good trucking company??

[gula187]

hey everyone! i made my mind up to be a trucker. my question is what will be the best company to join? i live in baton rouge, louisiana and i was thinkin about going with swift but i hear quite a few people talking about how bad of a company they are and the pay and home time is crappy. and i also heard schneider isnt to far behind.
whats the best company you guy think i should go with?

[carhaulerfrank]

Well, do you have you cdl yet?
If not, go with a company that will put you through their own school with no cost to you.

You have no experience, which means that you will end up at a company like swift or schneider or werner, and the ones that want you are more than less the same.
I used to drive for swift, it's been a long time, but they had a lot of different divisions and you had some options. They will put you in a decent truck, which will be slow, but the first year you don't need to be going fast anyways.
After a year or two you can write you own ticket to most companies out there.

[gula187]

no i dont have it yet. a few people told me that it will be best to go with a company that will put me through school.
is it really that hard to get on with schneider? and how long do you stay on the road?

[Cerberus]

schneider has a tanker position out of La. and it might even be out of baton rouge but i cant remember right off hand. doing tanker with schneider is a good gig but stay away from there box division. living there you should have pretty good home time but don't quote me on that. stay away from swift or england or werner as they just suck and will leave a bad taste in your mouth about driving a truck. if at all possible go to a local school and get your cdl on your own or you'll be under contract with a company for at least a year. that is bad. i have heard good things about USA truck also. they train. if your worried about being home then maybe trucking is not for you. being new and if you go otr then only expect to be home every 14-21 days for only 34 to 48 hrs at a time. its the first year newbie crap. after you get experience then you can look for better companies and more hometime. companies are changing right now and trying to run drivers to death to make up for fuel costs and the bottom of the pole are feeling it worse. its a good profession to get into but the first year sucks so just grin and bear it.

[gula187]

i kinda figured i wouldnt be home that much i its no big deal. the company my brother drive let him leave out every monday morning and he come back home every Friday night. and i was told my best bet would be to go wit a company that will put me through school stay with them a year then change companies

[carhaulerfrank]

Go with a company that puts you trough school!!!!!!
Don't spend your own money!!!!
So what if you have to work there for a year, you need to get experience anyways