Man...
 

Is anybody hiring? This is insane!

I'm trying to get a local job, but it seems like Trucker Job type websites leave people out to hang when it comes to this type of employment. Staffing agencies haven't helped, and I never see much in the classifieds.

I can't get a local with Werner or schnieder, I don't live in the right area for that. I'll give you a list of the big companies I've applied for, to no avail, and spare you the smaller companies:

J.B. Hunt
Pepsi
Coke
FedEx
UPS
Yellow/USF/Roadway
Valley Cartage
ConWay
Taystee
Wonderbread
OldDutch

I'm sure I'm leaving a lot of companies out but I'm trying to make the point I've applied for a lot of companies.

I'm 23, 1 and half years OTR experience half of that as a trainer, no moving violations, no accidents, nothing. A perfect record. Yet I haven't heard back from any of these companies. Not even so much as a "Thanks but we're not hiring."

Am I screwed if I want a local job? I really didn't think it would be this hard considering my age, experience and record.

If anyone can give me advice on how to find a local job, PLEASE HELP!!

I certainly do not want to bring you down, but unemployment numbers are at near unprecendented levels right now, at least for modern times. Now when a company is hiring for a local job they might have several hundred applicants. Who do you think they are more likely to choose, the individual with 15 years of experience or the relative newbie?

Yea I know you're probably right... Does anyone have any information on where to look for local jobs? I really haven't found any data base or job pool for local jobs.

Stop looking for local only jobs.

YEA, thanks.

Listen man, I wasnt being a dick. You tried everything to get a local job and it didnt work. OBVIOUSLY whats the next option? Stop looking for local only. Seniority will usually get them anyway. Im stating the obvious which for some odd reason you couldnt pick up on your own...

Wow, it just sounded that way, becuase you didn't answer the question, but still found it necessary to reply. But, again, my question is if I have tried everything. I've never looked for local before, so I don't know. Again, anyone who can answer my question I'd like to hear it, thanks.

Like Biscuit Lips said, I don't mean to hurt your feelings, be a smarta**, or anything else you would interpret it to be, but 23 with a year and a half exp isn't a whole lot. The clean record is a good start and so is the other but you are probably going to be competing with drivers that have 10 to 20 times your experience, a clean MVR, been a trainer etc... You don't say where you live, or what your exp is, ie; Tanker, Van, Reefer etc... Give a little more info and you might get some more suggestions. Try google for your area, "Local truck driving jobs", expand out to the state you live in. Local tanker jobs, local van jobs, local delivery jobs so on and so on. SOMETHING will come up, may not pay .50 to start, drive new truck, 5 weeks vacation to start off with, but something will pop up, if nothing else it will steer you in the direction you want to go. Like I said, not trying to be a Richard Cranium, just trying to help.

No I appreciate it.:thumbsup:

I have a question? You have 18 months experience and HALF of that was as a trainer. Who let you be a trainer after 9 months? Secondly, You want to know how to get a local job. How about letting us know where you live. I cant suggest a local job in Wisconsin if you dont let us know that you live in California.

This has nothing to do with the query you've posted, but just an observation on my part about something that you mentioned.

No reflection on you, and nothing personal, but I find it quite alarming that a company would accord trainer status to someone with less than a year of driving experience. I mean, look at it this way....within 9 months of you having started your driving career, you were made a trainer....by that time did you even acquire the experience to drive in all weather conditions ? And therefore, how would that qualify you to train someone else ????

Once again, it's not a reflection on you.....just a very sad and extremely frightening reflection on the practices of the company you worked for.

No, I understand the alarm. I am alarmed as well. Not everyone handles themselves out there as well as I do. To defend my position, I did real well as a trainer. The few people who managed to make it off my truck were glad they had me because of the things I was able to teach them.

The answer to who would encourage such a thing: Werner Enterprises. And no, I hadn't gone through a winter. The day I got my first student was the first day I saw snow in my truck! Boy, I lied to that guy talking about "I've been drivin' for years!" just so he wouldn't freak out, because despite my lack of experience, I knew what I was doing, and more importantly, knew what to say to him.

Anyway, I live in Red Wing, MN. It's south east MN, hour south of the cities, an hour north of Winona, MN. I've got all endorsements, I've done reefer, flat bed and dry van. How 'bout that job in WI?

Now this is serious stuff. Not only is this misrepresentation ( to put it mildly ) about your abilities / qualifications, but you knowingly put your trainee's life in danger. If I was the trainee, and I happened to get wind of this, there'd be a serious lawsuit on the anvil....maybe even criminal charges ( not sure about this though ).

Be careful out there, man...this is no game. People's lives are at stake.

This is a VERY accurate post! DO NOT take this job and your responsibilities for granted and NEVER loss respect for what you are in control of! If you EVER GET to thinking that you know what you're doing or get too comfortable behind the wheel, pull over and take a LONG hard look at whats behind you...:thumbsup:

Have you tried those huge job sites that list all types of jobs imaginable, such as monster, careerbuiler, ***helpwanted.com. That's how I found my current job after I was laid-off. Found a great job with a large agent of United Van Lines as a Trasportation Manager. Those web sites keep emailing me all types of driving jobs daily. Got one today about a Coinstar driver. Just a thought.

I wont start on the training, its been beat to death enough. Like th above poster said try the big web sites. I know career builder emails me driving jobs all the time. Also look for resume blasters. I found a free one and only got one good job offer but it was all I needed. Best of luck wanting to go local only. If its any help there are still some decent companies hiring OTR. Good luck

You could be in a bad area for them
All of them currently have drivers layed off at this time.
You have to wait till some dies to get in with them.:lol:

Try UPS Freight http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/t...ting-apps.html

Don't know who else you tried, but try the local Food service companies(Dawn Foods, SYSCO, US FOODS,etc.) and Supervalu(if they have place close to you). Best thing to do is NOT GIVE UP!

BOL

Is moving to the Twin Cities, or commuting back and forth from Redwing in your future?

I'm not trying to be a smart@ss, but that just might be what it will take.

You don't say what you're looking to drive, but looking at your list I'm guessing vans.

No gurantees, but here's my two cents worth of assistance.

Staffing agencies in the Twin Cities... Labor All, Optimum, Aerotek and ProDriver to name a few.

Companies... US Foodservice, Reinhart Foodservice, Estenson Logistics, Brueggers Bagels, Ryder,
Penske, Menards, UPS Freight, United Rentals, etc.

Another thought is, what about doing roll-offs for sanitation companies. Some of the builder supply / roofing companies, or hauling PODS.

There's my two cents, do what you will with it and good luck in your job hunting.

lets see...18 months experience. drove flatbed, reefer, drybox. he lied to a trainee to make himself look better, or more qualified. i may be misunderstanding but three types of trucks to me says three jobs, in 18 months. good luck there sonny!!!! if i were you i would take any job that was sent my way, whether it is local, otr, hauling radioactive material that makes you glow green for three days after you haul it. why not get in touch with what is going on in this country, this is NOT the time to be looking for a job. if you got a job, keep it...even if it sucks big ones. just roll with the punches, and make it the best you can.

If u were in jersey i coulda got u a job at my place 18 an hour 27 an hour after 8 flatbed normal hours. 3 guys got fired for there own reasosns so i know there going to need replacmeents

As far as reefers go, a few others in the Twin Cities areabesides the ones I mentioned earlier.

Sara Lee, Deli Express, Sysco, Asian Foods (also a Sysco co.), Kraft Foods.

Now ya gotta get out and start knockn' on some doors.

Bear with me Fillupsherman, I'm going to beat on you just a little but I will get around to trying to help. Read this alllll :zzz: the way through before you get to mad at me. :smokin:

jd112488: I think you hit the nail square on the head. He has another thread where he went to ATS and did a lease purchase with them then threw in the towel after two months because "he wasn't getting the good paying OD stuff". My question Fillupsherman did you ever notice that a good share of the drivers hauling the "good paying" OD stuff have lots-o-gray-hair? There's a reason for it, most companies are not going to take a relativly new driver and throw them right into specialized stuff. They have way to much invested in the account and the equipment and these shippers are fickle, one wrong move and they loose the account. I'm not slamming you, everyone has to start somewhere but it has been my experience that you cannot go from having 15 months van and reefer experience to hauling oversized loads with absolutely no flatbed experience. ATS should take some of the blame in your situation, selling you on a lease purchase with the "promise" of high paying OD loads. They have a system in place where new drivers have to haul X number of loads in one class (size) before moving up to the next. Almost every specialized carrier of any size has something similar and the recruiter/salesman who sold you a bill of goods about hauling specialized stuff right away should be fired. (But they will probably get employee of the year) I see it happen everyday and it happened to me not to long ago, I was promised one thing by the recruiters and was told something else by the safety department after I went to work there. I was fortunate to be a company driver and didn't have to worry about truck payments but I was a little p-ed off all the same. I have all the experience they require for the larger stuff but it was two years old.

I was lucky (and stupid) and got thrown under the bus a few (many) years back and got to learn oversized the hard way. I had no, none, zero, zip flatbed experience and my first load was a concrete bridge beam 125' long and 125,000# on a steerable three axle dolly. I survived and other than one stop sign and a couple of police officers underwear no one got hurt and more important, I learned really fast how little I knew about driving a specialized load.

On to helping you find a local job, there has to be some ready-mix (concrete) plants in your area I would guess. Take a drive to them and ask the plant manager who is hauling the powder into them, might be a company, might be owner-operators or the plant may have their own trucks. My point is, they use powdered cement and fly-ash on a daily basis. Most of those trucks that haul into them also pull some flatbed freight to fill in. I never see them advertise in any paper, they hire by word-of-mouth. It's not glamourus but its local work. I know in Newton, KS where I live, the guys at P&B make well over $60k a year and as a rule they are home 6 out of 7 nights a week. There are times especially in the winter where thy may have to hook up to a cattle trailer or flatbed and be gone for a few days but during the summer months they turn and burn one load right after another into the plants.

Give those carriers a call, even if they are a 1 truck owner-operator, make yourself known to them but don't try and BS them about your "experience". Walk up to them with your hat in your hand and be humble. Listen to them, ask questions and most of all don't try and pull the wool over their eyes. There are several single truck owners around my area and there are just as many drivers who do "casual" work for them and make damn good money. There's times when the plant needs an extra load hauled in overnight but the truck owner is tired and has to turn it down. If they have your number you might get a call at 4:30pm in the afternoon to make an overnight run. When I'm home I always call my old boss and let her know I'm available to fill in. More often than not while home I can knock out 1 or 2 loads for a quick couple hundred dollars.

While your at those plants looking around, see who's hauling in the sand, gravel and rock. In your area it might be straight trucks (class B) doing that work but it's still work and home nearly every day.

I know the economy is in the crapper and the construction sector isn't as good as it was a year ago but there is still going to be concrete getting poured and the season is just about to start. Keep knocking on those doors and be willing to change tires, run a shovel, drive a ready-mix truck, wash trailers whatever it takes to get in the door. Be humble, show up for work when your called and more important, keep them aware that you have your CDL, current medical and are ready to work.

One last option, Caledonia Haulers. They haul a lot of milk into Zumbrota. Not necessarily local but home a lot more than OTR. And, the cows are not going to quit giving milk because the economy went south, they milk 24/7 regardless and that milk has to go somewhere. You'll have to have a tanker endorsement and get a milk handlers license but the companies will have classes for the license. You have to learn how to pull samples and run lab tests but it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. The driving part on the bulk tankers is a cake walk, mostly drop & hook, run the labs and drive. 99% of the receivers don't even want you near the trailer, they hook it up, pump it off, wash it out then tag it sterile and your on your way. Again, most of the milk companies don't advertise, take a drive out to DFA in Zumbrota and see what tankers are there then call them or find out where their office is and introduce yourself. Not high on the CPM pay but usually plenty of miles and almost no manual labor.

Remember think outside the box not all local jobs are pulling a van or reefer.

I'm not slamming you, I was 23 once and as chris1 can attest, I knew it all and could do anything. Fortunatly chris1 could see past all the bravado and made me a good (well a little better) driver. It took him 10 years of yelling at me and letting me make a few mistakes but I can tell you 19 years later I know a hell of a lot more now than I did back when I knew it all. To this day, even though he's a former employer of mine, I can and do still call him and ask his advice on things. If I knew back then what I know now (and had listened to chris1) I'd be a millionaire and be retired but now I'm too old and tired to do what I did back then.

JB HUNT is hiring drivers to run railhead out of Wausau, WI. The guys doing that that I have talked with are happy with what they are doing. I know its a drive for you but thats all I know. As for local? I can't find one either and have been driving a little longer than you have. Maybe a solution is to look for national or regional carriers that have local jobs in your area and go over the road with them until a local position pops up.
One of the other guys said something that is true. Its a hard time to find a local job. The guys with seniority at the company will get it first even if the company says they dont do that. Its just a fact of life and I dont argue with the logic. If I worked for a company for 10 years and wanted a local and they hired a new guy and gave it to him before me I'd be irate.

Good Post, Catalina. Hauling cement....I never thought of that. I'm going to start calling companies in the area about that this week.

Butter my butt and call me a biscuit!!

Not necessarily lying! When I started driving for Swift many years ago I drove a flatbed. When there were no loads I hitched to a van and a reefer to keep moving. I wasnt picky about what I did and sit around with the other drivers moaning about no freight.

In case u have been missing news... Its called a, "RECESSION"!
In economics, the term ression generally describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic production
(GDP) for atleast 2 quarters.... We been thru 2 quarters....

The usual dictionary definition is "A PERIOD OF REDUCED ECONOMIC ACTIVITY", a business cycle contraction..

Hence being said, "Freight is the contraction"...