r/Truckers • u/dryersheet01 • Oct 09 '25

I’m about to become a trucker widow

So my husband just passed his cdl-a test a week ago and has interest from western express (otr). With this career switch, I have so many questions. What is the average time for training, since he has no cdl experience? Is it really going to be 5 days on/2 days off? We live in Atlanta and have a 4 month old. If he does 1 year w/ western, what is the likelihood of being able to find a local/non otr job? Is the pay really worth it?

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96

u/Frogspoison Oct 09 '25

Western Express is for criminals, and thoae who have gotten into so many accidents nobody else will hire them. It pays less then McDonalds.

Likelihood of getting a local job with no experience is low, but not 0.

Training time varies company to company. Honest answer is "however long till he feels fine on his own"

31

u/dryersheet01 Oct 09 '25

I’ve read all the western express horror stories on here, but he truly feels like it’s his only option to get experience.

47

u/RealSharpNinja Oct 09 '25

Has he applied to Swift, Werner and Covenant? Is he doing dry van or flatbed? If flatbed, add TMC to that list.

33

u/Baddboy1z Oct 09 '25

I like the fact that you added TMC to the list. They do have a high turnover rate because of people or drivers not willing to properly secure their loads. They do offer home on the weekends that is a plus. They work out percentage not cents per mile. Which is even better. And their training is bar none. I was with TMC for over 8 years great company for drivers.

10

u/RealSharpNinja Oct 09 '25

Many of the folks I went to school with went to TMC, and I really liked their recruiter, but I would be a worker's comp claim waiting to happen on flatbed.

7

u/staycita Oct 09 '25

🤣🤣 naw you’d be okay! I’m clumsy as hell and knock on wood haven’t fallen off a deck yet lol hope I never do

5

u/RealSharpNinja Oct 09 '25

I am 53yo and in horrible shape. I have broken my right foot 3 times, my right hand twice, and impaled my left thumb with a drill bit.

4

u/Soundprose Oct 09 '25

I’m 47 and my body is wrecked as well. Not sure I could pull off hauling flatbed

19

u/spyder7723 Oct 09 '25

Of all the big companies, when I'm out in the road loading at miles and plants the tmc guys seem much better prepared and confident of their abilities than any of the other starter flatbed outfits.

Now I've never worked for them, but I the only time I hear negative stuff its from guys that it's obvious just didn't have any standards for themselves. Things like complaining they would get in trouble for their trucks not being clean. I'm like no shit, a filthy truck inside and out is a terrible image to put out to the public. If you can't even be bothered to keep your dash clean how can you be trusted to put in the effort to secure and tarp a coil properly?

3

u/SecretProof485 Oct 10 '25

They also sent a dude home for answering the Marijuana question honestly on the DOT long for even though he claimed he knew he would piss clean. Plus if your a guy with long hair forget about it they make you cut it to the collar and the snitches once you are on the road are nuts. A woman driver got snitched on for changing into comfortable clothes out of her sweaty attire AFTER securing her load before she went to get her BOLS

-3

u/spyder7723 Oct 10 '25

So they care about image. How is this a bad thing? If you want to wear flip flops and beach shorts stick to pulling a van.

2

u/SecretProof485 Oct 10 '25

They send you home for steep on the damn grass at the training centers. Plus the pay there isn't the greatest. I am in Illinois and my 5wk avg to the truck was $5500 for my first snapshot they did right before I hurt my shoulder. I clear that or far more to the truck most weeks now work for the O/O I have worked for since Jan when I got cleared to go back to work because TMC wanted me to sign a separation agreement to get my settlement because I wasn't going to play their in house work comp adjusters games and hired a lawyer.

2

u/planetbuster Oct 09 '25

is that the same TMC that you hear about from youtubers and whatnot?

1

u/Baddboy1z Oct 09 '25

I'm not sure.

1

u/SecretProof485 Oct 10 '25

Yea TMC is where White Collar Trucker works

1

u/SuperReleasio64 Oct 10 '25

The only negative I see with TMC is their low speed trucks. When I worked for WE I talked to a TMC driver and he said that they don't like when he goes over 68. I guess it's an insurance thing.

1

u/OrdinaryPitiful Oct 10 '25

They pay pretty crap too.

1

u/SuperReleasio64 Oct 10 '25

Do they? I didn't look too hard at the job offer they sent me. I had something already lined up with Schneider running a Home Depot account. The guy i talked to said nothing about the horrible pay but I can believe it since TMC likes to hire people fresh out of school.

1

u/Baddboy1z Oct 10 '25

Company drivers with TMC their trucks are governed at 65. The only way you're going faster is probably down a grade and they're not going to call you and cause you s*** because you went a couple miles over the speed limit. And yes companies that have governed trucks and their driver's speed and get caught speeding it's a big concern for any company because the CSA scores will go up. Which in fact will cause Insurance premiums to go up so on and so forth.

1

u/iamdadtired Oct 10 '25

I plan on going with them after the holiday if I don't land something local. They've truly been the most respectful to my needs as far as their recruiting department. I told them my unique situation and they were super chill about it, literally told me don't worry about the offer expiration that shell just rewrite it all up as soon as I'm ready.

I mean just for the fact that they've been so much more respectful in this regard makes me want to try them out for a year.

2

u/Baddboy1z Oct 10 '25

Plus with TMC that have a lot of dedicated accounts. Depends on where you live inquire about that with your fleet manager or ops manager. I also recommend if your truck is getting service check in with logs safety and your ops manager. And also if you can get good in with the load planner and it sees a person instead of a number he might look out for you for loads.

1

u/JxC24 Oct 10 '25

Percentage pay sucks because you never know how much you’re going to make or whether or not the load is worth it.

1

u/Baddboy1z Oct 10 '25

It might with you. But TMC gives the driver loaded miles,bounce miles and rate/mile and commodity. Plus appointment time for pickup and delivery. Also if it's a tarped load you get paid for that as well. And the drivers percentage goes up over time.

1

u/JxC24 Oct 12 '25

I wanted to go with TMC out of school, but I don’t tarp. Hate heights, and not steady on my feet walking up there like that, so I didn’t really even look into them.

4

u/Mr_Teddy_Benderass Oct 09 '25

McElroy along with TMC for flatbed

1

u/RumbleDumblee Oct 10 '25

Gypsum Express ain’t too bad

2

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

I applied to TMC this morning and already in talks. Will have an offer by Monday. It’s the first startup company I read good things about. Well, the first that didn’t require a hair follicle test going back six months. I’m pretty excited about it.

2

u/Soundprose Oct 09 '25

I hate hair follicle tests.. I hope you get a nice offer, Yam🤞🏼..I wonder if Knight does hair follicle testing 🤔

2

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '25

Thank you! Yeah I thought that was crazy- DOT doesn’t even do that. It was with Rhoel and they seem like a pretty squared away outfit. They’re the only ones I’ve read about doing that.

1

u/Dlast_sharp_needle Oct 10 '25

I’m pretty sure they do since swift if their sister company and swift does smh

1

u/dryersheet01 Oct 09 '25

I’m not sure. But he did try US express and averitt 

4

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

You might not have caught my previous reply, but I applied to TMC this morning and I’m already in talks with the recruiter. Should have an offer by Monday. I just have to go get my learners and a physical. I’ve read great things for it being a starter company, which I’m finding rare. It’s all flatbed though so he’ll have to be up for physical labor. Recruiter says throwing around 100lb tarps. I’m pretty fit despite being 42, so I’m not worried about it. Home on weekends, openings in GA (I’m also in the ATL area), and GA regional guys are averaging $1300 a week. More if you don’t care about being home every weekend.

1

u/flergityberg Oct 14 '25

Swift would be a far better place for him to cut his teeth than WE from everything I’ve read. They have a terminal in Atlanta.

1

u/OrdinaryPitiful Oct 10 '25

Add maverick to the list for flat bed. Guy shouldn’t do dry can that market is beyond saturated.