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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Topic: Need advice on a new career path....Tim Reed....I could use you...
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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
![](/ubbmembers/137h.jpg)
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 10-16-2006 09:57 PM
Any of the majors (Werner, US Xpress, Swift, Schneider, Roehl, et.al.) will happily start you out OTR. Driving team and OTR are not synonymous, though. You can be an OTR solo. I started out that way and after about a month, landed my dedicated route and stayed with that for the remainder of my 3 yrs. as a driver.
Dedicateds are very good because they offer consistent miles, you go the same places all the time, and you know when you're going to be home every week. On the other hand, you get to know every bump in the road. And, enough time OTR, you also get to know most of the interstates in the US, by mile markers. If you hire on with a major, be sure to get in line early for any dedicated accounts in your area.
One potential problem to be aware of, living in FL... it may be difficult finding loads going back home. Depends on the company, though, and if they're currently hiring drivers from your area. A lot depends on the freight lanes. So you may be better off local. It would pay to check your options. Also, running local, you will most likely be driving a daycab with no radio and no air conditioning. You will also have no sleeper berth, in which you can take naps if you need to.
The hours are irregular, but you WILL eventually get used to it. I did, and I was one who needed 10-12 hrs. of sleep a day before. After driving for a few months, I could run hard, and only get 4hrs. a day sometimes here, and a couple there. You do what you have to do. It works out.
I have let my haz-mat rating expire, because of the increased fees, the fingerprinting and FBI check BS they put you through. Not worth it. Besides, since those laws went into effect, a lot of carriers no longer require haz-mat of their drivers anymore.
Richard, the deal you mention -- school in exchange for a year's committment -- is fairly common. Depending on the company, it's not a bad deal. The fly in the ointment, however, is that 70-80% of people who go into the industry quit within a few weeks, when they find out they're not going to be hangin' out at truck stops all day. It's never what they expect and they get homesick.
I would have no problems recommending my old employer to you (especially since they have very nice trucks, and the fleet is 100% autoshift), but they don't have a school. You have to have a CDL in hand.
After a few months with most of the majors, you can make in the low to mid .30's (cents per mile), which isn't bad. Of course, the magic numbers are when you hit that 1yr. experience level with no accidents. The better jobs open up to you then. You can pretty much have any job you want after 3 yrs., with very good companies that pay well.
Check out the Newbies forum at: Truck Stop USA .com You can find a lot of different kinds of info there, from driver testimonials to what you should carry on the truck with you. Some good people run that site. Stay away from Truck.net, though. You can't rely on anything you hear there... lots of abuse and false info deliberately to mislead beginners. Good luck, and if you have any other specific questions, just let me know and I'll try to help where I can.
EDIT: WARNING! Do NOT. Repeat, DO NOT let a recruiter talk you into a lease/purchase deal! Stay in the business no less than a couple of years before you even CONSIDER getting your own truck! It will take that long for you to discover all the nuances of the business and whether or not it is for you. Don't be enticed by the high per-mile pay for O/O's. By the time you pay for tires, maintenance, fuel (even WITH the surcharges), you will make about the same as a regular ol' company driver. Sure, you'll hear all the "success" stories, but believe me, there are far more stories of failure in lease deals. All you're doing is paying for the company's truck for them.. let them do that. You be the company driver.
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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
![](/ubbmembers/137h.jpg)
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 10-17-2006 09:36 AM
More thoughts re: driving local. The better local jobs are open to drivers with those years of experience I mentioned. Newbie local jobs are often not as good as they sound, because they can offer that "be home every night" line to beginners, who may be afraid to venture out across state lines, and who will accept lesser pay for the "priviledge".
Be aware that many of these jobs may "get you home" for only a few hours a day, and then expect you to be right back out. I could've been home every night on my dedicated, but I opted to stay out, get my runs done in 3 or 4 days, and then have several quality, contiguous days off; rather than being home every day (just long enough to go to bed and get right back out again).
Also, running local, you will be driving in the city a lot... with all the tight turns, traffic jams (hope you're getting paid by the hour), parked cars, and other obstacles. If you start going down a dead end or make a wrong turn, guess what? You can't always just turn around. You have to have room to do that. And, if you can't get turned around, the police will have to come and clear traffic while they back you out. This will incurr a fine. A ticket that may cost $75 if you were driving a car will cost $400-$800 or more in a big truck!
Newbie local jobs also involve local deliveries; to stores, and in the case of your tanker-yanker job, to bulk customers. The big local job the trucking school here bragged about was Coca-Cola. They gave the impression that you'd be running between DC's (distribution centers, not Digital Cinema ) all day, but the actual job was delivering product to grocery and mom-and-pop stores. You unloaded every case of soda off that trailer and stocked the store shelves -- all for $11 an hour!
This is why I liked pulling a dry van. My job was all drop-and-hook, and then head it down the road. No loading or unloading. In fact, most companies don't even want you to do that -- they want you to drive. In the whole time I drove a truck, I only unloaded a trailer one time; and I volunteered for that, just to see what it was like and to say that I'd done it. (For the record, I never want to do it again, even as I am getting in shape.)
Reefers and flatbeds also involve a lot of extra work, on every-single-load, that it doesn't really pay you to do it... especially since you'll be very tired at the ends of those runs (e.g., you just got through driving 700 miles, and now you have to tarp a flatbed load in the rain or snow). With dry vans, you can sleep while you're parked in the dock door, being loaded/unloaded.
With tankers, you'll be climbing up and down all day, handling hoses and/or dump valves, and getting the trailer washed out a lot. It's hard, dirty work.
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