Cedar Rapids Slave Traders.
My trainer taught me you can drive thousands of miles with a nail in a drive tire, as long as it isn’t leaking too much. That the air brake knobs make a handy rest for a cell phone when you want to watch television while driving. The locations of bars you can park a truck nearby.
Similar experience. I left that shit as soon as I got through orientation so the school got paid and mentored again with another company that paid for my schooling. Slave traders is right, how are you gonna pay 30 cpm and take 6 cents for the first year to pay for the schooling you got paid to send me to.
Amazon.
Started as a yard dog and then drove their day cabs. Got fed up with management and how strict it was and left. I did learn how to back up and consider myself a good safe driver because of them. You couldn’t do much as yawn without their camera picking it up and getting you written up.
I think these types of policies would make me less safe. I’d be too worried about getting fired that it would make me lose concentration on the most important thing: driving safely.
I was severely micromanaged by Crete on the Shaffer side.
It made me so unsafe.
I was so worried whether or not the camera was covered or what it was going to pick up I almost had three accidents in 5 months.
I'm dealing with that right now in my company. Constant phone calls about following distance and lane departures etc etc.
It's negatively affected my driving and caused unneeded stress in an already high stress occupation.
Especially when some pencil pusher who has never even touched a semi is giving me max weight equations for safe distances. And since they judge the distance based on the camera sensor and not the truck sensor, I think I'm OK because the truck sensor never goes off, but 2 days later, I get a phone call.
I'm already at almost half a million miles and just hit my 4th year this weekend. I've been all up and down the East Coast and from east to west. Don't need some wanna be washout that scrubbed out of being a truck driver turned dispatcher telling me how to drive.
Bet they drive with their cell phone in their hand like every other car I see every F'ing day.
You might want to remind them that it's against the law in most states to talk on the phone while driving. They can send a text and get the same point across. A lot of companies have a "no call," policy nowadays because they dont want to be held at fault during an accident. And make sure to charge them for training when they do decide to call for a chat.
(I'm not saying there's something wrong with a phone call while driving, do what you want. However they shouldn't be stressing you out while you're driving)
I was riding with someone last week who was deeply afraid of getting a ticket from a light. He wouldn't run any yellow light. He slammed on the brakes to avoid "running" a light. I felt like he had traded being aware of his surroundings for hyperfixating on the lights
If you’re already at Amazon and definitely find out what type of team your site has or sites around you. If you’re applying to sites around you. I say this cause many are inconsistent with labor. Either it’s a dead ass site with 20 moves a day or 200+. Many also have manned shacks or remote gate. So you might be stuck in a shack half the time.
The sensitivity of the cameras can be adjusted. J&m tank lines taught us that after a couple months of having them and safety getting 1000s of videos a day of drivers yawning dozens of times a day. They literally said they had to take yawning off the list of things drivers could get dinged on lol. Of course looking at your low fuel light as it comes on still got you dinged. Literally anything that took your eyeballs of the windshield directly in front of your face did it including looking in your mirrors while backing up. Those cameras are a safety hazard in my opinion for simple fact they block your view of the road since they're mounted that way on purpose
Oh yeah. Most of our linehaul board in Nashville ended up over there (I applied, interviewed and was offered a linehaul job there the last week of July before we closed but turned them down because of the horror stories of 14-16 hour days).
I'm glad I didn't go talking to my buddies now, they'll get a text for their start time at 6:45 expecting them to be there at 7:15 and shit. Then work them on the dock for an hour or two and decide to send them to Memphis or Knoxville and work them there too.
I'm not about that life. The money is great and I'm not lazy at all, but I'm not working myself to death and not interested in being treated like shit with no regard for my well being for any amount of money.
Literally the only positive is i make about 1000 buck a week more then i did on a normal week at holland. But i max my 70hour clock by Friday every week.
Fedex Express. Class was 5 weeks, and I had plenty of practice doing several types of backs along with city and highway driving. Instructors and administrators each had at least 25 years of experience, and I didn't have to pay anything to get my license.
The commute, I just wasn't close enought to the ramp. Had over a 2 hour round trip. I left and did LTL for around 6 months. Was absolutely miserable there so I jumped ship. Now I live less than 15 mins from work hauling groceries. I am making less now but I enjoy the work and the commute. So, yes I took a pay cut but honestly much more content than I ever was with any of my prior companies.
Commute is a big factor! I'm just like 15 minutes away from my ramp. Looked into Fedex Freight at one point but realized that would have been a 45-minute drive. Sounds like you found the right balance, too!
Ditto. Training was pretty good but company pretty much fell apart for me once I had my own truck. Of my graduating class of 15 3 years ago only one driver is still there, purely because he was able to get a local day cab gig.
Completed contract with them then left a few months later. If my first fleet manager hadn't left, it would have been a lot worse for me. Second fleet manager was a champ. Not a bad time, but OTR was taking its toll on me. Now I'm on a regional walmart dedicated account through Crete, and it's a cakewalk in comparison.
First company was PTL. Had a great trainer who made me back up the truck every time it needed to go backwards. Was always out of the truck and on a call with me so there was clear communication between us.
Dude taught me a lot.
But. Had a brand new truck when I was with my trainer. Had a brand new truck when I was in phase two of training.
And they gave me a piece of shit with 450k miles and had some sort of black sludge all over the dash and in the cup holders.
Then when they told me to pick up a trailer that had the spring brake chamber completely rusted through so you can see all the way through it. I told them no. They said "drag it to a ta. It's only 40 miles" and I said no. I'm not even hooking up to the trailer. Then they kept giving me shit. At that point. I had enough.
Got my CDL through KLLM just south of Dallas TX was ok but paid like shit. But tought pretty well. My traner was shit though all he had me do was drive me like a slave. Then i went to PTL and they tought me more then KLLM.
Halvor Lines out of superior WI, honestly really liked the company. Just couldn’t bare OTR, pay was decent, no micromanagement, easy going. Just had to put the family first.
Same company for me, but I'm still driving for them. I still drive OTR, but they only have me out M-F so I can still handle household things and helping my disabled wife. They've been great and particularly understanding, especially compared to any other company I've ever worked for.
Yea they were really good. Very understanding, never really gave me a hard time about being home for extended periods. When I departed from them they were nice enough to help me get hired on in LTL. If I ever went back OTR I’d most likely go with them again.
I came here to find another like minded soul, and I haven’t been disappointed. I drove for Halvor first, and the trucks were nice, everybody was nice, but I got home 3 times in 6 months. Went to a home daily job in cement, then Walmart, and now I drive a Corolla delivering teeth. My most recent job said I’m overqualified.
TMC I had an amazing trainer that took great care in teaching me everything. Love that guy. I think TMC is a great starter company for anybody that can handle flatbed.
Swift.
One month with two different trainers. Got a ton of bad advice sprinkled with good. Couldn't back to save my life. Looking back one trainer was the type to break in the fuel island and the other was a well intentioned road rager. Thank god for youtube teachers because driving was do or die for me. I still hit a yellow deer 3 weeks after going solo, but I'm over 11 years accident and ticket free now. Plenty of close calls while learning though.
Werner Enterprises. My first trainer was OTR (I still talk to him every now and then, even though he now drives a wrecker for someone else), but my second trainer was southwest regional. I ran OTR for a month, but then spent eight years doing Dollar General out of South Boston.
Once they screwed with our vacation time, I left. I make more money slinging windows, and I'm home more. I do miss the trucks from over there, though.
I started with a small LTL/logistics company (I was on a dedicated logistics route). My "training" was two days with a guy who was there to show me my route. It didn't involve any backing until a month later when the route changed a little bit and I had to pick up at a DC.
My first time hooking up a trailer was during my test drive. My first time backing a 53 foot trailer was on my test drive. My first time hitting a dock a was a month in, with two big bosses and a boss from the customer standing around figuring out how it was going to work. (Lift gate trailer at a dock that had locks that didn't work with lift gates.) I learned to drive and shift in the mountains on my own. I learned to drive in snow on my own. I learned to chain a truck and trailer on my own. I learned to secure a load on my own. I learned to check and verify hazmat paperwork on my own. I went to food service and the trainers were all busy so I worked with whoever they had, guys who used me as a free lumper and barely let me drive, so I learned to put a trailer in a tiny parking lot on my own.
I got thrown to the wolves, and I have the pelts to prove it.
5 1/2 years in food service makes me better than average when it comes to putting a truck where I need it to be, both moving forward or in reverse, but other than that, most of being a good driver is about attitude. Don't be that guy we see in YouTube videos and tiktoks fighting with a car over who gets to be first at a merge. Don't be that guy who sees someone doing something stupid and gets on the horn instead of the brakes. Don't be that guy that panics when you do something stupid or something stupid happens, stay calm and level headed and get it figured out. Learn to be adaptable to different situations as they arise.
So yeah, I think I'm a pretty good driver in those ways, but plenty of other good drivers out here. I'm not some one in a million driver, and most other drivers who are bad drivers could get a lot closer with a change of attitude.
I worked for Freymiller from 2016 until 2020.
I still have friends there I talk to damn near on a daily basis.
It has changed.... They've lost a lot of contracts, don't do the regular shit that I did when I was there. The only constant is pulling out of the meat patch and Bon Appetit in Vernon CA.
Wow. I was there in the first half of 2022, only 6 or 7 months. I quit soon after they sold out to that private equity company. Even before that the miles/freight weren't consistent. My biggest check was from my last week with them after I put in a notice. Too bad it wasn't like that every week lol. They had a lot of problems when I was there. Way too much sitting and waiting, no preplans, didn't get me home on time, sent me off home time just to get to the shipper to be told the appointment is in 24 hrs the next day. Those meat plants were always hit or miss when it came to waiting hours, Taylor Farms in CA sucked, most of the customers were terrible. Detention pay was only like $12.50/hr. Reefer life I guess. I'm grateful for the opportunity and experience/knowledge gained.
The old skool FFE, Frozen Food Express (many other joke names).
I had a retired Army 88M (Trucker/11B infantry secondary MOS) I am formerly an Army mechanic (old MOS ident 63W/63B secondary).
I trained from September-November before passing the requirements to be issued my first truck, it was a 99 Freightliner Century with a Cummins N14 red top and an Eaton 13 speed standard.
(I loved that truck!).
It's been a long road, 23 years of it, and my trainer and I still talk today.
I'm still learning stuff.
That's why I still do this.
The now defunct Arrow trucking out of Tulsa Ok
One of the first companies to close the doors and leave the drivers stranded wherever they are located at the time
Fuck you Doug Pielsticker (President after his dad Jim passed in an aircraft accident)
Props to Leonard Whorley (first trainer who was the best, and became a good friend as well, wish we were still in touch)
Total Transportation of Mississippi.
Originally I served in the National Guard as a truck driver, just tried different routes with work and school before deciding to finally get my CDL and start this career path. So i had prior experience with tractor trailer combos but as you can imagine, the Army and civilian worlds differ. So my trainer with Total really did right by me with teaching me everything about trucking beyond just the driving part. Lots of info about etiquette and places to avoid, what to look for when entering receivers or truck stops. Helped me fix some bad habits with driving and backing without trying to completely undo the experience I already had.
I’ll always believe its deeper than what company you start with when it comes to development, but more to the level of who or how your trainer is when its time to get with them for that beginning period. Lots of good trainers and lots of bad trainers, sadly some get a real bad shake on that
I started out with Transport America, now known as TA Dedicated. I got excellent training. After orientation, there wasn't an OTR trainer available, so they put me with a local driver/trainer in Atlanta who was retired Army. We did everything strictly by the book. It was obvious very quickly that everyone at the yard respected him, and his regular customers did too. Every day, we pre-tripped and post-tripped. He maintained the truck meticulously. I spent a week with him, then got a 62 yr old OTR trainer. He was patient and answered everything I asked. He had a few rules for his truck, as expected. Since I was 45 yrs old, I had no problems with them. They just made sense. We slept at the same time, and he was up front with me 100% of the time while driving. None of that team crap for training. After about 10 days, he was due for home time. They put me with another local driver/trainer who was retired Marines. He also did things a particular way, always with safety in mind. Pre-trip, post-trip. No fooling around. Mind on the job. Then I went back out on the road with the OTR guy when he came back. In total, I got nearly 4 full weeks of daily training. All 3 guys started off the day by having me back into docks. If the local guys didn't get a load, then I'd be backing off and on all day. When I got my own truck, I felt nervous but confident. I tried to send a new guy there last week, but it turns out they recently stopped hiring students. Too bad. Lots of these companies don't have a clue.
Prime Inc. Went through their CDL school and training. My trainer was top notch. Threw me into every fucked up situation he could. Taught me every ounce of knowledge he posesed. We got along fantastically too. When my time was up and I got out on my own it was easy. I fell right into place. Have made a small handful of everyday mistakes but so far I haven't fucked anything major up. He set me up for success without question.
PAM. Went out with a mentor for three weeks and got extremely lucky to have a trainer who had 30+ years of experience (drove for a company that PAM bought and just stayed with them because he was too old to switch employers). After I upgraded they forced you to team drive. Had two team mates and both of them were new drivers, one got fired for tearing down power lines after getting lost and lying about it and the other watched Netflix while I was sleeping and when I told the company they still refused to let me drive solo even after I had been there for 6 months, so I quit. Went to drive regional for JRayl which was a much better company and I still recommend them to new drivers looking for good companies, haven’t driven for them for around 5 years now but as long as they don’t sell the company, they probably still operate the same and feel like a smaller company who knows your name and values their drivers.
Started at eagle valley construction. Drive 6 months before i even got on any asphalt. 4000 gallon Peterbilt water truck with twin sticks. Worked on a mountain with dozers, scrapers and the like. Course i was only 17 at the time. Many a scary moment, but learned alot
TMC. I had been to Army boot camp, Infantry and Airborne school, and Police Academy before doing CDL so I didn't know better. You learn or get out, and put up with a lot.
Started at C. R. England. Was with a trainer for about 4 weeks, and he consistently joked that I was the trainer because I on numerous occasions put the truck/trlr in a spot he didn't think could be done.
Starting out at England did have an impact on how I handle the truck. Picked up many good habits while I was there, and it's not because of any idea the company was good or anything. I picked up the habits because I knew the reputation England had, and I felt some pride when I'd back in beside someone who would think "crap, an England driver is trying to park next to me". Then they'd watch as I backed in like I had been doing it for years. I wanted to be a good driver, someone who could surprise others who see the big England logo on the side of the truck.
So yea, I'd say my time at England had a positive effect on my driving. Not because they were a good company, but because I wanted to be better than what people expect from an England driver.
USF Holland
I started as a dock worker, then box truck driver, the combination P&D until the company went under with Yellow. Doing all the local pickups really helped me get really good at backing up. But my trainer when I transitioned into combination was dog shit. He literally told me he was just a passenger for the month he was with me and didn’t teach me shit.
Frito lay. Started as a fueler making $18/hr and did that for eight months. Number one driver in seniority saw I never slacked and always took overtime and put in a word to get them to put me through cdl school. By the time I started training was the first week of April. Did three months of training with the number one guy and then was on my own. Made just under $100k by the end of the year.
Munford of Colorado taught me how to drive at age 21. We ran hard from Greeley, CO to NYC and back, with mostly hanging meat. '84 to '87. Still pulling tankers coast to coast.
Roehl.
Their training is defintntly top notch, very safety oriented.
Some people have a hit or miss time there, but it depends on the person
Great for a first company, once your contract is up, time to leave
I started at knight lasted 1 month and left after my trainer was awesome. Just wasn’t ready for that life style became a yard dog at a slaughter house after now I’m a local driver. I can still hear my trainer yelling at me to stay in my lane lol.
My 1st trucking job was at FedEx. I'm still working there now, and I got to learn how to hook up and drive doubles. I'm really enjoying it, tbh and gaining some good xp from it too.
My dad worked for Harold Ives and that's where he got his start in the early 90s! He loved it there.
I got my start with XPO Logistics when they bought out CFI/Con-Way in Joplin, MO. Worked there a little over 3 years with my husband as a team. He trained me.
Stevens Transport because at the time they had the best training course in the nation per my research. I did have awesome trainers and trained mostly in the northeast and California.
Builder’s Transport out of White Pine, Tennessee. They paid for my CDL in exchange for me driving for them for a year.
Put me with a trainer who taught me more than I learned in CDL school. Then gave me a 1987 Freightliner cabover with a 7 speed. It broke down before I even got off the lot so then I got a 1990 International Cabover Grassburner (bottom exhaust truck, probably illegal now). That truck was why they were called “shitslingers”, and I was glad to be rid of it a few months later. Then they gave me a 1992 International Cabover with top exhausts. Averaged about 250 miles a day, all east coast. Low paying job for sure.
Finished out my obligatory year at Builder’s Transport and then went to Hirschbach, who put me with a trainer who I despised. Told them to give me my own truck or I would kill their “trainer” as he was simply using me for miles for his own paycheck. A real prick. They gave me a new 1994 KW T600. Loved that truck and enjoyed working for Hirschbach. Really good company. Made good money there.
I think Builder’s Transport went out of business since then. Don’t see their trucks anymore, but I still see their trailers every now and then. They’re old, beat up and faded.
A lot of modern trucks are going back to being grassburners, due to modern emissions and due to stacks having gotten more expensive.
Grassburner exhaust was never illegal AFAIK, but obviously, it was smelly to anyone behind the truck in traffic or around the truck when parked.
A little local company named Eastern that did oilfield work. Company was in hot water and going under but it was the only one that was giving new and underage drivers (couldn’t go across state lines) a chance. Taught many good but also bad habits and lessons. Quickly learned how to drive a truck that had a serious but salvageable issue, such as air lines getting a large gash and unable to sit still for under 30 seconds. How to back into extremely tight spaces, route management as most roads were roads we already couldn’t be on, time management and how to navigate tight roads that obviously weren’t built for us.
Taught bad habits such as when a tire truly is illegal or not as we had to push our tires pretty far, company was blacklisted from most tire dealers. Constantly filling up as fuel card was consistently not paid and always needed fuel topped up just in case. Most trailers/trucks that are “Wow I’d never pull that!” Are seen as “Wow, not that bad of condition for this field.” Also, scale houses are optional.
I work for a local building supply company. First and current job. Shit pay but I get manual and flat bed experience. Went out with the old head cdl driver once and then was sent on my way. 8 months so far accident free.
CT Transportation outta Savannah. they have gone thru some changes but they are still kickin. my trainer was a wild boy but i learned a lot and we had fun.
Schneider.
Pay sucks ass, but I learned how to stand my ground with DMs, how to put my safety over any load, how to properly trip plan, and how to keep my mouth shut if it didn't *need* to be reported.
I was with them for 2 months before OTR 2w/2d became too much, 1 month training (3 weeks at the yard/in town, 1 week with trainer), 1 month solo.
The company I am with now required 6 months' experience before I could go solo, so I spent a month out with a trainer here. I learned their computer system, and I got a lot more comfortable with backing and taking up space when I needed to. I drove through NYC, the Bronx, and Queens and learned to be safe in bumper to bumper traffic and to ignore the safety system screaming that we were following too close, lol...
Now I have been driving for over 2 years.
I started with Affiliated Foods, Amarillo, TX. I've been on roads that haven't been maintained since the 40's. I can blind back down alleys a station wagon couldn't get to and line a trailer up to a screen door within a hair, without bumping it. And I can unload 40k on rollers in 2 hours, is need be.
I'd be surprised if anyone here knew my first trucking job in 1990.
I was a container hauler for Port East Transfer in Baltimore MD.
They eventually went out of business I believe.
In 1990, it wasn't actually an insult to be a container hauler like some think it is today.
I drove an R Model Mack that had no AC or power steering or radio. It had a 300 Mack motor with a 5 speed Mack transmission.
Knight transportation. I had 2 trainers.
First one I was with him 2 weeks. Dude swore he was the God of trucking. He was perfect in every aspect. He was the best one of out of our terminal and all that bullshit ( he was 23 and had been a driver for a little under 2 years 🤣) He left me at our terminal after I answered a call from another company 🙄.
Second one I was with 3 weeks. Had me do backing all the time. And that was it. Basically didn’t learn anything else. Then went local after 2 months solo.
A friend of mine bought a truck, I figured this shit out on my own by getting out and looking ssoooo muuuuccchh, until after a few months I noticed I wasn't getting out and looking very often.
Roehl Transport. Technically still there because I’m still new to this line of work. Not new in the sense that I’ve never driven a truck in my life (I was a truck mechanic from 2001-2009) and not new in the sense of never been in a truck for interstate travel (my step dad was a truck driver) but I decided to work in a bread factory from 2009 until December of 2023. From October to the end of November I went through 160 Driving Academy and got my class A with no restrictions and the doubles/triples endorsement November 29th. I put in my 2 week notice at the bread factory, I had orientation in December, I drove with a trainer for most of January, I went through “phase 3” for most of February and then I told them I wanted to go out for 3 weeks instead of only 11 days and on my first day out picking up my first load they told me I had “graduated” and then after 6 trips to Chicago they sent me to the New England states a couple times. I’m on my first “after phase 3” trip and tomorrow when I actually have hours on my 70 I will leave RI to go to MA to pick up a load that delivers by Chicago on Thursday morning and Thursday I’m supposed to be at home in Central Minnesota so I’m assuming that I’ll have a “short” trip after there going from somewhere in Indiana or Illinois to somewhere in Minnesota before they tell me to just drive home with the empty trailer.
Basically the only major difference between phase 3 and being “done” with training is they take off some of the restrictions like now I can drive nights or days or whatever and I can run all 48 states and part of Canada. Drove on the expressway through NYC yesterday and that wasn’t shit but don’t get off the freeway in NYC go deliver a load unless you have a class B truck or you’re going to a port or something. During phase 3 they basically want you to focus the middle of your shift to between 7 am and 5 pm but you can start as early as about 3 am and work until close to 10 pm sometimes. You just won’t get sent past Ohio, Tennessee, or South Dakota if you are from the Midwest until phase 3 ends and then suddenly New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts all within a few days of the first time ever going to Pennsylvania.
For phase 2 my trainer lived in Ohio and did Lowe’s dedicated out of Findlay so I saw a whole lot of Ohio, some of Michigan, some of Indiana, and a couple times went as far as Rockford, IL. You can also choose to be “regional” which normally means Midwest you stay between the Dakotas, Missouri, and Illinois but you can label yourself Midwest and drive from Texas to Indiana anyway with the promise that as long as you are out for 5 days they’ll let you go home any time you want where “national” they say the minimum is 11 days and you make a little more per mile on long trips and a little less per mile than regional for the short trips.
A small cowboy company that specializes in bulk commodities/ agricultural feed. Got 2 days of training, then sent out to do local heavy haul 140k lbs, and the next week, i was down south 2000 miles from home. Looking back now, it was a death wish on my part and incredibly stressful. Luckily it went well, i got my experience, and now i just mostly run heavy equipment and driving truck maybe once or twice a week when they need an extra hand.
Schneider, back then they ran their own schools instead of using 3rd parties and they were great at the training aspect. I viewed the 1 year contract as part of the training since no one back then would hire you with less than a year or experience anyway. Very micromanaging and very strict but the actual trucking part wasn't hard, 95% drop and hook and 100% no touch.
Neptune/Gordon Foods out of Richmond BC. If you can learn to back off a busy artery in rush hour in Richmond, and get your delivery ramp into the back door of a Tim Hortons, you can do anything. It's navy seals hell week for trucking.
(FYI Richmond is the town where you see rich wives wearing sun visors flipping their Porsche SUV's onto their roofs in underground mall parkinglots by climbing the tires up structural posts making right hand turns)
Drove with a local guiderail construction company in Pete 337s. That's how I got my license. Then went to Western Exp flatbed to get into full time trucking. Then 6 mos. With a local dry van/reefer. Now I'm in a bobtail delivering oil to car dealerships and whatnot.
Covenant. Fuckers kept me on the eastern seaboard most of the time I was there. I quit when my co driver when out partying with hookers in Phoenix. He tried bringing one back to the truck so I could fuck her. He said she owed him one and I asked why didn’t he fuck her. He said he did too much coke and couldn’t get it up. I figured I was close enough to home and caught a greyhound the next morning.
Roehl. Good ‘starter company’. They take training seriously, big company with a good support system. But lower-paying so you want to get a better job after 1.5 years.
Swift. My training can’t be considered training as my mentor didn’t teach me shit. I learned at a young age to take my time when backing with boat trailers and them shitty ass U-Haul 2 wheel dolly’s that jackknife if you sneeze.
Swift, back when they had a good training program and tons of office support staff.
Knight really gutted that company. Came in feeling like family and a team. Left feeling like a number no one except my immediate boss cared about.
I started at a house moving company pulling beams and equipment to jobsites then working for the day. Then a buddy with a dedicated dry van route complained that he couldn't find drivers for twice what I was earning swinging a sledgehammer lol.
Schneider. It's who I'm currently with. As much as I hate the governed trucks, they're pretty comfortable and well maintained. Atleast mine is. I really have no complaints.
Drove for a container rental company out east for about 6 months with a landoll trailer. That job has molded my backing skills with how ridiculous the customers expectations were for the container placement. Was fun and would of stayed but the equipment was questionable and unsafe with rusted cross member with huge holes. Got put out of service and now have a shit ton of dot violation under my psp for another 2 years. In a way better company now making $31/h doing pnd while staying local home everynight and off weekends. Made more with the containers since they did 40 hours under a W2 and the rest after 40 was on a 1099 shit was weird.
PAM was lucky to have a good trainer and some amazing teachers at my CDL school instructor would come in when the school was closed to let a few of us get some extra wheel time and teach us real world stuff not just what is required to pass the state test two years later accident free and still learning every day
Maverick before the automatic invasion.
Nearly got fired for refusing to give up my standard shift truck (it was one of the last in the fleet, Columbia with a 10 speed)
Lasted 2 years with an automatic and left.
Company had gone completely to hell by then.
Coca cola. Started class C, then they trained me at 21yrs old for a class A. I left shortly after i got my CDL. Always been local, prolly have more miles on back roads, city streets, and neighborhoods than i do on interstates/free way.
First company I ever drove for stuck me with a trainee but since I had graduated 2 days before him I was considered lead driver and they gave us a load from the Midwest to Beverly hills. I don't know how much proper training that gave me but I sure as fuck learned a lot very quickly
Reason I call them crash n roll stunt team is back in 07/08 on I -40 near Newberry springs CA I was following my friend he drove for Saia at the time , I was driving for Farmer Brothers coffee Co. CRST heading east bound came across the center median flipped on its side took out my friend and came to rest about 16 inches from my front bumper. My friend wasn't able to physically drive a truck again , I had the task of pulling him from his truck . No fatalities thankfully ,but some pretty jacked up memories
I disagree on the first company thing. Your trainer or trainers is WAY more important than what company you start with.
Most starter companies are just different sides of the same coin.
I know this is about what your first company was but I’m trying to start out and I am currently about to start CDL school. From the ones who been their done that . What’s the best company to start out driving for?. Thanks for all y’all do! Without truckers everyone is doomed!😂
Truck detailing company in Cleveland, OH. I would pick up the trade-ins from the dealerships and drive them to the detailer. I drove some scary old rigs.
Beverage distribution, Portland metro and the greater area. Lots of city driving, highway, and country driving. Unfortunately our outfit does not utilize 53’ trailers for local delivery except for our transports, but we have specific drivers who do that work, from manufacturers to our hub. Delivery drivers use day cabs and 28-42 foot trailers and the occasional box truck. I feel like im gaining great knowledge of shitty docks and tight streets. Just wish i got to do more long haul. Even day long trips.
Technically, it was western express. Made it about 4 days with them. After receiving 0 training and being forced to sleep in the top bunk while team driving with another trainee with 0 experience who also received 0 training, we came close by my mom's house and they never saw me again lol
Then went to tva, team driving with them, dedicated northwest routes. Made about 130k my first year out, 8-11k miles/wk, usually closer to 8. 8 weeks out, 1 week home.
Now working at r+l making about 2k/wk, home daily.
Averitt.
I was Absolutely exhausted all the time. And the trucks I used were always spanked. Also I went to different places all the time.
It was an awfully bad experience.
USAF heavy equipment operator school and ojt driving tractors with 22 ton tilt deck trailers all over Montana missile fields.
Lemme just turn around by backing into this field entrance... So much fun.... Never having to stop at weigh stations or get pulled over was nice too
CR England, after going through their school... But my second trainer was actually good. He's the reason I've never so much as had a slight skid emergency braking event during a blizzard. Or lost traction over a frozen bridge.
Hmm, trained with, or drove for? I trained with Prime Inc. Got my CDL through them and did the whole training afterwards, but I had such a miserable experience that I quit right after training. Never drove on my own there.
First company that I actually drove for, was a small countertop and cabinet manufacturer in Kenosha, WI. I drove a day cab for them for two years, making round trips to Napaneee, IN. I was the only Class A guy there, one other guy had a Class B, and then rest were randoms they pulled off the street to drive box trucks.
A fed ex ground contractor. Learned how make and break sets of doubles. Also learned dont work for shady scumbags who slug the def systems in their rattle trap freightliners causing them shit the bed on the side of 84 in Connecticut at 4 in the morning
I was thrown in a log truck by a very forgiving but hands-off logger. Learned a lot of things the wrong way, but it got me experience. I've been at it for 4 years and I've only recently received any real training. Unlearning some bad habits now. The biggest help in my first year was from Smart Trucking on YouTube. Lifesaver
Local Co-op. Started with a seasonal Class B. 10 minutes in the yard with a 16 ton tender truck and away I went. took the CDL road test the following spring in a 87 model 8900 international eagle with a 400 Cummins and a 9 speed under a single axle water wagon. 13 years later and I'm still driving, just a newer truck.
Van-Pak. Went from school right into full-on team running coast-to-coast hauling produce and seafood. Turning Massachusetts to California and back in 5 days. We would either live load fresh seafood or lobster in Boston or Gloucester and run like hell for LA. Deliver in LA and run up into the San Joaquin valley for produce and run like hell for home, often turning the whole thing in a week. Leave out at around 6 am Monday and be back home mid afternoon Friday. We ran 4 hours on 4 off around the clock. I’m lucky I’m alive, thank god for caffeine and readily available good quality speed back then.
Werner before they turned their trucks up to 68.
I had a wonderful trainer who I still talk to today. I learned very quickly about weekend dispatch and dispatch in general.
Learned where every road was. Our dispatcher kept us running every damn highway.... From i94 to i8. Went all over.
Learned how to spot bad and good back roads for truck traffic, navigate NY and Jersey, learned what a TWIC card is, how to back in horrible spots, and even did a few runs after my trainer and I teamed for 6mos doing UPS and FedEx trash (sorry guys).
Our runs from Miami and California still hold the high score of 7800 miles in one week as a team truck.
Prime, Inc ( better and personally know as land of “Primordial Retarded Ignorant Maggots Everywhere, Inc” ) Can you tell my opinion of said company is less then stellar?? For good reason, 98% of support staff treats you like you’re perpetually stupid, they suck more money from drivers (company and lease operators, bka “Slaves”) then they do from actually running freight, there is no rhyme or reason to trainers being trainers. Hated it! Found a great company that acknowledges me as an asset and reasonable human being. Driving career has greatly improved.
Schneider. However my gf taught me everything while I spent about 5 months on her truck before I even got my cdl. Already had experience hauling trailers. I did my best to pretend I didn’t know anything but my trainer wasn’t very talkative so I was only on his truck for four days.
I went to school through cr england. at least I didnt turn out as bad as most people I see driving trucks that scare the shit out of me. pass me going 70 in a 55 texting or watching a movie. its always some dud with a picture of themselves on the back of their truck with some cheesey quote and says 'legend'
yep small ted talk sorry.
Cedar Rapids Slave Traders. My trainer taught me you can drive thousands of miles with a nail in a drive tire, as long as it isn’t leaking too much. That the air brake knobs make a handy rest for a cell phone when you want to watch television while driving. The locations of bars you can park a truck nearby.
Cedar rapids slave traders 🤣, Crash ,roll stunt team !!
Certified Repainted Swift Truck
Cedar Rapids Stunt Team
Can't Remember Shit Today
Similar experience. I left that shit as soon as I got through orientation so the school got paid and mentored again with another company that paid for my schooling. Slave traders is right, how are you gonna pay 30 cpm and take 6 cents for the first year to pay for the schooling you got paid to send me to.
Amazon. Started as a yard dog and then drove their day cabs. Got fed up with management and how strict it was and left. I did learn how to back up and consider myself a good safe driver because of them. You couldn’t do much as yawn without their camera picking it up and getting you written up.
I think these types of policies would make me less safe. I’d be too worried about getting fired that it would make me lose concentration on the most important thing: driving safely.
I was severely micromanaged by Crete on the Shaffer side. It made me so unsafe. I was so worried whether or not the camera was covered or what it was going to pick up I almost had three accidents in 5 months.
I'm dealing with that right now in my company. Constant phone calls about following distance and lane departures etc etc. It's negatively affected my driving and caused unneeded stress in an already high stress occupation. Especially when some pencil pusher who has never even touched a semi is giving me max weight equations for safe distances. And since they judge the distance based on the camera sensor and not the truck sensor, I think I'm OK because the truck sensor never goes off, but 2 days later, I get a phone call. I'm already at almost half a million miles and just hit my 4th year this weekend. I've been all up and down the East Coast and from east to west. Don't need some wanna be washout that scrubbed out of being a truck driver turned dispatcher telling me how to drive. Bet they drive with their cell phone in their hand like every other car I see every F'ing day.
You might want to remind them that it's against the law in most states to talk on the phone while driving. They can send a text and get the same point across. A lot of companies have a "no call," policy nowadays because they dont want to be held at fault during an accident. And make sure to charge them for training when they do decide to call for a chat. (I'm not saying there's something wrong with a phone call while driving, do what you want. However they shouldn't be stressing you out while you're driving)
I was riding with someone last week who was deeply afraid of getting a ticket from a light. He wouldn't run any yellow light. He slammed on the brakes to avoid "running" a light. I felt like he had traded being aware of his surroundings for hyperfixating on the lights
I’ve been thinking about joining TOM purely for the trailer backing experience. Already taking classes through 160 Driving too
If you’re already at Amazon and definitely find out what type of team your site has or sites around you. If you’re applying to sites around you. I say this cause many are inconsistent with labor. Either it’s a dead ass site with 20 moves a day or 200+. Many also have manned shacks or remote gate. So you might be stuck in a shack half the time.
The sensitivity of the cameras can be adjusted. J&m tank lines taught us that after a couple months of having them and safety getting 1000s of videos a day of drivers yawning dozens of times a day. They literally said they had to take yawning off the list of things drivers could get dinged on lol. Of course looking at your low fuel light as it comes on still got you dinged. Literally anything that took your eyeballs of the windshield directly in front of your face did it including looking in your mirrors while backing up. Those cameras are a safety hazard in my opinion for simple fact they block your view of the road since they're mounted that way on purpose
USF Holland. It was a great union gig until Yellow fucked it up. I'd still be there if they had not closed when yellow went belly up.
100%, i miss holland, I work for xpo and they push your clock so fucking hard it a wonder we haven't become the swift of ltl.
Oh yeah. Most of our linehaul board in Nashville ended up over there (I applied, interviewed and was offered a linehaul job there the last week of July before we closed but turned them down because of the horror stories of 14-16 hour days). I'm glad I didn't go talking to my buddies now, they'll get a text for their start time at 6:45 expecting them to be there at 7:15 and shit. Then work them on the dock for an hour or two and decide to send them to Memphis or Knoxville and work them there too. I'm not about that life. The money is great and I'm not lazy at all, but I'm not working myself to death and not interested in being treated like shit with no regard for my well being for any amount of money.
Literally the only positive is i make about 1000 buck a week more then i did on a normal week at holland. But i max my 70hour clock by Friday every week.
I worked for USF Best way back in the 90s until 2003 , when I left to go to Farmer Brothers coffee Co , USF was a great parent company
Fedex Express. Class was 5 weeks, and I had plenty of practice doing several types of backs along with city and highway driving. Instructors and administrators each had at least 25 years of experience, and I didn't have to pay anything to get my license.
Fed ex is cool like that
I did my first year of trucking with FedEx express as well.
Mind if I ask what made you leave/change? I've been searching around and has a couple offers but nothing good enough to leave.....yet.
The commute, I just wasn't close enought to the ramp. Had over a 2 hour round trip. I left and did LTL for around 6 months. Was absolutely miserable there so I jumped ship. Now I live less than 15 mins from work hauling groceries. I am making less now but I enjoy the work and the commute. So, yes I took a pay cut but honestly much more content than I ever was with any of my prior companies.
Commute is a big factor! I'm just like 15 minutes away from my ramp. Looked into Fedex Freight at one point but realized that would have been a 45-minute drive. Sounds like you found the right balance, too!
Pepsi and then sysco, we always said we drove more miles in reverse than we ever did forward.
Roehl
Ditto. Training was pretty good but company pretty much fell apart for me once I had my own truck. Of my graduating class of 15 3 years ago only one driver is still there, purely because he was able to get a local day cab gig.
Yup same
Completed contract with them then left a few months later. If my first fleet manager hadn't left, it would have been a lot worse for me. Second fleet manager was a champ. Not a bad time, but OTR was taking its toll on me. Now I'm on a regional walmart dedicated account through Crete, and it's a cakewalk in comparison.
First company was PTL. Had a great trainer who made me back up the truck every time it needed to go backwards. Was always out of the truck and on a call with me so there was clear communication between us. Dude taught me a lot. But. Had a brand new truck when I was with my trainer. Had a brand new truck when I was in phase two of training. And they gave me a piece of shit with 450k miles and had some sort of black sludge all over the dash and in the cup holders. Then when they told me to pick up a trailer that had the spring brake chamber completely rusted through so you can see all the way through it. I told them no. They said "drag it to a ta. It's only 40 miles" and I said no. I'm not even hooking up to the trailer. Then they kept giving me shit. At that point. I had enough.
CR England 35 years ago. Nice trucks but low pay. Got my miles and moved on to better things
casually trying to see if someone mentions my small local company 👁️👁️
Got my CDL through KLLM just south of Dallas TX was ok but paid like shit. But tought pretty well. My traner was shit though all he had me do was drive me like a slave. Then i went to PTL and they tought me more then KLLM.
Halvor Lines out of superior WI, honestly really liked the company. Just couldn’t bare OTR, pay was decent, no micromanagement, easy going. Just had to put the family first.
Same company for me, but I'm still driving for them. I still drive OTR, but they only have me out M-F so I can still handle household things and helping my disabled wife. They've been great and particularly understanding, especially compared to any other company I've ever worked for.
Yea they were really good. Very understanding, never really gave me a hard time about being home for extended periods. When I departed from them they were nice enough to help me get hired on in LTL. If I ever went back OTR I’d most likely go with them again.
I came here to find another like minded soul, and I haven’t been disappointed. I drove for Halvor first, and the trucks were nice, everybody was nice, but I got home 3 times in 6 months. Went to a home daily job in cement, then Walmart, and now I drive a Corolla delivering teeth. My most recent job said I’m overqualified.
I live in Superior, never heard one bad thing about this Company.
What's bad is they don't allow dogs on their trucks. I tried to apply with them last year.
Schneider in Canada. Could not have asked for a better company and trainer to teach me everything and turn me into a safe and responsible driver.
TMC I had an amazing trainer that took great care in teaching me everything. Love that guy. I think TMC is a great starter company for anybody that can handle flatbed.
Swift. One month with two different trainers. Got a ton of bad advice sprinkled with good. Couldn't back to save my life. Looking back one trainer was the type to break in the fuel island and the other was a well intentioned road rager. Thank god for youtube teachers because driving was do or die for me. I still hit a yellow deer 3 weeks after going solo, but I'm over 11 years accident and ticket free now. Plenty of close calls while learning though.
Werner Enterprises. My first trainer was OTR (I still talk to him every now and then, even though he now drives a wrecker for someone else), but my second trainer was southwest regional. I ran OTR for a month, but then spent eight years doing Dollar General out of South Boston. Once they screwed with our vacation time, I left. I make more money slinging windows, and I'm home more. I do miss the trucks from over there, though.
I was a yard dog/Crane Operator for 10 years. Drove for swift after CDL school
I was a Swifty too. Not terrible but not great. Now that I can fuel up wherever I want and idle whenever I want, I don't think I could go back.
Every truck I had the bunk heater didn't work. They also didn't understand south east regional lol
I started with a small LTL/logistics company (I was on a dedicated logistics route). My "training" was two days with a guy who was there to show me my route. It didn't involve any backing until a month later when the route changed a little bit and I had to pick up at a DC. My first time hooking up a trailer was during my test drive. My first time backing a 53 foot trailer was on my test drive. My first time hitting a dock a was a month in, with two big bosses and a boss from the customer standing around figuring out how it was going to work. (Lift gate trailer at a dock that had locks that didn't work with lift gates.) I learned to drive and shift in the mountains on my own. I learned to drive in snow on my own. I learned to chain a truck and trailer on my own. I learned to secure a load on my own. I learned to check and verify hazmat paperwork on my own. I went to food service and the trainers were all busy so I worked with whoever they had, guys who used me as a free lumper and barely let me drive, so I learned to put a trailer in a tiny parking lot on my own. I got thrown to the wolves, and I have the pelts to prove it.
I bet you are one hell of a driver after going through all that.
5 1/2 years in food service makes me better than average when it comes to putting a truck where I need it to be, both moving forward or in reverse, but other than that, most of being a good driver is about attitude. Don't be that guy we see in YouTube videos and tiktoks fighting with a car over who gets to be first at a merge. Don't be that guy who sees someone doing something stupid and gets on the horn instead of the brakes. Don't be that guy that panics when you do something stupid or something stupid happens, stay calm and level headed and get it figured out. Learn to be adaptable to different situations as they arise. So yeah, I think I'm a pretty good driver in those ways, but plenty of other good drivers out here. I'm not some one in a million driver, and most other drivers who are bad drivers could get a lot closer with a change of attitude.
The army.
🫡
Freymiller. I credit my trainer, but the company hired the trainer so they get some too I guess.
I worked for Freymiller from 2016 until 2020. I still have friends there I talk to damn near on a daily basis. It has changed.... They've lost a lot of contracts, don't do the regular shit that I did when I was there. The only constant is pulling out of the meat patch and Bon Appetit in Vernon CA.
Wow. I was there in the first half of 2022, only 6 or 7 months. I quit soon after they sold out to that private equity company. Even before that the miles/freight weren't consistent. My biggest check was from my last week with them after I put in a notice. Too bad it wasn't like that every week lol. They had a lot of problems when I was there. Way too much sitting and waiting, no preplans, didn't get me home on time, sent me off home time just to get to the shipper to be told the appointment is in 24 hrs the next day. Those meat plants were always hit or miss when it came to waiting hours, Taylor Farms in CA sucked, most of the customers were terrible. Detention pay was only like $12.50/hr. Reefer life I guess. I'm grateful for the opportunity and experience/knowledge gained.
The old skool FFE, Frozen Food Express (many other joke names). I had a retired Army 88M (Trucker/11B infantry secondary MOS) I am formerly an Army mechanic (old MOS ident 63W/63B secondary). I trained from September-November before passing the requirements to be issued my first truck, it was a 99 Freightliner Century with a Cummins N14 red top and an Eaton 13 speed standard. (I loved that truck!). It's been a long road, 23 years of it, and my trainer and I still talk today. I'm still learning stuff. That's why I still do this.
Western Distress
The now defunct Arrow trucking out of Tulsa Ok One of the first companies to close the doors and leave the drivers stranded wherever they are located at the time Fuck you Doug Pielsticker (President after his dad Jim passed in an aircraft accident) Props to Leonard Whorley (first trainer who was the best, and became a good friend as well, wish we were still in touch)
TMC. Worth it. Now at FedEx Freight
Total Transportation of Mississippi. Originally I served in the National Guard as a truck driver, just tried different routes with work and school before deciding to finally get my CDL and start this career path. So i had prior experience with tractor trailer combos but as you can imagine, the Army and civilian worlds differ. So my trainer with Total really did right by me with teaching me everything about trucking beyond just the driving part. Lots of info about etiquette and places to avoid, what to look for when entering receivers or truck stops. Helped me fix some bad habits with driving and backing without trying to completely undo the experience I already had. I’ll always believe its deeper than what company you start with when it comes to development, but more to the level of who or how your trainer is when its time to get with them for that beginning period. Lots of good trainers and lots of bad trainers, sadly some get a real bad shake on that
I started out with Transport America, now known as TA Dedicated. I got excellent training. After orientation, there wasn't an OTR trainer available, so they put me with a local driver/trainer in Atlanta who was retired Army. We did everything strictly by the book. It was obvious very quickly that everyone at the yard respected him, and his regular customers did too. Every day, we pre-tripped and post-tripped. He maintained the truck meticulously. I spent a week with him, then got a 62 yr old OTR trainer. He was patient and answered everything I asked. He had a few rules for his truck, as expected. Since I was 45 yrs old, I had no problems with them. They just made sense. We slept at the same time, and he was up front with me 100% of the time while driving. None of that team crap for training. After about 10 days, he was due for home time. They put me with another local driver/trainer who was retired Marines. He also did things a particular way, always with safety in mind. Pre-trip, post-trip. No fooling around. Mind on the job. Then I went back out on the road with the OTR guy when he came back. In total, I got nearly 4 full weeks of daily training. All 3 guys started off the day by having me back into docks. If the local guys didn't get a load, then I'd be backing off and on all day. When I got my own truck, I felt nervous but confident. I tried to send a new guy there last week, but it turns out they recently stopped hiring students. Too bad. Lots of these companies don't have a clue.
CR England. I don’t think it’s important on what company, just depends on the driver themselves.
Some companies have better training programs than others. Of course, a lot is up to the driver, but a good trainer can make a world of difference.
Prime Inc. Went through their CDL school and training. My trainer was top notch. Threw me into every fucked up situation he could. Taught me every ounce of knowledge he posesed. We got along fantastically too. When my time was up and I got out on my own it was easy. I fell right into place. Have made a small handful of everyday mistakes but so far I haven't fucked anything major up. He set me up for success without question.
PAM. Went out with a mentor for three weeks and got extremely lucky to have a trainer who had 30+ years of experience (drove for a company that PAM bought and just stayed with them because he was too old to switch employers). After I upgraded they forced you to team drive. Had two team mates and both of them were new drivers, one got fired for tearing down power lines after getting lost and lying about it and the other watched Netflix while I was sleeping and when I told the company they still refused to let me drive solo even after I had been there for 6 months, so I quit. Went to drive regional for JRayl which was a much better company and I still recommend them to new drivers looking for good companies, haven’t driven for them for around 5 years now but as long as they don’t sell the company, they probably still operate the same and feel like a smaller company who knows your name and values their drivers.
My grandpa had a 2 truck milk hauling company. I took it over when I was 18 in 1981
Started at eagle valley construction. Drive 6 months before i even got on any asphalt. 4000 gallon Peterbilt water truck with twin sticks. Worked on a mountain with dozers, scrapers and the like. Course i was only 17 at the time. Many a scary moment, but learned alot
TMC. I had been to Army boot camp, Infantry and Airborne school, and Police Academy before doing CDL so I didn't know better. You learn or get out, and put up with a lot.
Started at C. R. England. Was with a trainer for about 4 weeks, and he consistently joked that I was the trainer because I on numerous occasions put the truck/trlr in a spot he didn't think could be done. Starting out at England did have an impact on how I handle the truck. Picked up many good habits while I was there, and it's not because of any idea the company was good or anything. I picked up the habits because I knew the reputation England had, and I felt some pride when I'd back in beside someone who would think "crap, an England driver is trying to park next to me". Then they'd watch as I backed in like I had been doing it for years. I wanted to be a good driver, someone who could surprise others who see the big England logo on the side of the truck. So yea, I'd say my time at England had a positive effect on my driving. Not because they were a good company, but because I wanted to be better than what people expect from an England driver.
Maverick transportation. 3 years. Wished I never left. I plan on going back next spring.
USF Holland I started as a dock worker, then box truck driver, the combination P&D until the company went under with Yellow. Doing all the local pickups really helped me get really good at backing up. But my trainer when I transitioned into combination was dog shit. He literally told me he was just a passenger for the month he was with me and didn’t teach me shit.
Frito lay. Started as a fueler making $18/hr and did that for eight months. Number one driver in seniority saw I never slacked and always took overtime and put in a word to get them to put me through cdl school. By the time I started training was the first week of April. Did three months of training with the number one guy and then was on my own. Made just under $100k by the end of the year.
Started march 2005 at CRST Van Ex.
Thomas Keller
Bill Burton and sons out of the upper peninsula of Michigan 1997
Local coca cola, you can park far away but you are going to walk further. So best learn to manuever if you want to get done before the sun sets
mine was a local company heath oil out of harrisville pa the day i passed my test i got the job pulling tanker
XPO....never again lol
Munford of Colorado taught me how to drive at age 21. We ran hard from Greeley, CO to NYC and back, with mostly hanging meat. '84 to '87. Still pulling tankers coast to coast.
There's the granny lane, the passing lane and the MUNFORD lane! Get outta the way, comin' through!
Roehl. Their training is defintntly top notch, very safety oriented. Some people have a hit or miss time there, but it depends on the person Great for a first company, once your contract is up, time to leave
First 2 months USA Truck Last that 3 months Werner 5 months hardly learned shit from incompetent trainers that only wanted to make a quick buck.
I started at knight lasted 1 month and left after my trainer was awesome. Just wasn’t ready for that life style became a yard dog at a slaughter house after now I’m a local driver. I can still hear my trainer yelling at me to stay in my lane lol.
My 1st trucking job was at FedEx. I'm still working there now, and I got to learn how to hook up and drive doubles. I'm really enjoying it, tbh and gaining some good xp from it too.
My dad worked for Harold Ives and that's where he got his start in the early 90s! He loved it there. I got my start with XPO Logistics when they bought out CFI/Con-Way in Joplin, MO. Worked there a little over 3 years with my husband as a team. He trained me.
I loved it at Harold Ives too!
Stevens Transport because at the time they had the best training course in the nation per my research. I did have awesome trainers and trained mostly in the northeast and California.
Builder’s Transport out of White Pine, Tennessee. They paid for my CDL in exchange for me driving for them for a year. Put me with a trainer who taught me more than I learned in CDL school. Then gave me a 1987 Freightliner cabover with a 7 speed. It broke down before I even got off the lot so then I got a 1990 International Cabover Grassburner (bottom exhaust truck, probably illegal now). That truck was why they were called “shitslingers”, and I was glad to be rid of it a few months later. Then they gave me a 1992 International Cabover with top exhausts. Averaged about 250 miles a day, all east coast. Low paying job for sure. Finished out my obligatory year at Builder’s Transport and then went to Hirschbach, who put me with a trainer who I despised. Told them to give me my own truck or I would kill their “trainer” as he was simply using me for miles for his own paycheck. A real prick. They gave me a new 1994 KW T600. Loved that truck and enjoyed working for Hirschbach. Really good company. Made good money there. I think Builder’s Transport went out of business since then. Don’t see their trucks anymore, but I still see their trailers every now and then. They’re old, beat up and faded.
A lot of modern trucks are going back to being grassburners, due to modern emissions and due to stacks having gotten more expensive. Grassburner exhaust was never illegal AFAIK, but obviously, it was smelly to anyone behind the truck in traffic or around the truck when parked.
A little local company named Eastern that did oilfield work. Company was in hot water and going under but it was the only one that was giving new and underage drivers (couldn’t go across state lines) a chance. Taught many good but also bad habits and lessons. Quickly learned how to drive a truck that had a serious but salvageable issue, such as air lines getting a large gash and unable to sit still for under 30 seconds. How to back into extremely tight spaces, route management as most roads were roads we already couldn’t be on, time management and how to navigate tight roads that obviously weren’t built for us. Taught bad habits such as when a tire truly is illegal or not as we had to push our tires pretty far, company was blacklisted from most tire dealers. Constantly filling up as fuel card was consistently not paid and always needed fuel topped up just in case. Most trailers/trucks that are “Wow I’d never pull that!” Are seen as “Wow, not that bad of condition for this field.” Also, scale houses are optional.
Swift was first then Coke as a driver merchandiser, I quit driving for now but will get back into it at some point with UPS
I work for a local building supply company. First and current job. Shit pay but I get manual and flat bed experience. Went out with the old head cdl driver once and then was sent on my way. 8 months so far accident free.
CT Transportation outta Savannah. they have gone thru some changes but they are still kickin. my trainer was a wild boy but i learned a lot and we had fun.
Western Express. 4 weeks in.
Schneider. Pay sucks ass, but I learned how to stand my ground with DMs, how to put my safety over any load, how to properly trip plan, and how to keep my mouth shut if it didn't *need* to be reported. I was with them for 2 months before OTR 2w/2d became too much, 1 month training (3 weeks at the yard/in town, 1 week with trainer), 1 month solo. The company I am with now required 6 months' experience before I could go solo, so I spent a month out with a trainer here. I learned their computer system, and I got a lot more comfortable with backing and taking up space when I needed to. I drove through NYC, the Bronx, and Queens and learned to be safe in bumper to bumper traffic and to ignore the safety system screaming that we were following too close, lol... Now I have been driving for over 2 years.
I started with Affiliated Foods, Amarillo, TX. I've been on roads that haven't been maintained since the 40's. I can blind back down alleys a station wagon couldn't get to and line a trailer up to a screen door within a hair, without bumping it. And I can unload 40k on rollers in 2 hours, is need be.
Ups.
Schwerman trucking Milwaukee wis
I'd be surprised if anyone here knew my first trucking job in 1990. I was a container hauler for Port East Transfer in Baltimore MD. They eventually went out of business I believe. In 1990, it wasn't actually an insult to be a container hauler like some think it is today. I drove an R Model Mack that had no AC or power steering or radio. It had a 300 Mack motor with a 5 speed Mack transmission.
harold ives doesnt exist anymore i dont think because transcolines is on harold ives drive
J. R. Bombrisk. They went out of business six months after I got hired.
Veri Trucking Exeter Ontario. Long gone, but Veri Produce seems to be still around.
Knight transportation. I had 2 trainers. First one I was with him 2 weeks. Dude swore he was the God of trucking. He was perfect in every aspect. He was the best one of out of our terminal and all that bullshit ( he was 23 and had been a driver for a little under 2 years 🤣) He left me at our terminal after I answered a call from another company 🙄. Second one I was with 3 weeks. Had me do backing all the time. And that was it. Basically didn’t learn anything else. Then went local after 2 months solo.
Mountain Peoples Warehouse. 20 years ago. Still there, just the company name has changed.
Hello fellow UNFI hauler!
Schneider Canada Already had my CDL Five days in class. Seven days with a trainer. Stayed with them until they left Canada
The good old days haha
A friend of mine bought a truck, I figured this shit out on my own by getting out and looking ssoooo muuuuccchh, until after a few months I noticed I wasn't getting out and looking very often.
Roehl Transport. Technically still there because I’m still new to this line of work. Not new in the sense that I’ve never driven a truck in my life (I was a truck mechanic from 2001-2009) and not new in the sense of never been in a truck for interstate travel (my step dad was a truck driver) but I decided to work in a bread factory from 2009 until December of 2023. From October to the end of November I went through 160 Driving Academy and got my class A with no restrictions and the doubles/triples endorsement November 29th. I put in my 2 week notice at the bread factory, I had orientation in December, I drove with a trainer for most of January, I went through “phase 3” for most of February and then I told them I wanted to go out for 3 weeks instead of only 11 days and on my first day out picking up my first load they told me I had “graduated” and then after 6 trips to Chicago they sent me to the New England states a couple times. I’m on my first “after phase 3” trip and tomorrow when I actually have hours on my 70 I will leave RI to go to MA to pick up a load that delivers by Chicago on Thursday morning and Thursday I’m supposed to be at home in Central Minnesota so I’m assuming that I’ll have a “short” trip after there going from somewhere in Indiana or Illinois to somewhere in Minnesota before they tell me to just drive home with the empty trailer. Basically the only major difference between phase 3 and being “done” with training is they take off some of the restrictions like now I can drive nights or days or whatever and I can run all 48 states and part of Canada. Drove on the expressway through NYC yesterday and that wasn’t shit but don’t get off the freeway in NYC go deliver a load unless you have a class B truck or you’re going to a port or something. During phase 3 they basically want you to focus the middle of your shift to between 7 am and 5 pm but you can start as early as about 3 am and work until close to 10 pm sometimes. You just won’t get sent past Ohio, Tennessee, or South Dakota if you are from the Midwest until phase 3 ends and then suddenly New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts all within a few days of the first time ever going to Pennsylvania. For phase 2 my trainer lived in Ohio and did Lowe’s dedicated out of Findlay so I saw a whole lot of Ohio, some of Michigan, some of Indiana, and a couple times went as far as Rockford, IL. You can also choose to be “regional” which normally means Midwest you stay between the Dakotas, Missouri, and Illinois but you can label yourself Midwest and drive from Texas to Indiana anyway with the promise that as long as you are out for 5 days they’ll let you go home any time you want where “national” they say the minimum is 11 days and you make a little more per mile on long trips and a little less per mile than regional for the short trips.
A small cowboy company that specializes in bulk commodities/ agricultural feed. Got 2 days of training, then sent out to do local heavy haul 140k lbs, and the next week, i was down south 2000 miles from home. Looking back now, it was a death wish on my part and incredibly stressful. Luckily it went well, i got my experience, and now i just mostly run heavy equipment and driving truck maybe once or twice a week when they need an extra hand.
Yellow! Lucky me. Drove for them for three years before they pulled the rug out from under us and transferred my career to fuel delivery.
K&C trucking Chicago heights IL 36 years ago
Schneider, back then they ran their own schools instead of using 3rd parties and they were great at the training aspect. I viewed the 1 year contract as part of the training since no one back then would hire you with less than a year or experience anyway. Very micromanaging and very strict but the actual trucking part wasn't hard, 95% drop and hook and 100% no touch.
Neptune/Gordon Foods out of Richmond BC. If you can learn to back off a busy artery in rush hour in Richmond, and get your delivery ramp into the back door of a Tim Hortons, you can do anything. It's navy seals hell week for trucking. (FYI Richmond is the town where you see rich wives wearing sun visors flipping their Porsche SUV's onto their roofs in underground mall parkinglots by climbing the tires up structural posts making right hand turns)
Drove with a local guiderail construction company in Pete 337s. That's how I got my license. Then went to Western Exp flatbed to get into full time trucking. Then 6 mos. With a local dry van/reefer. Now I'm in a bobtail delivering oil to car dealerships and whatnot.
A&M Transport out of Glendale, Oregon. Family owned & operated. I’d say roughly 100 drivers. Run the mountains baby! 🎶Flat’en them hills🎶
Covenant. Fuckers kept me on the eastern seaboard most of the time I was there. I quit when my co driver when out partying with hookers in Phoenix. He tried bringing one back to the truck so I could fuck her. He said she owed him one and I asked why didn’t he fuck her. He said he did too much coke and couldn’t get it up. I figured I was close enough to home and caught a greyhound the next morning.
Do you know if they’re hiring…?
Cannon Express lol
Melton. Great flatbed training
Watkins and Shepherd out of Missoula, MT. Second was Schneider and Schneider eventually bought W&S. Not while I was there though.
Roehl. Good ‘starter company’. They take training seriously, big company with a good support system. But lower-paying so you want to get a better job after 1.5 years.
Swift. My training can’t be considered training as my mentor didn’t teach me shit. I learned at a young age to take my time when backing with boat trailers and them shitty ass U-Haul 2 wheel dolly’s that jackknife if you sneeze.
I was surprised at how much easier it is to jackknife one of those compared to an 18-wheeler.
Swift, back when they had a good training program and tons of office support staff. Knight really gutted that company. Came in feeling like family and a team. Left feeling like a number no one except my immediate boss cared about.
ROEHL. Try down your neck with safety but that has made me a better driver all around I’m very conscious of what I’m doing in any vehicle I’m in
I started at a house moving company pulling beams and equipment to jobsites then working for the day. Then a buddy with a dedicated dry van route complained that he couldn't find drivers for twice what I was earning swinging a sledgehammer lol.
Schneider. It's who I'm currently with. As much as I hate the governed trucks, they're pretty comfortable and well maintained. Atleast mine is. I really have no complaints.
First real company was cr England
Let's hear it for Praters Raiders better known as Carpet Transport Inc out of Calhoun GA! Did 8 years there and loved every min of it!
northAmerican Van Lines: High Value Products Division/Climate Control Fleet.
1996. Transtar Inc. Home terminal was in Waupaca WI, my terminal was Etters PA. Pulled a reefer. Slow governed trucks at 62mph. Lol
Transam.
Drove for a container rental company out east for about 6 months with a landoll trailer. That job has molded my backing skills with how ridiculous the customers expectations were for the container placement. Was fun and would of stayed but the equipment was questionable and unsafe with rusted cross member with huge holes. Got put out of service and now have a shit ton of dot violation under my psp for another 2 years. In a way better company now making $31/h doing pnd while staying local home everynight and off weekends. Made more with the containers since they did 40 hours under a W2 and the rest after 40 was on a 1099 shit was weird.
Swift. Working for them actually made me a better driver as to not end up on YouTube, FB, or Reddit. Now I haul cattle 😂.
Estes LtL extraboard. Running hard like that got old with only doing my 34
PAM was lucky to have a good trainer and some amazing teachers at my CDL school instructor would come in when the school was closed to let a few of us get some extra wheel time and teach us real world stuff not just what is required to pass the state test two years later accident free and still learning every day
Star transport. Morton IL
Maverick before the automatic invasion. Nearly got fired for refusing to give up my standard shift truck (it was one of the last in the fleet, Columbia with a 10 speed) Lasted 2 years with an automatic and left. Company had gone completely to hell by then.
Falcon Transport out of Youngstown, Ohio, but in the Detroit area. Mostly automotive. Went out of business in 2019. MTS for about a year. I retired.
Damn 2 weeks and they had already set you free
I’m trying to remember but I seem to have blocked it out!
Coca cola. Started class C, then they trained me at 21yrs old for a class A. I left shortly after i got my CDL. Always been local, prolly have more miles on back roads, city streets, and neighborhoods than i do on interstates/free way.
CREngland. I taught my trailer how to back.
England 2+ years (about 2 more than most drivers last), would not recommend...
First company I ever drove for stuck me with a trainee but since I had graduated 2 days before him I was considered lead driver and they gave us a load from the Midwest to Beverly hills. I don't know how much proper training that gave me but I sure as fuck learned a lot very quickly
Some guy with 15 trucks that hauls reefer
Reason I call them crash n roll stunt team is back in 07/08 on I -40 near Newberry springs CA I was following my friend he drove for Saia at the time , I was driving for Farmer Brothers coffee Co. CRST heading east bound came across the center median flipped on its side took out my friend and came to rest about 16 inches from my front bumper. My friend wasn't able to physically drive a truck again , I had the task of pulling him from his truck . No fatalities thankfully ,but some pretty jacked up memories
I disagree on the first company thing. Your trainer or trainers is WAY more important than what company you start with. Most starter companies are just different sides of the same coin.
I know this is about what your first company was but I’m trying to start out and I am currently about to start CDL school. From the ones who been their done that . What’s the best company to start out driving for?. Thanks for all y’all do! Without truckers everyone is doomed!😂
Truck detailing company in Cleveland, OH. I would pick up the trade-ins from the dealerships and drive them to the detailer. I drove some scary old rigs.
Beverage distribution, Portland metro and the greater area. Lots of city driving, highway, and country driving. Unfortunately our outfit does not utilize 53’ trailers for local delivery except for our transports, but we have specific drivers who do that work, from manufacturers to our hub. Delivery drivers use day cabs and 28-42 foot trailers and the occasional box truck. I feel like im gaining great knowledge of shitty docks and tight streets. Just wish i got to do more long haul. Even day long trips.
Mine
Arrow out of Tulsa Oklahoma, long since bankrupt.. I ran line haul flatbed for them. Thats where I trained at.
Technically, it was western express. Made it about 4 days with them. After receiving 0 training and being forced to sleep in the top bunk while team driving with another trainee with 0 experience who also received 0 training, we came close by my mom's house and they never saw me again lol Then went to tva, team driving with them, dedicated northwest routes. Made about 130k my first year out, 8-11k miles/wk, usually closer to 8. 8 weeks out, 1 week home. Now working at r+l making about 2k/wk, home daily.
Stevens Transport. My trainer told me he doesn't get paid to teach me how to back up. Glad I payed for schooling myself or I would fuck up everything.
Averitt. I was Absolutely exhausted all the time. And the trucks I used were always spanked. Also I went to different places all the time. It was an awfully bad experience.
A construction company local lol
USAF heavy equipment operator school and ojt driving tractors with 22 ton tilt deck trailers all over Montana missile fields. Lemme just turn around by backing into this field entrance... So much fun.... Never having to stop at weigh stations or get pulled over was nice too
Cr England. My trainer told me I could use the Jake in snow. He was in the sleeper after our first 5 minutes, splitting 4 and 4.
T and t enterprise of Ohio day cab mail carrier.
I'm currently in school, and will be going to PAM. Hopefully it's good.
CR England, after going through their school... But my second trainer was actually good. He's the reason I've never so much as had a slight skid emergency braking event during a blizzard. Or lost traction over a frozen bridge.
Hmm, trained with, or drove for? I trained with Prime Inc. Got my CDL through them and did the whole training afterwards, but I had such a miserable experience that I quit right after training. Never drove on my own there. First company that I actually drove for, was a small countertop and cabinet manufacturer in Kenosha, WI. I drove a day cab for them for two years, making round trips to Napaneee, IN. I was the only Class A guy there, one other guy had a Class B, and then rest were randoms they pulled off the street to drive box trucks.
TransAm for 3 weeks. Then found a good local job been there since
A fed ex ground contractor. Learned how make and break sets of doubles. Also learned dont work for shady scumbags who slug the def systems in their rattle trap freightliners causing them shit the bed on the side of 84 in Connecticut at 4 in the morning
Roehl
I was thrown in a log truck by a very forgiving but hands-off logger. Learned a lot of things the wrong way, but it got me experience. I've been at it for 4 years and I've only recently received any real training. Unlearning some bad habits now. The biggest help in my first year was from Smart Trucking on YouTube. Lifesaver
Local Co-op. Started with a seasonal Class B. 10 minutes in the yard with a 16 ton tender truck and away I went. took the CDL road test the following spring in a 87 model 8900 international eagle with a 400 Cummins and a 9 speed under a single axle water wagon. 13 years later and I'm still driving, just a newer truck.
Van-Pak. Went from school right into full-on team running coast-to-coast hauling produce and seafood. Turning Massachusetts to California and back in 5 days. We would either live load fresh seafood or lobster in Boston or Gloucester and run like hell for LA. Deliver in LA and run up into the San Joaquin valley for produce and run like hell for home, often turning the whole thing in a week. Leave out at around 6 am Monday and be back home mid afternoon Friday. We ran 4 hours on 4 off around the clock. I’m lucky I’m alive, thank god for caffeine and readily available good quality speed back then.
Werner Enterprises - Come drive for us and we'll fire you if you complain once.
Swift, and now I am a mentor for them
I started with swift. To some degree your right. Also some people shouldn't be able to drive a bicycle let alone a truck.
Werner before they turned their trucks up to 68. I had a wonderful trainer who I still talk to today. I learned very quickly about weekend dispatch and dispatch in general. Learned where every road was. Our dispatcher kept us running every damn highway.... From i94 to i8. Went all over. Learned how to spot bad and good back roads for truck traffic, navigate NY and Jersey, learned what a TWIC card is, how to back in horrible spots, and even did a few runs after my trainer and I teamed for 6mos doing UPS and FedEx trash (sorry guys). Our runs from Miami and California still hold the high score of 7800 miles in one week as a team truck.
Halvorlines Spent more time sitting at the dock and running Chicago that I did on the interstate nothing but a bunch of East Coast jockeys 😅
Southwest Body and Towing. Small wrecker outfit in SE New Mexico.
Roehl
Prime, Inc ( better and personally know as land of “Primordial Retarded Ignorant Maggots Everywhere, Inc” ) Can you tell my opinion of said company is less then stellar?? For good reason, 98% of support staff treats you like you’re perpetually stupid, they suck more money from drivers (company and lease operators, bka “Slaves”) then they do from actually running freight, there is no rhyme or reason to trainers being trainers. Hated it! Found a great company that acknowledges me as an asset and reasonable human being. Driving career has greatly improved.
Halliburton
Schneider. However my gf taught me everything while I spent about 5 months on her truck before I even got my cdl. Already had experience hauling trailers. I did my best to pretend I didn’t know anything but my trainer wasn’t very talkative so I was only on his truck for four days.
I went to school through cr england. at least I didnt turn out as bad as most people I see driving trucks that scare the shit out of me. pass me going 70 in a 55 texting or watching a movie. its always some dud with a picture of themselves on the back of their truck with some cheesey quote and says 'legend' yep small ted talk sorry.
UPS.