Question:
so far i have explained my situation to some companies and so far U.S. Xpress, CR England, and maybe Werner are willing to give me a shot.
now before i get flamed i know alot of people have bad things to say about some of those companies but please realize im just trying to get my foot back in the door to build up some recent experience.
so with that said, could you guys and gals give me some info on these companies since alot of their recruiters and websites will say everything but the truth
such as...
U.S. Xpress
where do they mostly run?
do they have a regional flatbed division?
% of no touch freight?
% of drop and hook?
hometime?
% of North east runs?
Werner
does there southeast regional division have flatbeds?
hometime?
CR England
i dont think they have a flatbed division do they?
% of no touch freight?
% of drop and hook?
% of north east runs?
hometime?
do they have south regional runs but if not where is the majority of there runs too?
as you can tell from my questions, im really interested in pulling a skateboard and im not very fond of the upper north east.

Answer:
If you are looking at flatbedding.. Werner is about the only one you listed that has flats..
CR England is reefers only if I am not mistaken.. (I have never seen one pulling anything else but a reefer..
Werner has flatbed, dry van, and reefers..
US Express is dry van only ( Again I have never seen one pulling anything different).
JB has a few flats ( It caught me by suprise too!)
So does Swift ! Snider <sp?? . has a few.. they have a few glass haulers out there too.. ya don't see many of them.
Thought this might help??
Answer:

In that situation I regret to say that you really can't be too picky. Given your location, USX probably has a better chance of getting you by the house, at least under load.
I think you'll have to get over that Northeast thing for a while as well

Answer:
thanks for all the comments guys.
i just called werner and it is definitly out since they said i need to have recent experience or be a recent graduate of a driver training school and seeing as how i graduated from trucking school back in 1993 that dont count
i guess my biggest other option is us xpress since i like the idea that they could get me through home. the only problems is they said i would need to go through there driver training school which i dont mind but i would need to find my own transportation to medway ohio and also pay $250 up front to start the school. so i guess i will have top wait until tax returns since im unemployed at the moment.
the north east doesnt really bother me although i dislike new york with a passion but yea, i just under the circumstances i cant be picky.

Answer:

No. reefers and a few dry vans.

70% or so when I was there. It's reefer freight, meaning lumping 45K pounds of frozen beans at 3 in the morning and getting paid $50 for it.

Not much when I was there.

Alot.

I had to fight hard to get 1 day home a month.

Along i_80 and along i-40.
My experience is from almost a decade ago, but from what I hear they haven't changed muchfor the better.
Answer:
thanks highwayman.
i just gave schneider a call and im going to see if i have any luck with them. plus they dont require any money up front for a deposit and being unemployed now takes a load off me.

Answer:
will get back to you asap; Have been very busy both mentally and physically.

Answer:
update
still waiting on a reply from the application i put in at schneider.
both roehl and werner said i would need to go back to a truck driver training school before they would hire me.
i put in a application with swift so will see how that goes.
im still thinking about applying with crst, prime, and millis.
im kinda holding off on cr england as a last resort even though they seemed pretty interested in hiring me.
before i came of the road in 2000, all i did was haul produce so i got burned out real quick on the grocery warehouses.
us xpress sounds like a pretty decent company but i will have to wait until tax time before i have the $250 deposit to enter there school.
seeing as how i already have cdl's, im going to call the college were i got my cdl's back in 1993 and ask what there cost is for a refresher course.

Answer:
JB has quite a few FLATBED and CURTAINSIDE trailers , they had a MAJOR flatbed operation at 1 time, first DIV to have Conventional tractors when the rest of the fleet had COEs.

Answer:
You mentioned you are unemployed, have you talked to a counselor at your one-stop (unemployment office) if WIA funds are available to pay for your training? That way you may have a greater choice in companies you want to get on with.
Last I knew, Schneider had a glass contract near where you live. Also CRE has/had a run from Savanah to somewhere in Texas, I think it was a dedicated. Most drivers who survive CRE have no good things to say about them. BOL

Answer:
jb seems like a good place but they want recent experience.
if all else falls through sealord, i will give my unemployment office a call and ask about that wia fund
just another update
schneider just called and the guy said everything looked good so far and he doesnt forsee any probs. im suppose to be recieving a 45 minute interview call tomorrow with a lady who is going to go over my application then we will go from there.

Answer:
Please stay away from CRST Van Expiditing... they force you to run team with usually another freshly certified trainee.! and they make you 2 split .22 cpm!
I work for CRST / Malone (flatbed ) right now.. they are all O/O so if you were interested in trying to work for an O/O they might be able to put you in contact with someone who has a few trucks leased on to them, but...
You would be an employee of that O/O.. no benifits, probably no insurance, Ect.. It could get ya some experiance though?? (I'm not looking for a driver myself.... I know I could not afford to pay what a good driver is worth..)
Thought I would drop in. I am trying to leave CRST now.. am seriously looking at Mercer....
Answer:
i appreciate the info gonzo.
swift and schneider are the only 2 which have gave me a prehire but im more than likely going with schneider. in fact schneider has me set to go for a drug screen and physical today then start class the 31st of this month.
even though i already have cdl's im going into the class with a open mind since changes happen everyday and im sure im behind the times on some of the new rules and such so the class should help bring me back up to par with whats changed and so on.
the two other companies that caught my eye were werner and us xpress.
i liked the idea of werners paperless log system but they told me to get some recent experience first or go back through driving school.
i liked the fact that us xpress has auto tranny's but i didnt have $250 to start there school. being as how i have driven otr before and already have manual tranny experience, an auto tranny would be a welcome change.

Answer:
A lot of companies won't touch you if the only recent experiance you have is with an auto shift.. You would be stuck looking for someone else who has auto shifts to go to work for.. or go back with another trainer in another company to get qualified in a manual shift truck.
Somthing else to consider when you look at companies out there...
Answer:
that would present a problem.
the last otr company i drove for back in 2000 had a fleet of pete 379's and the last 2 pete 379's he ordered while i was there had auto transmissions. i was fortunate enough to drive one on a back haul to norfolk Va and let me just say i feel in love with that automatic.