####, I have sat here and read the majority of the threads and posts. At the end I thought, "There's no way in hades am I going to put up with that cylindrical feces". Then logic set in. If the trucking industry was as bad as these post made it seem, then nobody would be be answering these questions for nobody else would either. So here's my question?

I have been a soldier, a cop and a prison guard. I have been bit, spit on, piss thrown on, *** thrown on, kicked to sleep, shot, video taped through most and Monday morning Quarterbacked through all of it. Can any of it be worse? I doubt it. That said, here's my plan, please feel free to input.

Local vo-tech for training, 320 hrs., so as not to have endentured servitude to one company for 1 year. Have a little experience in the 80's driving dump with hazmat (TNT, Dynamite,C-4) personnel while pulling water tank, military. Find decent company, live in Florida, to work for to get bonifide experience for 9-12 months. Then wife comes on board to do team as either company team or O/O. So my question is which company do you recommend? I am all about safety, personal danger is one thing, endangering others is another. I have no intention of running illegal or tired, 40 tons is not a game to me. Any suggestions?

If it was me, I would go to school and get my CDL. Them find a co. that mainly runs teams.When you get done with doing your training with them, have your wife go to school. They will let you run with someone else until shes done with school. That way you will never have to run when your tired(10 hrs on/10 off ect.). When she is ready, most co. would let you be her trainer. That way not only will you not run tired, all of the miles will will go into one pocket!!! I think that a good co. to look into would be IWX. You can look into almost any big co. on the internet, Just put " team truck driving jobs" into your search engine. But always rember when your talking to recurters, that they will tell you anything to get in the door!!! Do some research, then come back here ask ?'s about the co.s your interested in. You can also go to rip-off reports.com to check for negative feedback. If there is a truck stop nere you it would be a good idea to go and talk to drivers in person. Hope this helps. God bless & good luck!

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Hightech Redneck

DruidLogan -- you didn't say where in Florida you live, but Roehl is a pretty good company that will train you out of school and is generally known for treating their drivers pretty well and running things by the book. They hire van drivers out of the Jacksonville area and flatbed drivers from as far south as Tampa. Crete is another pretty good company and they have a terminal in Deland, FL. From what I've heard, they tend to be a little more particular about the school you graduate from, but if your school is PTDI certified, it shouldn't be a problem -- I'd check it out before signing up for school if you are interested though. I know Roehl has a tuition reimbursement program also, which is a plus, and you don't have to sign a contract to be an indentured servant to get it. Crete pays practical miles, which means that you will be paid on miles that are closer to the amount you actually drive instead of the 'short' miles that most other companies pay. You can check them both out on their websites and there have also been numerous posts on this board you can check out if you do a search. Best of luck to you -- you sound like you have the type of 'can do' attitude that will help you succeed in this business.

Thank you Keelady and Hightech. I live near the world renowned speed trap capital of the world, Lawtey. There's two companies nearby that I am aware of, Pritchett(never heard any good about) and Davis(never heard anything + or - about).

I dont know what type of trailer you are looking to pull, but I think you should think about running refridgerated(aka reffer). The reason I say this is that it will open you up to alot more carriers that are not in your aera. Becsuse you live in FL. most of the bigger reffer carriers will have no problem taking you on, even if they dont have a yard near by. This is due to FL being such a main lane for produce. It would also make it more likley for you to get home when you want, and take the truck home with you.

It is well known that running reffer tends to have the bigest share of the problems(more time at docks, keeping a close eye on temp., pallet exchange ect.), but it also has the most flexabilty. All 48 states need/make food stuffs.

Ive pulled just about every type(except bulk powder). And have always found that if I needed to go to a spacific state or city, I could almost always get a load to do so without alot of deadhead, or waiting a day or two to get a load.

At times you will have to put up with alot more than you would with say a dry van or flat bed. but once you get the hang of it, I truely feel that its the best way to go.

Most bigger carriers now have detenition pay incase you get stuck at a dock for more than two hours off your apt. And alot of them will have drop and hook for teams. This way you can keep the truck and money rolling(Ive ran team as an o/o and had my best friend hired on as my co-driver, and it was no problem for us to avg. 8500-10000 miles per week)!!!

Its not right for everyone, but I think this would get you more choices that any other type of trucking.

God bless,

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Hightech Redneck

Thanks Hightech, hadn't really considered reefer. I really don't mind a little extra work and don't care what I haul. Otr is fine with me but it would be nice to hit the house every other weekend. For what seems to be a difficult occupation there sure are a lot of helpful people such as yourself.

DruidLogan, Have ever thought of both of you going to school together and then sighning on to a company and a husband and wife team from the get go?
My wife and I did that when I was riffed out of the Army the first time in 1994 during the Clinton draw downs. We both went to truck drivers school together and then trained at FFE in Dallas Tx. but because she could not back as good as me the company would not hire her and so we went to Prime Inc. (what a mistake) and I bought my first truck from them. I would not advise anyone to sign on to them though. Roehl is a good company, have not heard any bad about them. IWX is solid also in my opinion. Crete although a fine company, to my recalection they only hire experianced drivers but maybe they have changed their hireing practices. What ever outfit you choose though make sure that you fallow High Tech Rednecks advice and do you do diligence first on all of them.
Oh be ready to spend about three weeks or more on the road before you head to the ranch though because you can't make much money sittin at home in this biz specially if you decide to become O/O, and a lot of the companies say they have a no forced dispatch and they do but if you turn down loads you always go to the end of the line and some dispatchers tend to get the big head and try to punish you by short hauls and making you wait. When you get your CDL put the Hazmat endorsement on it, it just makes your CDL worth more I think and some companies pay you a little more for haulin Hazmat. When you get some good Experiance under your belt and get your own truck give Bagget Transportation a look, they haul military loads and I made great revenue with them and teams are just what they love. Their out of Birmingham Al. Happy trails old bud and Keep it between the ditches.

Pay for training yourself if you can. It's better than owing any company anything. I've heard horror stories of people accepting company sponsored training, getting 'disqualified' from working there, and then owing the company several grand.

Roehl has a Southeast Van Fleet. So that may be an option. They have the top safety rating right now too. If you want flatbed, they have that, but expect to be out for at least two weeks at a time and run heavy in the Midwest. After you get experience you can get trainer certified and train your wife, then team drive. I have talked to a couple L/Os and O/Os here, and they seem happy.

In Florida, Coastal Transport (CT) hires new drivers to pull flats and since they are Southeast regional you are home every weekend. I don't know how their rating is.

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This is my winch bar. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my winch bar is useless. Without my winch bar, I am useless.

Good luck to you, DL, much good advice in this thread and more will probably come along as well. Only thing I will ad is that you and your wife had really better like each others company, or that much togetherness may be too much for you both.

You guys do know this thread is 18 months old. Most likely the issue has been resolved.