Anyone working as a port driver? Pros/Cons?

I just received my TWIC card in the mail yesterday .
Go to their website and find the nearest location for you and apply. Paid 129.75.

 

Hey op read through some of the therds here there's some good information on here.are you looking at running ship yards or rail yards? I have no experience with the rail yards but I have done some work out of the port of Oakland. If your still a student like it says on your username heading first thing I would say is get some experience driving and backing before you try to wrestle with the ports. Reason I say this is most drivers in my experience in the ports are always in to much of a #### hurry. If your trying to back into a slot and you take to long by their clock. They'll go around you and have a chance to clip you maybe, they'll try to cut you in lines etc. There's a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to running the port where everything is once you get inside how the system works ext. Lucky for me when I was doing it my dad had been running them for a while so I had a helping hand in there. Some of the people that work for the port can be rude but you have to remember that these people deal with some problem kids every day so you have to give them a little slack if and when you have to goto a window make sure you have all the information needed to get the container out. Some of the lines can be long and take a while to get your box on so you can head out. The tires on the chassis's are junk you have to make sure you look at them closely before picking that chassis. I've never run for mileage pay we were flat rated, rate was determine by distance. So I'd say if you really wanted to run them get some experience with driving and so on learn to be a little aggressive when needed. If you have some more questions pm me and I'll try to answer them the best I can.

 

The rail yards are the same catpwred with people flying around passing in front of you while backing up if you are slow at it and passing you driving around the rail yards if you are going slower then they are use to. You can't be timid driving around in these places.

 

I wouldn't worry about being too slow with backing, just like everywhere else, if you're too slow or having issues backing, be aware that there might be others waiting to get past you, so allow traffic to pass once in a while. I'd rather you go slow and get it in right than rush and end up doing something wrong.

The other advice is sound, have all your numbers and info with you before going to the 'driver services' window.

If you or your company has a tire or maintenance account with a third party vendor, know who they are, so if there is an issue with equipment, you can go to him rather than getting a new chassis, which can sometimes be a time saver.