Solo now.. teams is gone.
 

Well as alot of you have been helping and letting me know the lowdown on team driving.. my wife just got promoted at her current job and is set to avrg 45k to 55k a year now and we really dont wanna risk starting at the bottom of trucking..

I however still want to try this as its been a life long dream..

So solo i shall try.. some problems come into play though. SNI only hires teams out of my area so i am forced to look into different comps.. Central Ref is who i was looking into as i am out of WA and there in SLC..

I am wanting to go OTR just long enough to land a local job and come back to my wife so we can start a family.. any help on where i should go.. and steps to take into the single solo direction i guess now would be awesome.. and is Central a good school? comp? and money as a solo driver i should expect? etc the normal.. and is there such things as staying in pac NW only running dedicated or reg? or staying within home range?

Anything helps and i appreciate it

Dan...

Thanks

I think Interstate is out of Tacoma Washington. Might look into them.

Well i need a "mill" prolly... as DTS is only school around me in Tri Citys and its around 5500 to get a 160 hour course.. and i would rather stay 1 year in and then go local to save alot.. suggestions would be great though!

Have you looked into getting a grant for training through your local employment office?

PT....You don't need a "Mill" company to get stared with, you need a positive attitude. You have, right there in Washington state, a handful of good regional style Carriers, that will hire you as a Solo driver. Interstate Distributing in Tacoma will hire you, as will Gordon Trucking in Sumner. In Spokane there is Systems Transport and Powers Transport, both flatbed companies, that will hire you. Right there in the Valley you have Haney Transport, whom will hire you. In Vancouver you have Olsen Brothers...another flatbed company.

In Oregon, you have Central Oregon Trucking in Terrebonne, Sherman Brothers in Harrisburg, May Trucking..one of them "Mills" is in Salem.

Decide "How" you want to drive...then find that job that will allow you to do just that. You really want to try something different....get in touch with Harris Transportation in the Tri-Cities, and haul fuel. They hire straight out of school, train you "Their methods" as to how to do the job, and pay decent on top of that...and it is all local, shift work.

There is also Haney out of Yakima and Tate out of Puyallup. Just a couple of more Companies to look at.

I just got hired 3 weeks ago by Interstate and I'm a student with a CDL. Interstate does hire students and will train you local first with one trainer to see how your Pre-trip, turning and backing up skills are. Then you'll get assigned to an OTR trainer and run 4 to 5 weeks (200 hrs.) and be tested again. Then you'll get assigned to your truck. If you're lacking in any skills, the trainers will work with you, but if it seems that you're not trainable, they'll let you go. I had one person in my orientation class that just couldn't get the pre-trip down and wasn't physically strong enough to keep the clutch controlled for backing up. The company said bye-bye.
So far in my opinion, this is a great company and I highly recommend it.

Hey Ptown, I think that National Transportation is in the Tri Cities someplace. A friend of mine just got his CDL from there Everett school, and there sign said they have a school down there. BOL