What is line haul?

I might have to advance my CDL after all

 

I got tank & doubles when I got my permit....now going back for hazmat....it would be my advice from one newb to another to get all your endorsements. Hazmat does require some extra work every 2-5 years, so if you dont need it after you found your line of work, then drop it.

 

I had my license for since 03 I just never got the chance to add endorsements because it was not necessary. It does seem like a good idea though.

 

LTL= Less than Truck Load...

 

You need a hazmat endorsement for any freight company that I know of, thats true.

 

what i try to instill into my students is that things being the way they are now, with cities, states, towns needing money, we are seeing spikes in taxes, fee's etc...

what i tell my students that is it's BEST to get as many (if not all) endorsements NOW while the prices are what they are...

let's look at a "doom and gloom scenario" my favorite....

suppose the CSA actually DOES put drivers out of a job, heck someone here, in another board said he lost his job for 12 months (a suspension)...ok, now suppose sever hundred drivers also get "suspended" for a period of time....this leaves gaps for companies to fill, and perhaps a "sudden rush" for driver to get those particular endorsements....

don't you think the DMV's are going to "see a spike" in those tests...??

don't you think the states will raise the testing fee's....???

you KNOW that'll happen...

even if that "doom and gloom scenario" does not happen, just given the financial dire straits states are in, don't you see price hikes sooner or later, since THEY KNOW we need those endorsements for our jobs...??

i say to my students, "get all you can get now, avoid the price hikes, or even tougher tests."....!! hell, the sates if they want to, can make you take a tanker and doubles road test.....this too will take in extra money....

i mean they DO MAKE YOU TAKE the road test for a greyhound bus (when you take the passenger endorsement), so DO NOT put it past them to see more money coming in...!!

think people, think, of what our states CAN DO to generate MORE MONEY, and we as truckers have ALWAYS BEEN A CASH COW....!!!

 

I ran linehaul for a year pulling doubles.
It paid really well but the problem was the same roads day after day after day after day...
I like a little variety in life!

Most of the LTL companies want you to work the dock.
As in, you'll arrive at the terminal...and either your trailers are loaded or you load them.
Then drive to a hub where you break your set, put your trailers in the door, and then unload them with a towmoter and do more dockwork.
Then you drive back to your home-20 and maybe work the dock there.
Alot of LTL today is that you're basically a glorified dockworker with a CDL.
If you live up north...those docks ain't heated...it could be 20 below and you're flying around on a towmotor...NO FUN!

Starting out, you're low man on the totem-pole...and the higher-seniority guys are gonna bid on the longer runs with less (or none) dockwork.
And as bottom man, you will most likely be last on the extra board....which means you basically fill in for vacations, freight overflows, etc.
You could work 2 days a week or 6 days a week...no set startime...often waiting by the phone to see if you work.
It could take many years before you see a startime because guys don't quit those jobs...the good jobs, at least.
And forget running during the day, you may NEVER see a daylight run...the majority of linehaul is night work.
There's some LTL's that run ads in the paper 24X7 looking for drivers just like the OTR companies.

LTL ain't what it used to be...but then again...what is these days?

 

variety in life...???

to me, variety means a coconut mounds bar instead of a snickers bar....that's about as much "variety" i ever wanted......

i like sameness.......i feel comfortable doing the same thing.....i hate change.....unless it's a different candy bar.....and even then, it had better be darned good too...!!!

 

As Paddington noted above... many LTL line haul positions involve quite a bit of dock work before and after the run. I know several LTL line haul drivers who live local and drive to STL or OKC and back 5 nights a week... about 500 miles total per night... and still work several hours loading the local pup delivery trucks in the mornings when they get back. 14-16 hour days are not uncommon... but when you're making around $20 per hour you really can't complain.

 

I made $87,150 last year running 420 miles of line-haul nightly and was the first one to bail when the opportunity presented itself..haha.. I had to work the dock but if I had not taken all the unpaid days and stayed till the end of the hub which I could have if I so chose, I would have bumped 100K easily.. The nice thing is we can always work the dock by choice to max the income if we want at my terminal - it's OT for me now but I skate at 8 even though I could work 5 14's if that's what I wanted to do.

Next year I'm taking the long line-haul runs 1 and 2 to see what can really be made here - yeah I work the dock but every minute of my time is paid from drop/hook, dock, fuel, and above mid .50's per mile for driving.. Gonna see what I can really do right.. Betting on 110K but I still have like 40 weeks of running circles in our yard..haha..