The Starter Company

Well drivers, it's time to start thinking about the next steps in your travel.  You will now forever be know in the trucking world as a driver.  Names are seldom used out there, so be ready for that.  When someone yells out "Hey Driver" they may very well be talking to you.   We will handle that topic another day.  Lets talk about where you're headed after you get that license of yours.  You have a lot of options out there for a starter company.   We call it a starter company cause everyone has to start somewhere.  Drivers frequently change companies, it's all part of the job.  Now every company is going to promise you the world and then some.  The truth is unless you can get it in writing don't believe it.  The fact is when you contact these company's your dealing with recruiters and their job is to sell you on that company.  They are excellent salesman I must admit and if you believe every word that they tell you then by all means please come talk to me I have ocean front property in Oklahoma that I would love to sell you.  So let's be serious.  If it sounds too good to be true it probably is and your going to want it in writing before you get on any bus.

Here are some realities about this profession:

• No one ever got rich driving a truck.  Don't expect thousand dollar pay check average.  First year driver is in the ball park of $30,000.  
• Someone is always offering a bonus for this or that.  Watch out for it.  These are the types of things you want in writing because down the road someone might misplace that paper work.
• Buying your own equipment: flatbed work it means tarps, bungees, chains and chain binders.  For vans it maybe straps and load bars.  

These thing will come out after your training, which is the next step, so take these thing into consideration when choosing who you go with.  Training time with all these company can also vary. Some claim 4 weeks, others 8-10 weeks.  The honest truth is it really depends on what account your trainer works on.  You do not get to choose your trainer or what he does anymore then he gets to choose you.  Should there be an issue with your trainer there are ways to handle it, we will cover that in a later post.   48 state's trainers tend to train a student in anywhere from 5-10 weeks.  Weather, time of year, and the amount of freight all effect this.   A lot of times you end up being a paycheck to those trainers because you make mileage for them.  Dedicated drivers take anywhere from 8-10 weeks because they tend to more of the same routes.  So do not disillusion yourself into believing your training will take no time at all and you will be on your own in no time.  That rarely ever happens.   In all honesty the student that finishes early are students that train on line haul accounts.  These are accounts that haul from terminal to terminal or distribution center to distribution center.
 The next aspect of this is student pay.  This turns a lot people off to being a student.   Many companies only pay about $400 a week before taxes and health insurance, which works out to be about $250 take home.  This can be a huge hit, especially if you have a family, so better to know right up front.
Your school should have a driver placement department to help you find your start company.  If you are lucky they may even find you a local company work for that hires right out of school.  It does happen.  It is a good idea to stay at your starter company for at least a year to get the experience for your resume.  Anything less than a year makes it extremely hard to find work elsewhere.  I have seen enough decent drivers get upset about one thing or another and leave before their year is up and have to go through the whole training process again.
Schneider, Swift, Werner, J.B. Hunt, Western Express, Crete Trucking, US Express, CR England are some of the starter companies out there.  We have found that twitter is a great place to find job postings with many of the starter companies.   You can find us at https://twitter.com/Truckdriversfam.  We follow a number of starter companies on there. You can follow us as well.  As always be safe out there and safe travels.

Missed the other posts in this series?  Find them Here:

Becoming a Truck Driver 

How To Pick A School 

Be A Lifelong Learner 

Getting Ready to Test 

Getting Ready To Test

Still working on those license I have to guess because if you got it in a week I think you should turn back now before you hurt some one.  The process is a long one or at least can seem that way when your out of work.  So let me try to help you get a little edge if your still working on it Crist CDL
This is your ticket to doing well on your written exams.  I believe most schools with will tell you about this site because of the practice exams are extremely close to the real thing.  They cover the general knowledge, air brakes, and combination tests.  I stand by this site.   I used it to obtain my CDL and my endorsements.

 As far as your pretrip, maneuvers, and driving, its practice practice practice.  There is no secret short cut to this half of it.  When it comes time to test out and get that license take your time do not rush.  Its real easy to get to worked up standing there in front of you examiner.  I know some states use D.O.T. Officers to administer the tests and they can be extremely intimidating. You have to remember they put the pants on one leg at a time just like you.  Their main goal is to make sure you know what you are doing as you start out.  So follow the rules of your examiner and do what you know.  I didn't do so hot my first couple of times testing.  I let my nerves get the best of me and did not trust my gut feeling.  Nine times out of ten in truck driving if you gut feeling says somethings wrong it probably is.  I did not know that secret so I did n't listen to my gut and end up going back again and again because I made silly mistakes.  When I finally listened to my gut I passed with flying colors.  So learn to trust your instincts I have plenty more tales where my gut feeling kept me out of trouble but those are stories for another time and place.  So be safe out there and Safe Travels.

Be a Lifelong Learner

So you found your school, great!  Now it's time to study and work hard to get a license so you will be ready for your real training.  Wait you're going to school.  Won't they teach you what you need to know?  The answer here is no. They are going to teach you what you need to know to get a license.  That's it folks.   They might teach you about a few less well know laws and the occasional trucking story that will have some merit to it.  Learning to drive is your trainer's job at your first starter company.  They will be the ones to teach you all the finer points of doing the job.  Take it from me, there's a lot more to be learned.  We learn more every single day we are out here.  The learning never stops.  Just when you think you have seen it all some thing new comes along.  If you already are saying "I know how to drive.  I do not need to learn anything else."  Then please go find another job before someone gets killed.  I like going home to my family as do a lot of other drivers I know.  Being a know it all hot shot is extremely dangerous on the road.   Those are the people that give us a bad name and get others killed. That is enough for now good luck on those licenses.

How to Pick a School

Welcome back readers and hello to new readers. So you've decided you want to be a truck driver. Good for you, welcome to your new field!  It's time to get started on the next part of the journey - picking out your school.  Now there are lots of schools out there to check out. The only difference from searching for a college is that you will only be there 4 to 10 weeks and you will have to commute everyday.   So location for some will be a very big key as to where you attend but try not to let it be the biggest. Do some homework again.  Investigate the school, go and tour the facility, try to talk to the students there and get their opinions of how the program is.  Trying to find graduates of the program that are out on the road will be near impossible.  Some good questions to ask your instructors while you are visiting the school are:

•  How much experience do you have?
• How recently did you drive a truck for a living?
• Were you a city driver, regional driver, or over the road driver?   City drivers are more familiar with close quarters backing and driving than over the road drivers.  Over the road drivers would be more accustomed to highway and rural areas. An Over the Road teacher will have knowledge of grades and laws about things like free range cattle.  A good mixture of both kinds of teachers would give you a more balanced education.  

You may think "How hard can truck driving really be?"  Remember that no one has seen it all or knows all there is to know about trucking.  But the knowledge you can gain from the right school is worth more than any price tag.  Ask questions and find the right mixture of drivers to learn from at the school you choose.  Now these schools are not cheap, depending on there program it can be anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 dollars.  I know that is quite a bit of money to get a license but you have to understand the equipment and fuel are also very expensive and keep operation cost very high. So lets discuss the options to pay for it. For my readers that are on unemployment there are programs to help with these cost if you can get the approval to help you find a new career. They do not make it easy.  There are a lot of tasks you will need to accomplish like resume building, proving that there is work in the field, proving that you have been looking for a job in your previous field before they will approve you. It's a way to make sure that you are dedicated to what you are asking to do.  If you are diligent and truly want this you won't find it to be a problem. Now your other option should you not want to do all this is the student loan path.  Most schools offer student loans for all of your school expenses.  At this point again you have some work ahead of you and I wish you good luck on your journey. In our next post it will be time to start looking for your starter company so safe travels to all and we'll be back next week with are next segment to to Colonel's Corner.   

Welcome to the Colonel's Corner - Becoming a Driver

For you guys that are coming a crossed this Blog and are trying to do a little homework about this field. First of all let me say good for you for taking the time to do some homework before starting out. Well the first part of your homework is going to be if this job is for you, big surprise right? If that wasn't the first step, lets face it you wouldn't be reading this. Well the job is long, thank less and lonely - not extremely appealing. Also you won't get rich doing it.  But if you want steady work, like to travel, can stand being on your own and doing it your way with out a whole lot of direction then have at. Your first step in your journey is getting a license. Now what you need to decide next is which one because I may be a an over the road driver but that doesn't mean I didn't consider just driving a box truck. Now a Class A license opens up the entire industry to you, while a Class B license is only going to open up mostly local work, some seasonal and other work that goes year round.  Now be honest with yourself and do some looking into your local papers and job searches to try to decide if  there is a market for a driver with a simple B license in your area (most times you will find those jobs hard to come by). For most of the drivers that I've trained (as well as for myself), this job was not a first choice, but not the last either.   Truck driving isn't for everyone, so unless you are absolutely certain, I recommend looking into a few different options before traveling far down this road.   I found in my searches that the much needed helpful information in getting started is severely limited. So we'll get the next step in our next weekly post. If you've got questions drop a line.  I'd love to incorporate them into the next post, as well as answer you directly.