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Hi, here's my 2 cent's worth: 11 years ago I was on the same boat, I signed on with U.S Xpress and attended their trucking school in Oklahoma, (back then they used to contract with a STATE FUNDED DRIVING SCHOOL in Drumright, Ok. that was staffed by mature, experienced, and very proffessional Instructors, GREAT equipment, and excellent facilities which included FULLY PAVED, driving range, obstacle course and backing area; a far cry from the crappy schools with junk equipment that are common in the western states and who will charge you up to $4500.00 for 30 day training.) The month long school cost me $2200.00 including housing, but at graduation I was NOT obligated to stay with U.S.Xpress for any period of time unlike some companies that will train you for free but you'll be under contract to work for them for a period of 6 months to a full year. I stayed with U.S for just over a year and had a good time, they treated me fair, they had nice truck terminals, overall a good experience, with the exception that as a Solo driver they would keep me (as with most of their Solos) East of the Mississippi, and didn't get that many long west coast runs, those were mostly for Team Drivers (Things may be a lot different now) but they kept me busy and made decent $$ . I left U.S X because an offer came along to drive belly dumps locally and make more $$. eventually led to owning my truck. So, a few things to consider: If training is provided free or low cost, will u be under contract to drive for that company for a specific period of time? would u? Check pay/ benefits package, it varies A LOT from company to company. Check if your hometown is within their Traffic Lanes, so you can get home often, and how often will they send you home weekly?, every other, every 3 weeks? Will they eventually let you bring along your Wife, Son, pet? Beware of no money down Lease Purchase programs provided by many big fleets, read and UNDERSTAND the fine print, better yet, before you sign any Lease Agreement have an Attorney or at least your Accountant review YOUR legal rights and obligations (don't be surprised if you find out you have more obligations than rights) In most instances you'll be nothing more than a glorified company driver. Most Old Timers will tell you not to buy a truck from the company that you work for. Don't get truck fever; learn the ropes, get experience, stick it out with one company for at least a year, build a good reputation, and if you want to buy truck, save a down payment, look for a no frills, basic, mechanically sound, dependable truck, finance it thru a bank or Finance Co. Never from a trucking Co. Find a NICHE: ltl, flatbed, Hazmat, Nursery stock/flowers, household mover, Tanker, specialty produce, car hauler, doubles/triples line hauler, you'll be making a lot more$$ and have a more interesting job than the guys doing general freight. And last, as a basic rule (with some exceptions, of course) if your goal is to get into the highest payscale and best benefits in the industry, you'll want to work your way into one of the national/regional LTL outfits; UPS, ROADWAY, SAIA, ABF,WATKINS, G.I., CONDOR, etc. No big shiny Peterbilts here, just a lot of hard work paid accordingly. Hope that was helpfull, be safe and have fun! |
