Congratulations! You’ve graduated! What now? There’s lots of things to take into consideration when choosing a carrier to work for. It’s not just a matter of applying to every trucking and transportation company out there, you need to find the best position to suit your personality and career goals. A career in this industry is a commitment and you want to get started on the right foot to ensure success and longevity as your career grows.
In order to do this, there are several steps you should take when searching for a carrier to work for.
1. Ask All the Questions
If you’re interviewing with a company, you want to make sure you’re asking a lot of questions. We’re not talking random questions—it’s important to ask the ‘right’ questions. Be sure to ask about compensation, benefits, vacation time, sick days, etc. Ask about advancement as this will inform you of possible options down the road and let the employer know that you’re interested in growth. Also, be sure to ask about things like 24-hour dispatch or on-call support.
2. Do Your Research
It’s often the case that you’ll find a prospective employer purely through word of mouth, but you shouldn’t rely on that alone. Instead, perform a thorough online search to learn as much as you can about a prospective employer. Web searches and sites such as Google, LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, Facebook and Instagram are all great sources for further research. Check out the reviews, particularly employee reviews.
3. Trust Your Eyes
You’ll certainly want to keep your eyes open when you go for an interview. Take a look at the trucks, check out the equipment. Is there a lot of new trucks and equipment or is it old and worn? Any carrier will have its share of used equipment, but if it looks like a junk yard, take that as a red flag.
4. Think About the Future
There’s often a high turnover rate in the trucking industry, which many companies try to mitigate by offering signing bonuses. But don’t just focus on the present, you have to think about the future. If the company is doing well today, that’s obviously a good sign. But be sure to ask if the fleet is thinking of moving in a different direction or thinking of exploring some new innovation. The answers can tell you a lot about the potential growth of the company.
On top of these four steps, we’ve also gathered valuable advice from some of our own experts at Musket Transport.
Advice from Josh P – Driver Manager
“Firstly, find what you’re most interested in doing. There are so many things you can do in trucking, so start with what you’re most interested in. For example, if you’re only interested in standard trailers, there are thousands of companies, but if you want to look at something more specialty, more niche, start there instead. Talk to those companies, find out what their requirements are and go that route.”
“In terms of accreditations, it’s not like the training schools where you want to look for the TTSAO accreditation, for example. The trucking industry has no overarching body. I mean, [the company] could be part of OTA (Ontario Trucking Association) but to be part of OTA you only have to pay dues. The only one that really stands out is probably the “best managed companies.” Those ones generally don’t always actually translate to the driver. It usually translates to growth, profit and internal staff retention. I think there is a specific trucking category within it, though. And that usually is a little bit more telling.”
If you want to look at something more specialty, more niche, start there instead. Talk to those companies, find out what their requirements are and go that route.
“You definitely want to ask about wages. It’s an odd thing to talk about for a lot of people, but you can have two companies doing the exact same amount of work, and one of them will pay you $20,000 more a year to do the same thing. So, you definitely want to get that on the table because every company has their pay structures.”
Advice from Jaime R – Director of Operations
“The one thing you should ask, is the company growing? How busy are you? Etc. Because why are you going to join a company if maybe they’re not busy at all and there’s a risk you’re going to get laid off?”
“Turnover ratio is important to look at. The turnover ratio, believe it not, in some companies is 100%. If you only have ten trucks, and every year you have to go and find new drivers, as soon as you replace ten drivers, you’re at a 100% turnover ratio. Our turnover ratio for the last half a dozen years or so has typically been at 6% or less, with the highest being at 9%. We have five guys as of next year that are going to have been here for over 20 years. The fact that we have longevity says they’re happy to be here and stay here.”
The whole pay structure has to be fair throughout the entire company.
“They should also be asking not just how much do you pay, but how much do you pay versus the rest of the industry, and if it’s compatible or competitive. Sometimes the drivers come here and I’ll say, ‘Guess what, look at our equipment, look at our CVOR, see that driver? He’s been here for 20 years.’ Fair pay for a day’s work is very important. The pay structures are very important. For example, our local guys get paid by the move instead of by the mile. So, on the highway you get paid by the mile. If you go to New York, that’s 500 miles, you get paid for 500 miles. But if you get paid by the move like the local guys do, then you could be in trouble if the company don’t do it fairly. The whole pay structure has to be fair throughout the entire company.”