Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Where can I read your original Student Trucker Story?
A. You can read my Student Trucker Horror Story by clicking here: A Day in the Life of a Lady Trucker which is located on Allen Smith’s (www.askthetrucker.com) website . Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom of the comments section to click the blue link that says “click here to read all xxx comments before start to read the story, the beginning starts at the top of the comment thread.
Q. Why did you write your story that way?
A. When I was asked to share my story I did not own a laptop and wrote most of it using a cellphone as comments. The story took off so fast I never had a chance to edit it or make it easier to read. It takes about 2 days to read entirely and it is still relevant to 2013 truck driver training and CDL Mill training as it was when I wrote it in 2008 to 2009
Q. I want to be a trucker, can you give me advice on how to proceed?
A. I am asked this question all of the time on my you tube channel and in private emails. The best advice I can offer is first to look for a community college program in your area. They are cheaper and do better training. Stay away from 3 or 4 week courses if at all possible. Recognize that student truck drivers are a business and so they are going to try to get you to pay whatever they can. The price may be negotiable and you will not get any better basic skills paying $13,000 than you will paying $3500 There are LOTS of scams in CDL training so beware.
Q. What about going to a CDL School at a Training Carrier?
A. There are some truck driver training carriers who will take someone off the street and do their preliminary training in exchange for a commitment to work off the tuition. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Beware of CR England, I cannot say this enough because they advertise everywhere and are always looking for people who have no clue on how they exploit student truckers. At this time I will say to check out USA Truck but know they do have a hiring area. Swift has an internal school also that might work for you. I have also been hearing positive remarks about Knight Transportation but they may require you have your CDL first. Understand that you will work your buns off so be ready to commit to the lifestyle.
Q. What are you doing now? Are you still driving?
A. I have returned to driving after some time off from a fall. My primary focus though at this time is developing a Women Truckers group of virtual mentors in conjunction with the “REAL Women in Trucking” group. We have launched a new blog talk radio program that is the 1st trucking radio program hosted by real women truck drivers “Women Truckers Network – Blog Talk Radio Program”
Q. What training carriers do you recommend?
A. As I mentioned above, USA Truck , Knight Transportation are two I suggest. On a recent episode of our blog talk radio program with three recent female CDL students, Halvor Lines and H.O.Wolding were mentioned as good starter carriers. These are only suggestions, I do not endorse any training carriers because you can have a bad or good situation anywhere, it really depends on what you can tolerate. Your trainer and internal support at the carrier have a lot to do with this. This is not streamlined and the communication in big carriers is really poor. A bad dispatcher, trainer or team driver can destroy your career so be diligent to do your homework before you commit to any carrier. Also, some people are not cut out for trucking and do not get that until they are out on the road. Make sure you understand that there is no silver bullet in truck driver training. As a rule stay away from any carrier that has a lease program associated with training or expects a long period of team driving as part of their training. This is setting you up to fail. You might also look into Schneider National or ROEHL.
Q. What Carriers Should I avoid?
A. I receive complaints most frequently about CR England, CRST Van Expedited, Covenant Transport, US Xpress and Prime, Inc because of the team driving and unethical lease programs. The team driving business model places people of unknown origins in close intimate living and working conditions which are unsafe. This is particularly dangerous for women entering trucking. The one sided lease programs pushed on entry level drivers are another big problem. Other issues include not being taught to shift or do a paper log book which can seriously handicap your future in trucking. You want to learn how to do all aspects of the job so do not commit to a training carrier who is not teaching you everything you need to know and only teaching you how to work for them. This will make you have trouble later when you want to switch carriers.
Please visit http://www.REALWomeninTrucking.com for upcoming announcements on our group activities and my contact information.
Cheers!
Desiree
Thanks Desiree for what you do. The world needs more people who recognize injustice and make a dilligent effort to address it.
I live in Cedar Rapids, the home of CRST. Their VP on human resources, Ron Corbett, is running for mayor. I think he is a sleeze. If you could direct anyone that has been abused by CRST to me, we could possibly stop him and get a great female for mayor. Can you help?
Thanks for posting Tom. The CRST Scandalous Sexual Harrasment Cast has inspired a “Blog Talk Radio” show on “Ask the Trucker” called “Hostile Training Environment”.
CRST is just the tip of the iceburg but the unethical practices are well known in the trucking community & you can find many trucking websites where actual drivers & former students tell all.
The political affiliations involved send all sorts of alarm bells off.
You don’t need to be a scholar to see that.
You are welcome to call into the show.
Thanks,
Desiree
Here are the link to 2 “Blog Talk Radio” Shows done regarding Harrassment in the Workplace.
As with everything we have discovered, there are lots of back room shennanigans that occured in preventing these shows from occuring.
I am not in a position to revela the details at this particular time but please stay tuned.
There are some big names wanting this story to go away inside this industry.
Part 1
http://www.askthetrucker.com/trucking-advocates-discuss-workplace-harassment/
Part 2
http://www.askthetrucker.com/how-to-report-workplace-harassment/
I use the word “Harrassment” because this sort of thing is happening to Men and Women in all fields of work.
Reporting Harrassment often makes you a target, and being a Women gets you “Labeled” Sexual Harrassment and makes you the target of attack often from other Women.
This is workplace bullying gone rampant which has let a few bad apples run rampant and take control where no control exists.
A recent Female I spoke to this weekend told me she had to have 2 Trainers and stay out for over 2 Months learning to drive the truck.
I asked why she got off her first trainers trucks and she said ” because all he kept asking me was if I ever had my titty sucked by (a man like him).
I asked her if she reported it and she said “No, I just said I couldn’t understand what he was saying”
In trucking that means she is now labeled as difficult, but also that guy will just go pick up another female student.
If she reported she would have been attacked from other women most likely for reporting him.
That’s the truth of the matter in trucking right now.
I want that changed
Hi, Desiree,
I’m a writer from Baltimore, and have been told that one of my blog posts about truck drivers and 2nd graders is a real gem – sort of a love letter to truck drivers. Here’s a link – wondering if it’s okay to post it on your site, and how to go about it? It’s about something that really brightened my day…
http://worthingtonpost.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/second-graders-and-truck-drivers/
I tried to figure out from your site how to contact you via e-mail, so you could decide whether or not to post this, but I had trouble, so I’ll just wrote it in the comment section.
Thanks in advance – hope you like it!
Thank You Aliza for the comment. I am going to post your blog link to our page called “Real Women Truckers” which goes into our twitterfeed. I really enjoyed your post and made a comment on your blog as well.
Take Care..
Twonk! Twonk!
Trucker Desiree
Have you ever considered that the industry does this not just for cheap labor, but to control the work force; to keep it from being able to organize. To keep it down? As in suppressing union efforts like the teamsters?
The same was done to slaves long ago. Demoralize them and they should put up little fight.
Thanks
Yes, I have… If you can’t have a happy slave, have a fearful one….. the latter seems to be the corporate method in numerous industries, it is not unique to trucking but due to the highway safety and personal safety issues I was compelled to write about this industry.
The same is happening in te regular labor force with the use of temporaries. If not supported by legislation, industry could never get away with what they do to temporary workers.
Corporate Fascism is one term Ive heard used.
They are buying elections and therefore the laws as well.
ps
Can you recommend to me a company to train with AFTER cdl school? Im scheduled to start May 29th, so the sooner the feedback the better.
Thanks.
I can only say that training carriers with a better reputation are Schneider National, ROEHL and I have had few complaints about Stevens Transport, Crete, US Xpress … the most frequent complaints I get are CRST, Prime Inc, CR England, and Covenant Transport. the other big training carriers are Werner and Swift. Pretty much all will be low pay but what you need to be most wary of is “team Driving” as part of your training, Any sort of lease owner operator program being offered in training. This is a sign that the carrier is trying to use you to run cheap & pay them back about every dime you make. You are chained to the carrier and even if you do not succumb to their lease program or team driving pressures, these are sign of an unethical trucking carrier who plays “Bait and Switch” as a matter of practice. Skimming your miles, Skimming your payroll , charging you to idle but not providing an alternative for comfortable safe sleep etc. things you don’t learn about until it is too late and you are committed
Werner and swift are the two I was looking at, but Im unclear what youve said here about them. Have you heard good about them or bad?
Also, and very important; is there a recommended strartegy for survival I can adhere to once in starve out mode? Ive been in a loop of temp jobs where the suprs fire people for God knows why, and I am somewhat emotionally devastated about it at this point. I DO NOT want to end up fired again.
What should I do If I end up in that starveout trap to weather it thru?
Will they get tired of it and just treat me better at some point, or must I try to look for another job, as they will never relent with treatig me like shit at that point?
Thanks.
Werner and Swift are considered assembly line truck driver training carriers who are trying to move cheap freight with labor that is of the lowest paid caliber. Being fired is not the problem in truck driver training. Few people are ever fired because if they were, they could get unemployment and the mission of these carriers is to burn you out and make you leave on your own first. That is how “Starve Out” occurs, which is to let you sit with no miles until you cannot make it any longer. You can sit around on your couch at home and not get paid. SO the trick to surviving is to keep your expeditures to bare minimum. Put your stuff in storage, don’t maintain a residence, car payment or insurance and only have a good cell phone/smartphone and be prepared to have to eat sandwiches 3 meals a day for the first year. The money is inconsistent so you have to hope for the best and expect the worst.. Werner and Swift will have you working your butt off but you will make very little. You need to be prepared to handle that and this will help you survive through training.
Is there a website to get reviews from newby drivers on these training carriers?
Check out the truckers report forum section and look up the good and bad carriers posts by other truck drivers and ignore the ads
On keeping down the expenses:
Ive got $305 mo in child support, $525 rent $100 utilities. $40 phone
I was debating hard to try and keep my apartment for my sons if they need a place. Do these numbers still seem risky ones on a first year student salary to you?
If you have all those expeditures you will be eating a lot of sandwiches the first year. Good Luck!
Im getting the cdl school paid for to so there wont be anything coming out of my check that way. (I guess Im one of the voucher lo lifes you mentioned in your interviews and articles Ive read :-} sorry)
So Schneider National, ROEHL Crete, & US Xpress (a buddy of mine ran screaming from Stevens after 10 mo, but did find another job here locally. said 1st mo no pay, later no loads, etc. much like you decribe the driver mills)
Also, on Werner & Swift working my butt off, w no pay, & no miles; how does that work? lumper work all day? I mean what kind of work can you do without SOME miles involved? Recovering vehicles? Short 2hr trips or what?
(Sorry to be a pest. I like to know shit before I get caught up in it if I can, and you seem like a real decent human being, someone who cares; I appreciate that.)
They are all the same…. you get miles in the beginning and then you sit…so you will quit…just like your friend did in 10 months… thats how they get rid of you to make room for more students…make you want to leave screaming
I have another friend who was fired at 9 mo from swift for two safety violations, one was damage to a rim on the curb. (Matches the time frame above).
Just an internal policy issue. Those are easy to come up with, then you break one, then your fired for cause/performance. no ui claim for you. or the company. Quite Strategic.
Ive heard that swift now forbids use of cell phones behind the wheel on a safety basis, yet require the driver to respond to qualcom msgs while driving or get disciplined. Feel the Love? Lol!
Thats probably a good idea tho, just annoying.
You like it or you wouldnt be doing it I guess.
Mind if I ask about how much you made your second year? (I think you are on your second year now right?)
Or maybe better; how much can THE AVG DRIVER make in the second year?
And where does the pay top out on a yearly basis?
I saw one comment about claims of $100,00yr were for owner operator was actually BEFORE TAXES AND EXPENSES, which amounted to about half the 100k. Sound about righ?
One more important question about starve out; How long does it last? Do they stop at 1yr exp? 1yr 3mo? You weathered it thru, what was your experience?
I enjoy reading your blog & watching your videos. Someone turned me on to you about a year ago. Mad respect for you for speaking your mind and keeping it real. I’d love to chat with you a little about my business and how we can help others. I was in logistics mgt for 10 years, dispatch, safety co-ordination + spent time on the road with my other half who has been OTR for almost 15 years. Drivers need protection & female drivers need it more. legalshieldcdl@gmail kdmiller.legalshield.com
Hi Karen, Thank You. I am familiar with your product. Most of the legal help CDL drivers need that I find is to fight their own employers. I refer them to Paul Taylor of the Truckers Justice Center most frequently because he is pro bono
hey desiree,
great blog and stories, i was with swift for a minute as a student, my trainer was a female on our first trip, i she told me some of the guys at the office were asking about me she told them I was a diesel dike..(which i am not), needless to say if you speak up and say anything you become a target…..i was out on the road with here for 2months, when i would ask to drive she would make an excuse for me not to, finely i made up my mind and just say the road as a passenger…lol..lol…when i got back home i told my employer that trucking was not for (not true), i did’nt want to cause her or me any problems…I still have my cdl, but don’t use it, i would love to team and learn with someone…they need to start a Trucker Team Match just for the reason, compatiblity…carp i would pay some on to match me up with a good trainer/team driver…
Thank you for your blog….
Hi Nonya:
I am sorry they took your desire to go trucking from you. There are so many people who have had to experience the unprofessional atmosphere in training like you & I. Thanks for your comment. It helps entering CDL students who read this blog get an idea of what may lie ahead as they enter this industry.
Take Care
Desiree
Hi to WTN and TD,
Add my story to the pile about abuse and harassment of women in the trucking industry. Bookwork and exam in Phoenix, then out to Werner in NE for OTR training. Experienced a sexual assault at hotel. Got back on bus to Phoenix. 10 years later, never got to drive but still have CDLA, and would love to drive. Glad I found the blog. Keep up the great work.
I am sorry to hear about the sexual assault that you experienced. There are many women out there who just walked away from trucking because they could not trust the employers who lack accountability. I would like to talk to you more if possible. My direct email is truckerdesiree@gmail.com and cell is 760 975 6868 . I have just invited a researcher to join us on our ner internet radio program to discuss her findings in interviewing women truckers , the industry as a whole & some who simply left because of what you experienced. Thanks for commenting and I hope you will contact me privately.
Desiree
Hi Desiree my name is Stephenie and I just have a question, is driving in the winter time hard in a truck? I heard from other people that I know who drive trucks is that you have to take your time, go slow (which is true in a car). Is training in the winter time the best time to train for trucking school that way you can see how a truck is going to handle and the help is right there when you need it? Any advice for a newbie wanting to enter the trucking field is greatly appreciated.
Hi Stephanie,
Sorry for my delay in responding. I began my training in mid December 2007 and while it was harrowing to say the least I feel I was much better prepared than the students I met who began training in Spring and Summer because they had built a bit of confidence by Winter and many went sliding off the road with the first ice on the following Winter. I was properly scared and respectful of changing weather so in my opinion, yes, Winter is a good time to start . May as well get on with the scary stuff first right? When spring flowers come you will surely appreciate them much more! Take Care, Desiree
Dear Deseriee,
Adrie Sue “Bitzy” Gomez is my sister. If you still wish to speak to her I can put you in touch. I am quite certain she would be happy to speak with you.
Best Regards
Paul Critchett
I sure wish I’d found this site earlier. I left Prime Inc in the middle of training, due to harassment.
I am now with Swift and have none of the problems that I encountered at Prime.
Keep up the good work.
Be safe,
Darla
Hi Darla,
Did you know that New Prime, Inc is involved in a very large se discrimination case? I can put you in touch with the lawyer fighting the case if you are interested. Please visit the blog http://www.REALwomenintrucking.com and keep up with our future actions. You can reach me directly by emailing me at truckerdesiree@gmail.com . I am glad you are out of Prime, they are setting students up for failure and indentured servitude with their lease truck program they push on students. You should feel blessed you averted further disaster with them. Good Luck and feel free to contact me if you was that legal info.
Desiree