, dedicated dispatch, health insurance, etc etc, then what else should I be concerned about?

And it is hard to get in idea of how a company will treat you if you are not a person who recognizes trends but instead has to wait for someone to point what is obvious to some. Lets use crete as an example. I have their basic info and I've read various posts about home time promises that they don't honor and opti idle. Now I'll call a recruiter and say What about home time? I heard you don't get people home on time. Do you get people home on time with at least a 98% accuracy? I mean, is that specific enough?? And if it is, do you think he really freakin knows?? He doesn't know jack crap about what goes on outside his door.

So I'll make my question quite clear- What is proper research?

[got mud?]

Originally Posted by BeauteousRot

Well I keep hearing everyone use the words "do the proper research". Why don't you old salts tell us what proper research is?

I would presume you to mean do an internet search of the company and get basic information, call the recruiter to verify or ask new questions, and then sit on your hands while they do a back ground.

Really, I'm no know-it-all, but I have driven for a year and have started looking for other companies. And as someone said, the good companies don't advertise. That is pretty much the process I use.

When you leave a job you leave because the pay or miles or hometime or driver treatment was poor. So why wouldn't you ASK this information of a new job? I got the impression here that just asking for the basics wasn't enough.

Well, if the basics are all I care about; miles, pay, hometime, length of haul, tractor, areas of operation, dedicated dispatch, health insurance, etc etc, then what else should I be concerned about?

And it is hard to get in idea of how a company will treat you if you are not a person who recognizes trends but instead has to wait for someone to point what is obvious to some. Lets use crete as an example. I have their basic info and I've read various posts about home time promises that they don't honor and opti idle. Now I'll call a recruiter and say What about home time? I heard you don't get people home on time. Do you get people home on time with at least a 98% accuracy? I mean, is that specific enough?? And if it is, do you think he really freakin knows?? He doesn't know jack crap about what goes on outside his door.

So I'll make my question quite clear- What is proper research?

basically what you said. knowing that the recruiter doesn't know what happens outside his door. talk to drivers both happy and unhappy and learn to read between the lines.

realize that when a recruiter says the company averages 2500 miles a week it is just that an average. some people are getting 1800 and some are getting 3200 etc. most people hear the 2500 and think its written in stone!

ask if they will put anything they say in writing. if not its a big warning flag.

and the biggest thing to remember is figure out what is important to you and what you can compromise on. some guys home time and pay are the only thing that matter, could care less what they drive and where they go. To some nice fast trucks and where they go are more important than when they get home. these two people will not be happy with the same company.

[kc0iv]

Darin Younce said:"Anyway , I learned thru all of this that recruiters will in fact dodge certain questions and answers." If that is true then why wouldn't you come right back and ask the question again? I know I would and have. Stop and think a moment -- It is your employment you are talking about. So why wouldn't you find-out the facts? If the recruiter continue to dodge the question(s) that should be a clear sign not to deal with that company.

As Useless said it all comes down to research. I think the number one thing you have to ask yourself is -- Why do you want to be a truck driver?

Since everyone here has the internet connection you should know what the industry is like way before the first phone is ever made. Talk to drivers both local and OTR and find out just what driving is really like. In most area you can find a lot of information from the state employment office. Go down to truck stops and ask questions about driving? Find out such things as how many miles they drive per week. What the starting wage is for new drivers. What type of equipment they drive. What is their home time policy. How long they have driven for their company. Listen to what they say be it pro or con.

As I said in another thread finding out what company you could go over a year or longer. The sorry fact is most people are out of work and won't take the time to research the trucking industry. In my opinion a person would be better off finding another job until they can do the proper research.

There are people just want a career change either from retirement or plain old burn-out. These are the people trucking companies are looking for. Most of these people also know how to research and find that right company.

Only after you have done all the research should you start phoning recruiters. You have to know what you want before you can determine which company best fits your needs. One more thing about talking to a recruiter. You should of a written list of questions you want answered. If the recruiter appears to be a high pressure type go to another recruiter. Any recruiter worth their salt won't have a problem answering your questions. More than likely it will take several phone calls before you have all your questions answered. Again this isn't something you shouldn't jump into without a lot of thought.

This should give you some there to start in your search.

Let me repeat one point. Why do you want to be a truck driver?

kc0iv

[Darin Younce]

kc0iv, You are 100% correct, it was my fault for not being prepared and not handling the whole recruitment process correctly ,that is the reason I posted these last couple of post on this thread . I was not prepared and wanted to point out to other noobs not to make the same mistake I did.