I just recently received my class A, also just retired. I live in southern california la area.

i was wondering what companies are willing to hire some one with little experience, or no experience. also, whats a good starting salary?



anything like this would be helpful thank you.

 

Are you looking for over the road or local? There are some carriers who mostly run I-5. Some run East Coast or Western States. There are several carriers who have terminals in or around Fontana. I know CRST has a large terminal there and hire newbies. You might check with Swift. I can't seem to think of many off the top of my head. There are some truck stops around Fontana and Ontario. You might visit them and check out some of the carriers who are coming into the area. There are two truck stops at the Cherry Street exit off I-10. There are 2 TA's in Ontario off I-10. There is a Pilot in Hespernia, off I-15 next to Victorville. It is at the hwy 395 exit. By the way, some truck stops have bulletin boards where companies will post job openings. Most look for experience, but some may not. Good luck.

 

You did not say where in Southern California you live.

Watkins Shepard has a drop yard on the San Diego / Mexico border and a Terminal in Santa Fe Springs. They hire newbies. Watkins Shepard has local positions open as well as long haul.

Advantages:

Higher pay than Swift, Werner, and the rest of those companies. (28 cpm)
Pay Routed Hub miles not Household goods miles. (Now 30 cpm HHG is about the same as .28 routed Hub miles)
Medium size company culture and operations. (You are not lost in the shuffle)
10 day orientation rather than ride with a trainer.
They treat you pretty independent. Never really hear anything from HQ. You set your own appointments except for Home Depot and Staples. You can run 2000 miles a week or 3500.

Benefits are really good with 4 health insurance options.

Equipment is in excellent shape and the maintenance facilities are competent. Watkins Shepard will let you decide if you need an over the road repair or to nurse the truck to a terminal. Every single OTR repair request was approved. No hassle. I thought this was a BIG plus.

Disadvantages: (In my opinion)

Regional dispatch. So you do not work with a Driver Manager like Werner or Swift for example, but individual dispatchers depending on the area you are in. These dispatchers work in Missoula Mt. There are terminal managers and dispatchers for certain areas like Santa Fe Springs, Dalton Ga etc. None of these people coordinate with each other. Except for Santa Fe Springs -- Dispatch does not work weekends so you have to arrange up loads or sit if you are empty on a weekend.

LTL furniture. This means there are loads where you are going to go into some pretty tight spaces. Especially Mom & Pop furniture stores.

Not a really strong IT infrastructure so things like pay, miles, benefits, can not be accessed through a web site like companies with a better IT focus. CFI is an example. Also the directions database is pretty non-existent if not wrong. I used a GPS and called the shipper/consingee for directions.

Check out the CAD company database and look up companies that take newbies.

Also search the company forum for comments on different companies.