I started a cdl school/mill back in October 2009. It was a short 3 week program that taught the very basics that would get your cdl. I had a few prehires from the big companies and I know I should have paid attn to all the posts about werner but had heard good and bad so I gave it a shot. Needless to say I made it with them for about 2-3 weeks, most of which was sitting in a truckstop with a trainer who from the start talked about how bad the company was and how I should go with another company. He was 21 and had 6 months of experience and had a couple of accidents that I had heard about. I made about 250 a week while training. So I checked with a local otr company back home that I knew would be better and I applied and was accepted. So my trainer discussed it with some people higher up and I was left in tn so that I was close to home so someone could come get me from south alabama otherwise continuing I would not have had a way home from tx. I went with wiley sanders truck lines and the pay was .14 cpm but I was bringing home 800-1000 a week while in training. We put about 70000 miles on the truck in about 5 months but usually I was home 2-3 days after being out 2 and a half weeks. I HIGHLY recommend wiley for any student driver near alabama. My wife is pregnant and cannot drive due to vision problems so I needed to be home til things got situated so I got a job driving a dump truck and pulled lowboy trailers hauling heavy equipment. Only negative was the pay. I took more than a 20000 dollar a year pay cut. Things got slow and was told I may need to be looking elsewhere which is what I was doing anyway considering working 12 hour days when it was suppose to be 11 and then NOT getting paid for that extra hour. So I was offered a job as a machinist which I somewhat went to school for so I accepted and a week into it they decide they don't want to take the time to apprentice someone, so I am unemployed. I am trying to get on with TMC who recently expanded their hiring area to south alabama. Most other companies will not even look at me mostly due to lack of "solo" experience. So to the people just getting started try to STAY with the company you start with for at least 6 months solo. From there you can pretty much go anywhere. So I'm looking forward to hear something soon from TMC its difficult knowing I have a baby boy on the way soon and this unexpected event happened. Anyone have any input on TMC? Thnx and sorry for my long post.
I found this post very refreshing. Truth and honesty are hard to find these days.
I THINK there is a thread on TMC somewhere in a subforum.
I hope others with more info will chime in. I will probably have a few questions this weekend, and will try to give you some helpful advice or info.
One thing I noticed and must advise on:
You said no one will hire/talk to you for lack of Solo experience. Okay... so.... look for a TEAM job for NOW. You will PROBABLY get home more often to see your wife and kid(s) and you will be working!
There's a VERY long thread in the Trucking Companies forum just below this forum on TMC. Seems they aren't quite what they used to be other than you get a nice looking truck.
All companies are not bad, but there are none that are perfect either. I was wanting to team with a company called so cal transportation on a dedicated flatbed run but they don't help much in finding a team mate. Any recommendation on a company to team with that will help place you with a teammate? Thanks for the responses. And to Katt its really what you make of it. I got to see some amazing scenes(grapevine in cali.) and some bad ones(sleeping on the interstate in va. during that big snow storm due to a fedex wiggle wagon that turned over). I have been to all of the states except washington and oregon.
All companies are not bad, but there are none that are perfect either. I was wanting to team with a company called so cal transportation on a dedicated flatbed run but they don't help much in finding a team mate. Any recommendation on a company to team with that will help place you with a teammate? Thanks for the responses. And to Katt its really what you make of it. I got to see some amazing scenes(grapevine in cali.) and some bad ones(sleeping on the interstate in va. during that big snow storm due to a fedex wiggle wagon that turned over). I have been to all of the states except washington and oregon.
I've been out there a couple times- rode along w/the 'other half' lol, so I have a pretty good idea what to expect. I dont have my CDL yet- but found the school I will attend, in the spring. I will try local first, if I can (save OTR for a last resort:lol. I am in the process of losing my horse business, and am trying to avoid being evicted from this place, so I have a lot of things to sort out yet. Good luck to ya in your search
Thanks for the reply everyone. Due to my baby boy being born soon I took a job back with wiley sanders on a local run. Its pulling a dump trailer. 1-2 loads a day so could be 1500-3000 miles a week. Again I recommend wiley sanders to any new or experienced driver in alabama but to surrounding states as well considering you can take the truck home. New drivers start at .32cpm solo and they have miles. My trainer and I averaged 6000 miles a week and a little over 7000 one week. The trucks are T600 KW's governed at 71-72ish. Thanks for the replies everyone.
Take a drive on down to Pritchard Al (Mobile). Talk with Miller Transporters down there. They have team trucks. They will train you for tanks. And....they put you with your co-driver. If you get a job there, you can look forward to union benefits, $55K+ per year, and home time as well. Living in Troy isn't an issue. Plenty of Mobile drivers live up around Troy, Birmingham, Meridian MS, and on.
(is this what I get to look forward to?:eek2
