Hello,
I'm currently wanting to get into the trucking industry basically because of the good money (yes i will have to deal with alot of BS) and the fact that you are somewhat your own boss.
I have read through some of the topics and replies left on this board and others like it. And I kind of narrowed down my list of prospective companies i would like to work for.
First here is my background:
No CDL, no OTR, no criminal record, decent work history (mostly retail ), strong desire to learn, and no money for a driving school right now.

So based on those factors i have picked some big companies to start off with. They are:
1. Schneider Trucking
2. Swift Transportation
3. C.R. England

I like Schneider because i don't have to pay upfront for any of their schooling and i see more positive feedback about that company than any other training company. Also they have some pretty good benefits as well.

Swift sounds like a good company but i have to pay money to attend their training and it would take me 20months to pay it off. With Schneider i don't have any out of pocket costs just the 1year obligation. Also i see alot of people complaining that Swift plays games and treats their drivers badly.

C.R. England has already offered me a position but they scare me even more than the other two. Due to their payment program to pay back for the schooling and where the school would be at (which is in Salt lake and i live in Wichita, Ks).

I know i could get some grants or loans for a decent trucking school but i don't want any further financial burden than i already have. Plus, i kind of want to be tied to a contract just to put pressure on me to stay with the job (i tend to jump jobs a little). My dad, who used to work for Crete for a little while, said i should not go into trucking because i am still young (21yrs) and that i should take a job with the railroad.

Your help will be appreciated :shock:

Doode, i just graduated from a driving school: 10week course paid for by the HOPE scholarship U may have similar programs/scholarships in KS, check ur local techschool.

One

i would take the rail road job.. how does one get on with the rail road?

You'll eventually make more money with the railroad.

First mods please forgive me but i don't mean to advertise for this company just giving advice to fellow truckers


go to www.up.com and search their careers in your area. for me to take the railroad job i would have to move pretty far away, but they said i would start off with $40,000 the first year and then $70,000/year the 2nd year. i think i lot of people are lured by this amount of money but quit since it is physically demanding.

Definitely get a railroad job. Here's what I found in America's Job bank. The railroad has their own retirement and is way better than social security. Check out this link below. Go to the search and type in your state and the keyword Railroad. I found 45 pages with several jobs in Wichita with Union Pacific.

http://www.jobsearch.org/

Good Luck.

Pluses and minuses with the railroad. I put in 11 years, starting as a clerk and working all the way up to being an engineer. Money is great, retirement is great, but you do not have a home life....perhaps even worse than truck driving. The company literally owns you 24/7, 365...and I mean every bit of that statement. You get between 8-10 hours rest, and you are back at it. The company may call you on that 8th hour, or they may call you a day or 2 later. When they do call, be it 2pm or 2am, you have 1.5 hours to get to work. Oh, and don't miss the call because you will be sent to the bottom of the list.

The job is not that physically demanding, but you do need to be book smart and ready to be familiar with local, state and federal rules and regulations that easily cover several hundred pages, not to mention company policies and rules.

If you can deal with this, go for the railroad. Before you ask, the reason I gave it up is because I was tired of killing stupid people who decided to end their life with my train or cross in front of it at the wrong time. And before you say it wasn't my fault, I still had to deal with the carnage and picking their parts off of my engine. PM me if you have further questions.

Didn't know the RR had Regulations

This is off topic, (sorry) but I've often wondered if there are regulations that RR engineers are under? Of course there is drug testing,but what about HOS,like in trucking? Anything similiar to that in the RR industry,amtrak? Do you guys fill out some sort of log book?

No log book. Duty time is separated like our line 3 and 4 in trucking. Train time on line 3 cannot be more than 12 hours, then 10 hours off. If you run 11:59 or less, you could go back to work in 8 hours. Line 4 is unlimited, meaning that once they got you stopped in a siding within 12 hours, it was legal for them to take as many hours as needed to get a van to you with a fresh crew, and then get you back to your home terminal. 16-20 hour days are not unusual.

RR operating crews are heavily regulated, much more than truck drivers if you can believe that. For those of you that are interested, the federal guidelines are in the Code of Federal Regulations, part 49.