I know those of you that are actually driving for a living will find my questions asinine, but hey I've spent many, many, MANY moons locked in a cubie punching numbers for a living. Got downsized a few years back and tried the stay at home mom thing. Found out being a 50's type Mom is NOT in my nature! LOL Anyway, we moved to the middle of nowhere and good jobs, heck any job, are hard to come by. So after much research, soul searching and a little bit of luck, I've decided to try my hand at trucking since the days of my six figure salary are looooooooong gone thanks in part to the idiot's that ran my company into the dirt. Haven't finalized anything yet, but I anticipate to start with DS and let one of their partner companies pay for driving school. Yeah I know the pitfalls to this method, but I'm willing to take a risk if they can find a company that is willing to take a risk on me.

Which leads me to my stupdio questions:

1. Who exactly pays for fuel? I assume that the companies provide some type of fuel card for their drivers, but with fuel prices skyrocketing?????

2. I told the family 2 weeks out, home for 2 days and then gone again would be the average. Is this about right?

3. Do you have to tell the dispatcher you want a home time or is it an assumption of the part of the company after X days?

4. Honestly now people's, how much loading/unloading do you do in a given month?

I know there are more questions, just having a brain fart at the moment and can't remember all of them, but I can say will back with more once the wiring starts firing again! LOL

First and foremost, these are all perfectly reasonable questions. There are of course, contrary to popular assurances, some dumb questions. My buddy slurring "will you come home with me" to a gal way out of his league is a really dumb question. Yours don't even come close to that sort of silliness.

1) As a company driver you will be issued a fuel card. The company pays for the fuel through a third party. All of this is just like using a VISA for buying socks.

2) That is a rough average. Depending on the company you work for, their policy, and the impression you make on them, many scenarios are possible.

3) Always tell your dispatcher you want to go home. Dispatchers have a difficult time bringing that truck to a halt. Ask for it, complain for it and then demand it. Even good dispatchers forget about your home time as it does not effect his in the least.

4) Very little. The only exception with my company is during this time of year and garden center loads. Drivers are required to tailgate (carry to the back of the trailer) the plants for each drop. This is an agreement we, the drivers made with the company and we are compensated for it. Aside from that, my boss will pay any lumper receipt as long as I tell him before leaving the receiver. In addition, my company will pay me exactly what the standard lumper charge is at that receiver if I decide to lump the load myself.

Ask all the questions you can think of. Better to get into a situation with both eyes open.

Okay made the call today and I'm confirmed sort of, waiting on the driving report/background check due back tomorrow, to start my driving school training on 5/26/08. Been downing the ecno size Pepto since this morning after that call! So I have more questions that are sorta' related to driving:

1. How many of you professional drivers actually did something else BEFORE you made the change? Me personally I'm about as far from a truck driver as one can get in terms of work. My idea of job included a private office, assistant to handle calls etc and lots of insurance attorney's hanging around to discuss case settlements. Driving is waaaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone!

2. How upset do companies get with driver's that tell them a month or two in advance that they can't drive on certain dates because of a prior committment? I realize for the time off, one might have to be out longer then average, but do they really get pissed if you tell them up front? I have a prior engangement in mid October of this year that I know will last about a week and dang it, I don't want to miss it.

3. Once you get assigned a truck, can you "customize" for your comfort? No I don't mean monster speakers or the like, but more along the lines of a dorm fridge and power inverter.

4. How good is the Wifi at truck stops? I plan on investing in a laptop at a later date and I NEED my net fix.

Okay that's all for now, but I'm sure I will keep bugging as I think of more questions.

Edit to add:
Just one more questions for purely curiosity sakes: For the company drivers cruising this site. How many woman driver's are there approximately in your organization?

Newdriver.....

I am curious, have you been around trucking or truckers growing up?

Do you REALLY know what you are getting yourself into?

I am the last person to tell you what to do since I am currently a student, but I think it is extremely important that people know what they are getting into when they decide to drive a truck............

....... and that goes double (if not triple) if you are a woman!!

__________________


The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein

Welcome and relax you will be just fine. Ask as many questions as you like we will answer all that we can. The fact is we were all beginners at 1 time or another. Your lucky though because you have this forum to answer many of your questions beforehand. I know in my case I did not even have a computer until about 5 years ago and never even thought to look online for information about trucking, trucking jobs, or the lifestyle of a truckdriver.

We all did "something else" before becoming a truck driver. There is a thread started about this very topic and you can read for yourself all the various jobs others have had in the past before they decided on making trucking their career.

Companies do not get upset when their drivers ask for time off. They want at least 2 weeks notice so they may accomodate your needs. Good companies understand that the way to keep good drivers is you must pay them well, treat them with respect, give them reliable dependable equipment to do the job with, offer a solid benefits package, and get them home when needed. Believe it or not dispatchers, fleet mangers, driver managers, load planners, and all the way up the ladder understand we are human and do have a life. The trick is to balance the needs of their customers with the needs of their drivers. If your company values you as an employee they will understand this and encourage you to take time off as needed. A happy well adjusted driver will stay at that company and the relationship will be mutually beneficial.

As for accessorizing your company truck, this does vary from place to place. Some companies and owners will permit inverters while others will not. Most drivers seem to have the thermo electric coolers on their trucks rather than refrigerators because of the cost, the lack of an inverter being permitted, and the space in a truck. A good refrigeartor designed for use on a truck will cost about 500 to 600 dollars while a plug in cooler costs about 100.

Wifi at the truck stops is not the way to go. Some Wifi providers have actually gone out of business and others have high prices for slow speeds (a shared connection) based on the number of users accessing the service. a better way is to get an air card with your laptop. This way you can get online anywhere you have cell tower coverage. For 60.00 per month it is well worth it and tax deductible as well.

The industry has come a long way in the time I have been out here on the road. Better equipment, cell phones and satellite communications, better roads, higher legal speed limits, and large truck plazas with showers available. In the olden days their were dirt parking lots behind or beside a roadside diner that was not open 24 hours a day and did not have showers either. Women drivers were also an anomaly.

Your joining up at an interesting time. The economy is down and trucking is slow in general. Companies are hard pressed to stay in business and many owner ops are failing daily due to the high cost of fuel. That said you will have opportunities. The key is to get your foof in the door (any door) and stay for at leat 1 to 2 years. Keep a safe driving record and clean MVR and then you can leverage your new experience to get a better paying job with better benefits as well.

In a few years you can be making 50 to 60 grand easily but it will be dependant upon how hard you are willing to work and how fast you learn the system and how to manage your time.

__________________
Knowledge is Power

No problem on asking the important questions, heck that's why I researched, researched and researched some more before deciding. And yes in answer to your first question, I actually was a ride a long passenger for many months, years ago in my youth before Daddy convienced me that college education would be better. I had aspirations at that time of learning to drive, but alas accountants made much more then driver's at that time and had better hours! But with the take down of my insurance company, the big 5 becoming the big 3 and numerous other changes in the corporate environment over the last 5 years, it seems the days of the "safe" accounting job is gone. Since we have our house and land paid for, daughter's college tuition is covered etc, now seems like a good time to find out if I really should have pursued driving like I wanted or determine if my father's incessant nagging about a college education was right.

Being a woman doing a "man's" job is not something I run from. Heck after I got out of college and took my first accounting job with a DOD contractor, many times I'd go out to the dock to help the guys load just so we could meet our government deadline. Never bothered me, although the guys thought it was pretty funny seeing me kick off the heels, put my hair in a ponytail and ruin the perfect do and push a hand dolly in a business suit and pantyhose!

Glad to hear you did your research.

Obviously I have no issue with women doing this job....... after all, if a man can do it then it should be a piece of cake for us......

You mentioned in your first post that you were looking at a company program because.... they were willing to take a chance on you.

Have you had a negative response from local companies?

I have actually been encouraged by my contacts....... they all seem very interested in a "mature" woman with an education.

__________________


The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein

Welcome to our site!!! That said, there will be times in the next two to thre years you will ask yourself "what the h$%%" am I doing here!!!! At that point you make a decision to stick it out or not. If you stay, you will most likley do it for the rest of your working years. I started driving during a slowdown in the timber industry as a stop gap job to make ends meet. Here I sit almost 30 yrs later, still driving and no plans to change. The best of luck and stay in touch and let us know what happens,we'll be watching!!!!!!!!

Are you going into this by yourself? The industry is looking for husband/wife teams that pay top dollar for them. Just a thought you only mentioned yourself.

You asked good questions and you will have more the closer you get to your leaving date. You also have time to see the other options out there.
Their is even one of the rooms on this site the women own to get support
so you don't have to particularly hear from us narrow minded, egotistical
sexist men..................HAHHAHAHAHAHA

We have alot of fun here and help others with information that others have.

Just wanted to close with one thing though, I see you mentioned hometime and previous engagements. As was mentioned above and if you search around that can really go either way. One piece of big advice (example: if you need JULY 15th to 17th off) tell dispatch you need 13th to 18th. Not that they plan things to go bad but when you get sent out to Sacramento on the 11th and don't get a load back until 13th you will probably be late for what you have to do......................



Again good luck and keep us posted on your choices and follow through, we love talking aboout things here...............HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

newdrivermaybe

Looks like all the questions so far have been answered, darnit! I like showing off, and the opportunity is toast. Nerts.

You (unfortunately) will run into jerks who think women have no business driving a rig (or being outside the kitchen, for that matter). For my money, they'd make great plant food. But then, that's true of any industry. My wife faces it even as a Paramedic. <sigh>

Sounds like you are (in my not humble at all) opinion, you are doing exactly the right ting. Ask Questions. Lots of them. Research the heck out of things. Best CDL school, local hauling hints, "Can I paint my tractor mauve?" (sorry, just had to put that one in)

If you can't find the answer to a question elsewhere, ask here. The best answers available will be forthcoming. Some of us even know what we're talking about (no, I refuse to be included in that group)

Truck driving is NOT what it was when Dad was driving. In most ways it's better now, but is it right for you? Of course, only you can answer that In any event, whether you frequent the women's topics or not, you'll get support here. Even from us troglodytes. Ook ook