Truck Driving Jobs

satrulis · #1 12-01-2008, 02:08 PM

greetings all this is the 1st post for me so be gentle

. i researched(i thought well enough) the different trucking jobs in my area and instead of paying for a school i decided to go with a company that trains drivers themselves(schneider),and there o.c. is 15 minutes down the road so hey i thought perfect. i went to green bay for training passed with a 97 on my finals,it wasnt hard as its not rocket science.but on the last day of school they inform us we might have to drive 300 miles for outtraining assistant and anything over 150 they would pay for mileage. well i thought nothing of it went home to take my official cdl test and passed. so i get a call they want me to drive over 100 miles to meet my t.a. i at the time didnt have overdrive in my car,was a rough time hence the reason for a career change. i explained that the seville oc was 15 mins from my house that i couldnt make a trip like that yet maybe after awhile of working get my car fixed but it wasnt an option at the time.so more or less they said too bad soo sad you wont come to work where and when we tell you we dont want you. there legal dept called for awhile demanding money my answer was always the same put me to work. i mean im 38 i have 0 points and acc. no record of any kind and they wouldnt work with me at all. seems like all they wanted was some fast money. so since then trying to get a job is almost impossible i worked for a local farm for a bit but the economy as it is put me out of work there. so i have butkiss for road time and it seems like everywhere i go i get stonewalled,i mean im what every wanted ad asks for i passed school with flying colors even got my cdl and i cant get a job to save my life. well iv ranted enough was just curious if this is the norm or what is there a blacklist out there and i went and got myself on it?

Pack_Rat · #2 12-01-2008, 02:54 PM

Take a bus,pay a friend for gas to take you to were they want you to be??? Unfortunately you are legally obligated to pay them back.

TomB985 · #3 12-01-2008, 04:31 PM

Pack Rat's absolutely right here, you should have found a way to get there. Not always easy, but you did sign a paper saying you would, and they were not wrong for expecting you to hold up your end of the agreement.

I'd see about getting rehired by Schneider...otherwise it's not gonna be easy....

Kevin0915 · #4 12-01-2008, 05:32 PM

Two good follow-up posts. Question i have, is when did you consider trucking as a career move? One of the things i would have done, was look at boards like this, and it would have shown you, that this is not the time companies hire drivers. Freight is slow, etc. HOWEVER, I too went thru a company that trained, but they never promiced a job afterwards. I was there just to get a CDL. Lucky for me, they still hired me, but i got on on the downslide of this hiring they were doing.

As far as them telling you where to go to get on with a trainer, i would have jumped all over it. Now granted, it was 100 miles, but like one poster said, bum a ride from a friend, pay them for gas. If this is what you're wanting to do, you too will have to bend over backwards far more than the company. You have to show you are willing to do whatever it takes. BUT there is a breaking point, a time to say "you know what...i've done everything i can, and you STILL wont meet me half way." You have to thicken your skin a little bit, and stand up for yourself, or they are going to know you're a driver that can be pushed around.

unclehotte · #5 12-01-2008, 05:39 PM

Yes, those big companies make it airtight that THEY dont get screwed. And if you dont follow in lockstep with their demands your done before you got started.

Kevin0915 · #6 12-01-2008, 05:53 PM

Yeah, that was one of the first things we took care of on day 1 of our schooling. There was a $150 sitting fee, they snatched those up like a bad 'caught running a scam' dateline investigations. Then came the "i promice to repay the schooling..." paperwork. And say you didnt make it out of schooling, you were pro-rated the cost of what you did complete. I know of a few who are out the entire $3900, and some who are stuck paying $1,000-2,000.

But what i find kinda funny how these training companies are called "mills", but to me, wouldn't a 'mill' be a company who just crams thru as many people as they can into each week of school, then hire very very few of them? Pretty much everyone in my class who graduated/passed, now drives for the company. Hardly sounds like a 'mill' to me.

to me, a 'mill' is these 3rd party schools, who charge $4,000, only give you 10-14 days of training, and then hope an outside company comes in, and hires you.

Bug · #7 12-01-2008, 06:23 PM

Cant you get a driving job with one of the other mega carriers like Swift or werner ? My brother works for pam give them a call. Also you could give CRST a call they might take you on and train you ,its worth a try. Good Luck

TomB985 · #8 12-01-2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclehotte

Yes, those big companies make it airtight that THEY dont get screwed.

Ah, true...but companies who DON'T will likely end up like the myriad other companies who have gone under recently...times are tough, and NOBODY, whether it's a big company or single driver, can afford to take risks!

repete · #9 12-01-2008, 06:43 PM

call SNI back and and keep talking to people in the training dept. till they let you come back, by now you will need to go thru a refresher course but hopefully at no charge. There is a black list and it's called DAC and I'm sure your listed there as not showing up for a new job or worse. ALL BIG COMPANYS CHECK YOUR DAC REPORT it's like a credit score for getting a personal loan, if it's got bad stuff on it your done! SNI is about the only one that can change that and that can be as simple as being hired back by them. good luck

mccfry · #10 12-01-2008, 09:57 PM

I didnt pass schneiders cdl test, would that block me from getting employement this spring? since I dont have a cdl they cant put anything on my dac list could they ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by repete

call SNI back and and keep talking to people in the training dept. till they let you come back, by now you will need to go thru a refresher course but hopefully at no charge. There is a black list and it's called DAC and I'm sure your listed there as not showing up for a new job or worse. ALL BIG COMPANYS CHECK YOUR DAC REPORT it's like a credit score for getting a personal loan, if it's got bad stuff on it your done! SNI is about the only one that can change that and that can be as simple as being hired back by them. good luck