Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/95785
SCHNEIDER NATIONAL By Brad Bentley Owner operator team finds freedom, flexibility with Schneider National Perfect Fit D riving a big rig is a second career for Jeanne Montano, who has been with Schneider 22// OWNER OPERATOR National since 2004. Montano served in the Army for 20 years. Coming out of the military, Montano tried working for a government contractor but did not like being confi ned to a desk job. She approached her friend Kelly Cunningham, who had recently been laid off from a warehouse job, about truck driving. The pair began going to truck stops to ask drivers about life on the road. "Kelly was skeptical at fi rst, but we found Schneider National drivers had positive things to say, so that was the company we wanted to try," Montano said. While going through training together, Montano and Cunningham found Schneider National to be open-minded. "They let us be inseparable, and we were soon on the road // DECEMBER 2012 as company drivers," Montano stated. After a year and a half, Montano and Cunningham decided to start their own business as an owner-operator team and leased on with Schneider. A profi table start Schneider's lease purchase plan allowed for Montano and Cunningham to make a smooth transition from a company driver team to an owner-operator team. "They did not ask for a truck payment right away, so we started putting money away for taxes, maintenance and emergencies with that fi rst paycheck," Montano said. Montano is on her second truck with Schneider, after upgrading to a 2009 Freightliner Cascadia in February. "I