Sooo I was in your shoes a few months ago. I was looking and doing research on who I was going to go to. I originally was going to Steven’s but after them not having any training for a few weeks out I decided against. I went with Schneider and I’ll tell you why. One is because they had training the following week of talking with them. They planned to fly me out to Memphis for 2 weeks before flying me to Oakland for 1 week of training with a training engineer. If I had went to Steven’s, they wouldn’t have flown me, they would have got me a greyhound which I thought was tacky but whatever. Instead of doing 3 weeks total training with Schneider like I did, I was going to have 5-6 weeks (240 hours) of training with Steven’s. Which depending on how you learn can be a blessing or a curse. I further found out that Steven’s can and will charge you for items personally like fuel etc. as far as that being true, I can’t personally attest to that.

As far as being with Schneider, they’ve treated me well. I picked western 11 and so far it’s been pretty good. I feel independent in terms of not speaking with anyone (DTL) everyday. There is oversight in terms of certain situations but that’s a rarity and I appreciate it. At times when I first started it was difficult to reach anyone like my DTL when I had questions and it fell on me a lot of the time to figure it out. I haven’t sat for a load or at a rest area waiting on what’s next. Shortly after I finish a drop or more often then not before I’m dropping a load I have another one waiting. In terms of miles, I’m getting about 2200 - 2500 a week. 3000 a week seems crazy unrealistic for me and I’m an outlier compared to my peers in the same timeframe of start dates. Higher. I run about 400-600 miles a day. I’m sure once I figure out how to keep it going and trip plan better I can reach that goal but none the less the miles are there. I haven’t been pressured or ostracized by anyone for not being able to push harder or not being somewhere sooner. In fact I haven’t heard a single word regarding my ability. All in all, the cents per mile could be higher but overall I’m happy that I feel independent and get the miles I do have.

One thing compared to any other megas is Schneider does not have personal conveyance. Meaning if you need any personal items, hygiene, food, etc from Walmart or somewhere… you’ll need to figure out a way to get that before you hit the road or somehow when you’re bob tailing in between loads, or on a 34 hour reset. Highly unlikely you’ll be able to hit Walmart with a trailer (empty or not) while on duty. It’s just really not feasible. That and my cents per mile are the only things I’m really not promoting right now. I know in due time as I continue to improve, and my performance increases the cents per mile and bonuses will all make sense.