Question:
Common carriers are trucking companies who provide service of transporting products (freight) from point-A to point-B and charge a fee. Private fleets are companies who can only haul products and raw materials needed for the company's logistic needs. Say you're the CEO (chief executive officer) of Toyota or Walmart and you need raw materials, supplies, or wholesale merchandise. You can either call a common carrier to haul your inbound/outbound products; or start a fleet of your own trucks and drivers. Walmart uses both common carriers and maintains a fleet of their own trucks. Private fleets are your main objective for a successful career in trucking. Private fleets are safety-conscientious, pays extremely well, and really cares about drivers' morale and work conditions. The negative side of private fleets; they're not easy to get your foot inside the door!! Job openings are rare because drivers stay for life when they're hired. The only instance when there's a job opening is when a driver is fired; they buy more trucks to expand the size of their fleet; or a driver quits and takes all the $$$ he's earned to become an owner-operator !! Usually, newbie O/Os go broke and are crawling back within 5 years (or less) begging for their jobs back. To get hired by a private fleet, prepare a resume and a cover letter explaining why you're interested in working for them, and why they should hire you over other candidates. Contact the Human Resource department to confirm they've received your resume, then call them once a month or every 6 weeks to remind them you're interested. Private fleets require 2 to 5 years driving experience, so ask before sending your resume; or they simply trash your resume if you've got less experience. An exemption is yard hostler; that requires only 1-year driving experience. Email me direct for pages of newbie advice at -->

Answer:

And that's why most entry level opportunities are with conventional "trucking companys" instead of driving one companie's stuff around for them. .
Common carriers use trucks to make money moving someone else's stuff. That's how they make money.
Private fleets use trucks to move their own stuff around. They make money on their product or service, and their trucks are just another part of their operation -- like other equipment they own, and the employees they pay to operate it.
Good point.
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Answer:
Private fleets have become extinct for the most part. This is the 21st Century,where've you been? Wal-Mart Transportation LLC as an example is not a Private Fleet.
Answer:

To the extent Wal-Mart LLC does not haul for any other purpose than to service their DCs or stores, they are a "private fleet". They may be a common carrier on paper since they're employed as a separate entity of Wal-Mart for liability and tax (and other administraive) purposes. But their only customer is Wal-Mart, and they do not move freight from A to B unless one of those destinations is a Wal-Mart facility.
That's my understanding at least, correct me if I'm wrong.
Many logging operations up here run private fleets. Many wood processing plants run their own private trucks. Many manufacturer of many products run their own trucks for strictly intra-company freight -- a private fleet.
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Answer:
You've brought up a good topic; private fleets who also operate as common carriers. I still consider them private fleets because its not easy to get your foot in the door. Tyson Foods is another private fleet with common carrier authority. To understand how they operate, say you're a Tyson Food driver to deliver a load to Albertsons DC in Brea, Ca. The truck goes 2,600 miles from your home terminal to Brea, CA, and is empty after delivering. Now do you deadhead 2,600 miles back to your home terminal? With your motor carrier authority, your dispatch contacts a load broker who sets you up to pick up a load that delivers within 300 miles of your home terminal. With Walmart, their drivers usually find backhaul picking up bulk wholesale merchandise to bring back to their DC (distribution center). I'm guessing Walmart chooses to have their motor carrier authority just in case a driver can't get a back haul, so they contact a load broker to get a load that delivers close to their DC terminal. I hope this posting encourages newbies not to job-hop from one carrier to another. These private fleets dislikes applicants with job-hopping history.

Answer:

There are veteran drivers who had tarnished their work history by job hopping from one carrier to another, and now can't get hired by a private fleet. Its also possible they have one or more serious chargeable accidents on their DMV record which will also preclude their eligiblility from private fleets. Thus, it is now their mission in life to misinform newbies and dissuade them from seeking employment with a grocery chain market, Walmart Transportation, Coca Cola Distribution, Tyson Foods, or any other private fleets with or without common carrier authority. America is the land of the free; you have the right to live a miserable life by staying with a common carrier ; or you can better your lives by moving on to a private fleet

Answer:

I was kind'a with 'ya till you got to the close. I would suggest if one's life is "miserable" with a common carrier, it probably ain't going to be much better driving for a private fleet, even assuming the latter provides better pay and benefits than a good common carrier position, which some do not.
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Answer:

There are veteran Drivers that realize Deregulation was the demise of private fleets
and the birth of For Hire carriers.
So called Private fleets don't always require or offer higher standards either.
Today Trucking is just Trucking. The term Private Fleet is obsolete and no garranty of a good job.
Answer:
But the point about job hopping is well taken.
Don't choose jobs like a woman trying on clothes. Find a good one and wear it for a while.
That's the kind of history good companies look for.
Your history is the best predictor of your future.
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Answer:

I'll have to disagree. Your driving record is far more important than your
employment record today. The good companies are well aware of the conditions that
are the cause of job hopping.
Answer:

Fair enough. A poor driving record obviously elminates better job opportunities.
But as much as good companies are aware of why drivers may quit lesser jobs, there's no guarantee a true "job hopper"
will suddenly change his ways and stick around just because he's offered a better job.
A real job hopper finds more reasons to justify quiting than one who doesn't hop, and is therefore more likely to quit any job.
As your past driving record predicts what kind of driving record you'll likely produce on your next job,
your past "permanance" predicts how likely you'll quit that next job.
Better jobs go to those who've built a history of both good driving and job permanance ......and a "would rehire" reference...
...clean clothes.....good groming.....(let's see), ..... a professional attitude .... Lots of things are important in case you want to
"disagree" again by adding even more distraction to the subject at hand -- job hopping.
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Answer:
I pull for Stater Brothers in Colton, CA. It took me seven years of calling and calling to check up on any job openings. My first three job interviews, I was told "your DMV printout is exceptional; however, I have to take issues on your employment history. It says here you're never satisfied with anyone." I averaged 8 months per employer before moving on. Distribution manager explained to me that any candidates they hire, they expect them to stay on at least 5 years. A job hopping history means I'll get tired with the job inspite of the good pay and benefits, and just move on. I tried to explain these were all common carriers who had a reputation for exploiting drivers and treating them as expendable commodities. I was finally hired (part time) after I made an effort to stay with just one carrier no matter how bad things got. I was hired as a part-timer (25 to 30 hours per week) for the first year. My 2nd year, I was promoted to full time, 50 hours per week. I intend to stay here till the doctor tells me I've got a medical condition that precludes me from driving a truck. I've noticed we only have an opening when a driver fails their DOT checkup. I'm in my late 40s now, and soon, it will be my turn to have a doctor tell me I've got a medical condition. I'm hoping to delay the inevitable by exercising daily, cutting down on meat, and pretty much becoming a vegetarian. Seems a driver is forced to retire by failing his DOT every 6 months where I work.

Answer:
Stater is an excellent job if you like that kind of driving work. Congat's.
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