Question:
When I mentioned the 30yr old accident, the big guys [schinder,rohel] couldn't hang up the phone fast enuff, while the smaller outfits took the time to check it out before giving me an answere.
Yesterday, I got 3 offers within 4 hours;
I crossed off swift, mainly because the recureter didn't soundlike he had a clue about what he was talking about.
That leaves Millis and Kohel Intersate. Millis's term. is 100 mi. from the house.
Cost me $500 and a year contract.
Kohel is 4 mi from my place, but,, I have to pay for school $1900.[comm. tech. 40 mi away] but then I'm a free agent, They are a small 60 truck operation.
Most other things; pay,frieght, equip, ''expected '' home time are pretty much the same.
Question;; is the unseen benifits of a small Co. worth the extra money to pay my ownway. I would have to get a loan
any words of wisdom??

Answer:
good question. Think about it like this....pay $500 and be stuck in a year long commitment, after which you can go to almpst any other company if you wish, or pay the extra, be a "free agent" with the knowledge that you can walk away from the business and/or the company at anytime not owing them a thing plus after six months of experience you are able to go to other compnaies, not as many as a yrear experience but still a few.
just an ex army mans way of rationalizing.
chickenmanwould you like to make that sandwich a combo?.....no, just give me an order of fries and a drink with that.

Answer:
uncle butch you should consider Iowa central community college(in Ft.Dodge,IA).They have an 11wk program which includes housing,pell grants,stafford loans all for $5400. Also check out southeast community college's program 10.5wks for$675 They are 2 good schools!!!!

Answer:
Perhaps I'm missing something here:
I,m thinking about a 4 wk school at a Voc. School, 40 mi. away drive home at nite, no lodgeing, for $1900.00
Why would I go all the way to Iowa for 11 wks. and pay more then twice?
If I go with Millis; my cost is $500 and eats, gota eat regarless, 3 wks of school and 6wks training for witch they pay you $3500. You need a years exp. to really go anywhere else, and a year can go by fairly fast OTR
THe $675 for 10.5 wks; figure gas, lodgeing,don't sound any better. And you still have to find a job and go thru thire training.
In that same 10/11wk time frame; there is a reasonable chance that I could be in my own truck on payroll instead of first starting out.

Answer:
the "free agent" plan lets you postpone your Mills decision a bit, while probably getting a more well-rounded school education, andMills will still accept you anyway.
Regular truck school, community or private, can provide leads and help you pursue other alternatives you may not be aware of yet. It will cost more if end-up going with Mills and stay a year anyway......or...... you may find yourself changing your plan on new information and insight while attending a separate truck school.
I'd spend the extra bucks to keep my options open. The net $$ benefit of doing it all with Mills is a drop in the bucket compared to the long-term benefit of making sound employment choices. Spend the bucks and delay your final decision.
.

Answer:
thats exactly what i waas trying to nicely point out shuffler, thanks for spelling it out for everyone. I'm going thru a similar debate at home, I've got a dead end fast food job and can't seem to pay my bills(big suprise huh?) so after weeks of contention, the wife finally said "go to school and make a living asap" luckily for me I'm a vet and the va will pay for school 100% plus help out with living expenses, but I know most are not that lucky, if it wasn't for the va, I'd be stuck with the big orange or swift or something of that sort.
chickenman
"scouts out"would you like to make that sandwich a combo?.....no, just give me an order of fries and a drink with that.

Answer:

You STILL may decide a pumpkin or Swift truck is your best first move. Check them out thoroughly - they're both huge and have many different divisions doing a variety of hauling, and their pay is well within the average range for new drivers.
But -- as we pointed out -- at least it will be your decision after considering all your alternatives, and you can walk away at any time if it turns into a worst-case scenario for you (which can happen anywhere, not just a large entry-level carier.)
Unfortunatly, many simply can't afford to pay for school themself, and companys that offer these "school for work" employment agreements TEND to take advantage of their more desperate situation. Not all -- some newbies have a good experience, pay-back their employment commitment in full and even stay longer, etc. And many new drivers have totally different experiences with the same company depending on the equpiment they're given, the dispatcher they're assigned, and many othr variables.
Just more reason to leave your options open as much as possible. Stastically, neither one of you will probably be OTR truck drivers two year from now anyway.

Answer:

Why not use your benefit on a vocation that has more to offer in your
Family's future?
Answer:
Stastically, neither one of you will probably be OTR truck drivers two year from now anyway. :wink:[/quote]
Prehaps STASICALLY that is the going rate,
But in my case; I drove OTR 15 yrs. I know what I'm going into.
I'm 56, been selfemployed last 12 yrs, didn't get rich but made a good livin.
About a year ago; for reasons I still have not figured out, things starting going south. I find myself at a point where I must stop digging the hole deeper and find a source to start filling it back, before its too late.
At my age ,there are not any jobs to be had around here, my current part time gig pays me $8/hr 20 hr /wk,, - gas =not enuff to buy grocerys
Factory; they won't even consider me, age and the fact I was self employed,, Don't take orders well.
Tell me; How many of you drivers could handle a job where you got up the same time every day, drove to the same building, walk thru the same door, see the same faces,get yelled at [all day] by the same jerk of a forman. and do the same thing over and over all day every day.
We need brain dead people like this, I'm not one of em.
For me trucking OTR [ or at some point local,] is a skill I learned that I can fall back on, if I can jump thru the hoops DOT and insurances Cos.lay out. And generate more income then any local jobs offer. A job I enjoy/don't mind/ am capable of preforming.
As to the 2year bit; I'm getting to old to start over too many more times

Answer:
Take a look at the training company newbies. Most of them seem to be over 40. Most of them quit within a year and the majority of the rest job hop regularly.
Your "free agent" analagy means you wish to keep your options open so you can switch jobs at will. Thats ok if you want to stay at the lower pay rates and with lessor companies long term but it's not ok if you want to move up into better paying longer lasting opportunities. No matter if you go to community college or let some company train you your first company needs to be one you can stay with for atleast 1 year.
Millis has been rated by several people here and on other boards as superior to other training companies. They are a stable company with good benefits and reasonable pay for newbies. The other company mentioned is an unknown to me and maybe most of us. Ive worked for big and small and when new a bigger company with experience training newbies is a better choice. My opinion for what it is worth would be to go to Millis, let them train you and stay there a year or more. Less hastle, good reputation and no personal loans with big interest to worry about.
Dump the "free agent" nonsense. To build a stable work record plan on settling in with one company for a year or more.

Answer:
i agree with stuffs. A "school-for-work" training company will reduce your practical options. That's probably good for a person who would otherwise job-hop without much sense or reason, as many do. It makes them bucke-down and not run away from their problems. Younger and more immature newbies -- a large part of the new driving force -- may find this discipline helpful.
But.....not everybody needs a chastity belt to protect them from bad choices.
disclaimer:
If you have no idea what I'm talking about .....
take the Mills offer!
As stuffs says, by most accounts it's a relatively decent place to earn your stripes.
I stand corrected -- unless I'm talking to one of us more life-experienced, forty-plus-somethin' old geezers.......
.

Answer:
Your right and that chastity belt is wrapped tightly when you take a loan to attend some independant truck school and need reimbursement from your first company to repay it.. It's a little looser when you take company training at a place you can stay with for a year.
A large portion of the newbies out there are over 40.

Answer:

Things have changed in the last twelve years.
Not for the better I might add.
Answer:

That's for sure. Don't expect it to be the way it was even 12 short years ago. More work, more production, tighter schedules, fewer choices, less freedom, less overall pay for the larger work load.......and a whole new generation of management idiots with their heads even farther up their azzes than back in the early '90s.

Answer:

That's for sure. Don't expect it to be the way it was even 12 short years ago. More work, more production, tighter schedules, fewer choices, less freedom, less overall pay for the larger work load.......and a whole new generation of management idiots with their heads even farther up their azzes than back in the early '90s. You can add the over whelming number of idiots behind the wheel now also.