I have been in the same trade for over 20 years and I am just really tired of it and am seeking the challenge of learning something else. I have been reading these boards for a couple of weeks and have really appreciated all the information.

I am currently working a 40 hour m-f job earning 50k. I have contacted Sneider about their training program. The recruiter said that he had dedicated jobs where a few drivers would share the same truck and I would work 5 days and be home 2. Does this sound right, I have not read about such a thing on these boards?

He also said I would have to commit to driving for them for 1 year and I could expect to earn 40k. How possible is it for someone new to earn what I am presently making? Would I be better off paying for training on my own, would that increase my first year earning potential by not being locking into Sneider for example?

One more question, are there part time driving opportunities where I could maybe drive on weekends and get experience and see if it like it before jumping completely in?

Thanks, Tom

 

Go to a school of your choice, check into Tech-schools and Comm. Colleges. Do you have Hope Grant in your home state? Dont lock yourself down by signing contracts with carriers that guarantee you nothing.

 

You have an 8 to 5 making 50 k and you want a change,rof
Change your cloths, change your car, change your hobbies , etc, rof.
You will be several years trying to make 5 k a year at trucking and you will work 60 to 100 hours a week and be lucky if you get home on weekends.
I had an 8 to 5 masking 44k a year and it closed with a one hoiur notice.
I was not able to find anothewr to duplicate it but am still trying.
Npow don't get me wrong, I like trucking but it is to many hours for the pay.
I was burned out as a mechanic for 31 years and was kinda glad that the place I worked at closed but now that I look back it wasn't as bad because at least after 5 I was home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would never go back into wrenching but would take some thing that gets me home every night in another career.
Maybe after 2 years I will be able to get local.
I am starting to get used to being gone all week and home every weekend and am going to push 50 k a year in my first year but that ism working very ,very, hard all week.lol( put mildly)ROF
But nothing beats being home every day and in your own bed!!!!!!!!!!
I paid my own way for sc hool and that way I wasn't committed to any one and it was a very good choice.
You may be abl to get WIA to help pay ssome, I did.
8 to 5 with a one hour lunch jobs after 31 years,lol not many out there now, good luck.

 

pay for your own school and not be in servitude to any company for your training

 

Thanks for the feedback. From your responses that I would be better off getting my own training. The local community college offers a cdl program but it is not PTDI certified. Does that really make a difference assuming it is a comprehensive program?

How about the dedicated route that the Schneider rep referred to, home two days every week? What exactly is a "dedicated" job?

How about part time. Is there such a thing in the trucking industry?

 

PTDI certified = It appears most of the training companies are wanting PTDI certified schools.

dedicated route = Normally you pickup at certain customers then deliver to another customer. Schneider has several such accounts. Biggest problem I seen with their accounts is the driver has to unload. My brother has a dedicated route and it is 100% driver unload. He normally has 3 stops per load. Then dead-heads back to the customer's location. He normally gets home on friday evening and leaves sunday night.

part time = Very few driving jobs use P/T drivers. The few that do normally want someone with several years of driving.

kc0iv

 

You would be much better off getting a CDL on your own through a school preferably a community college than going to Schneider.

If you do choose Schneider avoid going to Green Bay to train.....they have several other locations available.

 

check out http://www.roehl.net/RoehlTransportWeb/homepage.aspx lots of home time options pretty good pay different trailer options good company starting out Ive been there year and half made close to 50k my first year but I'm also flatbed so it pays a little more.

 

odious1 ..
...

please don't cut yourself short going to a school that doesn't have you graduating without PTDI certified ... it would be a waste of your time and money to cut corners with your schooling. Alot of company's won't even talk to you if you don't have PTDI !! ... You may want to look at CFI if your in their hiring area .... they will pay part of your schooling and you won't sign a contract. ... Their a good company.

 

A good friend of mine, a machinist, went to work one day and found out they shut the doors for good, no warning.

He called me up wondering about trucking. I have my own authority and owned a few trucks at that time. I could not hire him at the time, or I would have. I told him it would not be easy, and don't even think of making $60 thousand or more a year as he was used to. He was 60 years old, and looking to pull vans, flatbeds were out of the picture for him. And I am assuming the same regarding Tom. I pull flats, and its lots of hard work that most guys will not do.

Schneider gave him the same song and dance that you got, running local. He started the process, and found out that he would be obligated to work for 2 years, and that if he quit, he would have to pay some silly amount of money for his training. And there was no guarantee regarding local, he would most likely wind up over the road for a year or more.

My friend did not go with Schnieder, he went to a smaller company, and paid for his own schooling. But, he found that he loved the driving part, but he could not justify the work for the pay. He is now back in the shop, and is slowly buying his own tool and die machines to start his own business in his garage, while working for another guy that is also working out of his garage, and he is home every night.

And I know, having hired a driver from Schneider, that their pay is not all that good. The one guy that came to work for me, with 3 years driving, was making .29 a mile on a dedicated run. Detroit to St Louis and back to Detroit, 2 and 3 times a week, on a rotating basis. I was running the same freight and I know what it paid. I offered him $500 a turn on the same run, plus detention of $20 an hour after 2 hours waiting from his appointment time. I usually got 2 to 3 calls a week for that run.

Pay for your own schooling, and if you go with the big carriers, don't expect much for pay. Your first training period of 4-6, or more weeks. Normal training pay, after you take out your expenses, will run around $183 a week take home. I know this for a fact, my step son did the same thing you are thinking of doing, he went with Swift, these are his numbers I am using, and mine two. In 17 years of driving, not much has changed in regards to rookie pay pulling vans.

And then when you go solo, expect roughly $500.00 net, and then subtract out of that your expenses. I would say you will net 350 to 400 a week, depending on how you feed yourself and get showers. You will probably be gone for 2 weeks at a time, with a day or two off in between. I said probably, but not always. You are at the companies mercy for the first few years. Once you have 2-3 years under your belt, at poverty wages for actual hours worked, you can start calling your own shots. But until then, it ain't easy. I know, I have been there and done that.

Again, just be ready for a huge income hit. And if you are married, you might not be for very long. My first full year, I grossed roughly $22,000. I was wiped out in a really ugly divorce, and trucking offered me a roof and three squares a day. Hell, I would have worked for free at that point just for the food and shelter! And I had a nursing degree, surgical nurse. Long story, let's just say that the local sheriff liked to visit me at work on a regular basis. The ex wife was good at making things up. I lost my job due to this, and eventually wound up in a truck. She could not accuse me of this and that if I was no where near the state, and had logs and a dispatcher to back me up. Like I said, long long story. I knew nothing about trucking back then. I just saw it as a way to escape a very vindictive, gold digging, accusing (insert your own word here). It was so bad, that even my parents said "LEAVE", as they were getting drug into this mess that lasted almost 10 years! Yep, 10 long terrible, unbelievable YEARS.

I am not saying this to burst your bubble, just telling you the truth. It sucks just starting out, its called paying your dues, and it is not right in my book. That is the main reason this industry has a 100%+ turnover rate.

You might be better off staying where you are at, like one of the other guys said. Or, if you have to drive, see if you can get a job delivering office supplies with a straight truck, Staples comes to mind. You will get paid a heck of allot more then the lower then minimum wage a rookie gets driving a $100,000.00+ piece of equipment. Sad, but true.