Sorry for another compare these for me post. However I am stuck and want to run it past you all.

My back ground is this;
Attended Schneider Driving school in Green Bay Oct 2006. Drove team for under a month. Left the road to care for a family member who was sick and went back to my old career (Retail) that allowed me to be home more than on the road. Now the family drama is over and I am still jumping around different retail jobs hating every minute of it. So heres my two problems. Not much experience driving and my last years job history is all over the place, four jobs total in 2007. I have no gap in employment, and I have quit all my jobs with proper notice and not before I had another job lined up. None of them will speak a bad word about me. And I have never been fired in my entire working career. I have been with my current job for three months.

So about a year ago I contacted Maverick. They said I needed to wait until I had at least one year at one job and then reapply. I don't blame them for wanting that. But I don't want to wait a year. I am set on flatbed, not van so that part is decided. Now I have not contacted Maverick since but I have contacted TMC. The recruiter emailed me back saying I will need to attend another driving school or at least a refresher course. I responded asking him why since I understand them to provide training. Maybe I am not understanding there program right or maybe I didn't read his email right.

Either way I don't think this will be easy to get on board either company. At least not any time soon. So am I stuck and just need to wait for Maverick? Or should I go with TMC if I can? OR is there another way to get back on the road without selling my soul to a OTR van company and never being home with my son and wife.

Thanks for any advise. Take care.

Although in my oppinion you named the best companies to train with, there are other options. Swift has a flatbed division (and i've heard it's not bad) there's Arrow, Roehl, PGT, Boyd Bros, and I am sure some of the other guys could name some more.

Any company out there is going to look at your previous work history. If your a "job hopper" they are less likely to give you a try.

Even if some companies require you to take a refresher course, They are normally only a week long, and cost about 500. So that's not too bad for getting yourself back on the road. Question is how bad do you want it, and what are you going to do to get it??

You also need to understand that companies can be more selective in who they hire when freight is slow. Flatbed is especially slow and it has yet to be seen how much the housing construction(or lack thereof) will affect them. When they freight is so slow they don't need to hire just anyone.

As far as schooling is concerned you will most likely have to take a refresher course. You went to school and drove for one month. It's been a year since then and no company is likely to hire you. They will either want you to take a refresher or go to school again. Personally I would not limit yourself to just flatbed. I would take any decent OTR and no matter what, stick with that company for a year.

Although Schneider has a great training program, TMC may see your Schneider training in a lesser light than a formalized/certified school. If I were you I would contact the recruiting department via phone and have a good frank discussion with them. Keep in mind, as another poster stated, because of the seasonal freight slowdown, all companies are getting a bit pickier in their hiring. A year ago they were taking pulses and hiring.

Can you take an inexpensive refresher? If you are hired, they will fork over $100 a month to you.

If weekends are important to you, make sure that you are within the linehaul/home on weekends area.

Good luck.

Yes I can attend a refreasher course. Looks like roadmaster is here in Columbus. So I plan to do that if I can get some sort of commitment from TMC or whoever to hire me once I complete that.

I understand the hesitation from any company. I to have hired people and it is hard to find a good employee.

Thanks for all the input. Maybe I will wait it out with my current job and then apply once I have been here for awhile. Its a good paying job but I hate sitting in the damn office all day. No biggie, others have it much worse than me.

Take it easy.