Looking forward to Monday

Hey Byron: You know you can just delete the comments. I think it is good for you to leave the whole blog up so that others can benefit. There will always be the few that just can't help themselves. But don't let them be the reason others lose out. I wish you thebest and I know you'll do great. Talk to you later. Warren

Comment By:
Warren on Fri, Jul 07 2006 @ 10:00 AM [PST]

These companies like Swift, CrEngland, and the other ilk want you to quit. Why? It keeps their freight rates down. As someone who has been there all I can say is get your experience and get the hell out. I get physically ill when thinking about how they exploit people. However, try calling trucking companies with no experience and the conversation will go like "So how long have you been driving?" and you say "I just graduated truck school" and then a dialtone. Sorry, thats the way it is. Its all about the insurance man. I remember how I was thrown to the wolves after graduating truck school but persevere and it will be worth it. VM-out!

Comment By:
Vaqueromuerto on Sat, Jul 08 2006 @ 4:05 AM [PST]

I agree with VM. Get the experience and start looking around. Alot of companies take advantage of newbies because of the low pay they get. Once you start getting to the higher end of the pay scale your miles will start going down and they will tell you it's because freight is slow. In the mean time the newbies will be running like mad. Many of us have been through it when we started. Those big companies make it sound so nice when your still green. But like the rest of us, you need to experience it to find out us old timers were telling it like it is. Good luck with the new job and be very careful out there.

Comment By:
Roadhzrd on Thu, Jul 20 2006 @ 7:41 PM [PST]

Don't listen to the negative... Hey, I went through Swift Truck Driving Academy in Millington, TN back in 2004... I heard lots of negativity. Kinda scared me away... After graduating, they sent a few of us home to wait for thier driver trainers... No big deal, until after a month passes.. Becoming bent, I had grabbed a job to keep up with bills; then comes the call, but I am no where near to meet up with the driver trainer... They list me as "no call/no show"... They refused to work with me... Well, now I have to pay them back tuition... After a couple hard years (major debt and no jobs in MI), I am heading to CREngland... You can not do much with a cdl-a if you don't have the mileage and experience... Trust me... I tried... I'll be starting class this coming Monday. It sucks having to go through it all over again... This time, however, I will ignore the negative comments of students and keep focused on my goals... Hang in there, man... I am right behind you.

Comment By:
RyanScott on Wed, Jul 26 2006 @ 9:40 AM [PST]

Hey Byron: Hope you're doing well!!! Haven't seen an update for a bit, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya. I have a question for the well-initiated: do the more-respected companies such as Crete, CFI, etc., also keep the miles of senior drivers down, due to the cpm they earn, and give all the big miles to the newbies? Or is this more of a practice of the "training" companies, etc.? Another question: as an o/o or lease operator, are there issues with not getting enough miles akin to the senior company drivers? I'd suspect not since the o/o or lease operators have to bear a bunch of the expense of running the trucks . . . but you folks are the experts so I thought I'd ask. Thanks for your time! Keep it safe out there!!

Comment By:
Chris on Thu, Aug 03 2006 @ 5:27 PM [PST]