Thought this would be a good place to put this, so here it goes.

I got my CDL a few years ago, but never really did anything with it.

Fast forward to December of 2010, I came in contact with a small local operation, and was given a shot. The " Trainer" this man put me with, was a complete and total imbecile, who on the 3rd hour of our first run together, openly admitted he had no experience driving- And this man is gonna train me to drive? Now, I grew up around trucking, matter of fact, i drove a 18 wheeler before i ever even drove a car.

I dealt with this mans shenanigans for 3 weeks, before I finally called my dispatcher,owner, whatever he is. I let him know that this just wasn't working with this guy, now here's the kicker.. He knows my story,where i come from, so he basically hired me to train this guy, this dispatcher guy he changes his stories more than his own underwear. Day 1, this man is my trainer, now I'm his trainer, and then we're training each other. I won't go into the entire story of being on the road with this guy, but I'll say we met several DOT officials in every state we went through due to his incompetence.

He finally gets us a run coming home, and instructs me to take the other guy home, and the truck is now mine. Awesome. We get in from Chicago,we meet his wife and off he goes. I get home, after 3 weeks on the road, get about 4 hours sleep, my phone rings, it's the dispatcher,wanting to know what time I'm leaving today.. TODAY?!?!? I've been home for maybe 5 hours, I told him I wasn't leaving Today, or even Tomorrow, as my load wasn't scheduled for delivery until Tuesday ( this was a Friday) Then he proceeds to get smart mouth with me, about stuff I have no idea, i don't believe he even knew what load i had, or when it was due. To the end of this conversation, he ended up saying if i wouldn't leave out today, he had a guy who would. Wow, okay. So i basically quit working for him at that time.

Now, Today, I am looking for a new job. I go to all these companies websites, and it seems they either want people with 6 months or more, or none at all.

This seems stupid if you ask me. They'll take someone who has no clue, but not someone who grew up doing this, and has drove coast to coast with no tickets,accidents, not 1 thing gone wrong with me behind the wheel? Really?

I'm sure I could get on with Swift..but,I think I'd rather work at Burger King..

My god..driving a 18 wheeler and finding a company should not be this much of a hassle..

It isn't the Trucking Companies,it is the Insurance companies that basically control who they hire or don't hire.Good luck.

The Co. are looking for the exp. driver and the newbie out of school. You my friend fall in between, that's just a minor problem. What you need to do is call and talk to these co. instead of just looking at the website. I was in the same boat(2 times), hadn't been in years, no problem just had to go out with a trainer for a while once was about 4 days the other was about 3 weeks.

P0rk Ch0p ranted:

First mistake right there!! Many think that a CDL is something that can "sit in the bank" and be a "fallback." Not anymore! Current regulations AND insurance pressure on companies, make it imperative that you DO something with it immediately! ... and STAY active as long as you WANT to keep working!

Forget the "net" and put some leather down! Go SEE any company in your area that you might COULD work for! It don't matter whether or not they're "advertising."

I missed getting into trucking by 20 years because I "believed" the job requirements listed in newspaper ads! I didn't HAVE a squeaky clean MVR! But, I was hired within the week that I finished my independent CDL training school!

They had that dreaded "team training" concept that some on here decry, but.... I made MORE as a trainee there than MOST on this board for the first six months or more of their careers. I had 3 trainers in 4 weeks, and the last one told the company that I could drive this thing better than him! :lol: They bumped my pay up to the standard, and that trainer and I ran together until he quit to go to another company so he could lose some weight! :lol:

The point of MY "rant" is... you HAVE the CDL. You don't HAVE to play the "rookie" game! Get busy and FIND the job that FITS you.... they are OUT there!

No one is telling you that the trucking business isn't FULL of "stupidity!" Your question is whether or not the PAY is worth the struggle.

Then you don't really WANT to drive! I'm sure you are kidding to some extent, but Swift (if that is ALL you can get) will PAY you while you get the required wheeltime for OTHER companies! I've heard MANY on here talk about how they moved on from SWIFT after only 6 months or so.

No... it shouldn't... for a qualified driver! But, we don't need SOME of the drivers out there that are "part-time" or don't really CARE about what they are doing.

I'm pretty sure that if YOU really applied yourself because you WANTED to drive.... that YOU will find a company to pay you for it! Seriously.... If "I" coulld do it, YOU can!

Thank you for the reply. Quite motivational lol.

I got on craigslist today, surfed the " Transport Jobs" as i do most any day, and sure enough, i found an interesting ad from a local farm of all things. They run about 6 trucks, and what they do is, they deliver mulch/hay/pine straw etc,to places such as Home Depot,Lowes, and co-ops.

I talked to the man for about an hour on the phone and it sounds very promising. He's supposed to call me one day this week to set it up for me to come with him on a run, to see how i drive, etc like a try out i guess and go from there.

Good luck, hope you connect with a situation that's right down your alley.

Exactly...If Swift is all you can get, then go with Swift. Yes, they wont pay you that well. But they will give you something better than pay, experience. Think of it as an extension of schooling that gives you a little paycheck. Its not that bad. I hire for about 18 trucking companies. None of them would even look at you right now, but 6 months from now, after Swift, many of them would.

That sounds like a winner, bro!

One thing about "local farm work". 6 months or so from now when you want to move on. A hell of a lot of the trucking companies wont count that as experience and you still wont be hireable. Thats the one good thing about SWIFT. As crappy as the job is, 6 months from now every company in the country will count that as good experience.