After I quit on Monday, I did nothing for the rest of the week except sit around the house and gain about 10 pounds. My money was starting to run dangerously low, so I knew that I’d better get on the fast track to becoming gainfully employed again.
I went online and put in a single application to multiple companies on a trucking website. Within 15 minutes of submitting the application, my phone rang. Over the next week, I would be bombarded with phone calls and e-mails from no less than two-dozen trucking companies. Despite my limited experience, I was beginning to believe that my worries might have been unwarranted. Not only did it appear that getting another job wouldn’t be much of a problem, I’d even get to pick and choose a little. This was showing me that the demand for truck drivers is real. I would learn that if a driver gets a little experience under his belt and, most importantly, keeps a clean record, the ability to locate employment would be the least of his worries.
I researched some of the companies that had contacted me and narrowed it down to four. I had intended to stay with flatbed, but the flatbed company that I was most interested in could not give me a specific date on which a trainer would be available. Since I had less than 6 months experience, they would require me to spend 2 weeks with a trainer. However, my financial situation was becoming dire, and I didn’t have time for the uncertainty of a waiting list. Upon further research, I discovered that the other flatbed company on my short list had a poor reputation among many drivers, so now, there were two companies remaining on my list.
I spoke with representatives from both companies and ultimately decided on a company based in Lincoln, Nebraska. I would be switching from flatbed to dry van, so my new company would require me to spend 6 weeks with a trainer. I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of riding with a stranger for 6 weeks again, but I was excited to be going back to work. This was a large company, but they had a good reputation in most trucking forums, and even a rival company had conceded that they had a good reputation. I had no illusion that any trucking company would be a walk in the park, but I felt that I had made the right choice… I certainly hoped so.
I encountered a few potholes during the application process, but everything was finally ironed out, and I was scheduled for orientation class. The company would supply me with a rental car on the following Saturday to drive to Lincoln for orientation. I had expected to go to their Marietta, Georgia terminal for orientation, but going to Lincoln was fine with me. I had never been to Nebraska, so this would be a new adventure. Unlike my experience at my former company, I would have the rental car all to myself, and I would not have to share my motel room with a stranger. So far, I already liked this company better.
I had signed on for a southeast regional Coca Cola/Minute Maid fleet, but I would be running nationally while I was with my trainer. I was about to be on the road again.
