i wana add this too.
i plan on 1 day starting up my own company, nothing big, maybe 200-300 trucks max, thats always been a dream of mine, and im hoping it will still happen, but anyway,
here is how its going to work
ill do OTR and short haul. no local. just the 2.
rule #1
** All driver must be presentable at ALL time.
no driver shall wear dirty cloths to work. must have great hygnene. shoes/boots must be laced and tied at all times.
no pants below the waste--no boxers/thongs or even grany-panties will ever be shown. no shirts with foul lettering-picturs will ever be worn when on duty/onduty not driving, no driver can use foul talk when talking to any custumer/shipper/reciever.
every truck will be cleaned once a week, every other max. and checked out by on duty mngt.
all BOL's will have--
" Please contact company if driver's hygene is in poor manor "
i would concider doing unifourms, but i want to be able to dress comfy myself, no reason my drivers cant do it.
I want to be the guy that gets talked about for how good a company he is running cause his drivers are clean, and happy, and being clean and happy always makes my job way better.
driving a clean truck inside and outside always makes me happier too.
thats how i would run my company.
and thats only part of it....

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my dream of becoming an o/o and making something of myself is starting to become nothing more then a fairytale

Many people become truck drivers to avoid strict work rules and dress codes. They may accept those rules in exchange for superior pay and working conditions. Even UPS must have some employee turnover. Your dress code reminds me of the U.S. Army. I got out at my first opportunity. At one assignment, they photographed my locker so that other enlisted personnel could copy it before the General Inspection.

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I rode with my husband several times when he worked for companies that would allow it. My hubby keeps the truck clean, but I am still a worse neat freak about it than even him! Only ONCE did we go longer than 24 hours without a shower.. and that is because the truck broke out near Morenci (sp?) AZ. Had to wait out on this deserted stretch of NOTHING for a tow truck for 22 hours! You can imagine how fast we hit showers when we got into Safford!

But I have seen some of the nastiest there are, and I definately question not only their sense of pride in oneself, but also their sanity.

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I am in my 2nd week working at a truck stop. Yesterday, we had about 10 truckers come in, in a row, and i had more teeth in my head then all of them put together. Not to mention a couple came in wearing dirty 'wife beaters', one atleast wore a dirty button up over it...that wasnt buttoned. Most didnt care about brushing their hair, a few didnt know you can buy deodorant pretty cheap at dollar stores. AND to top it all off, they were down right rude. I remarked to my trainer that when I become a driver, i hope i can speak clearly, and look and act professional.

I've said this before, but in the trucking business, you represent the occupation, your job, your company but most importantly......you are representing YOURSELF. Take some pride in yourself....and have the respect of others so you dont force them to smell you.

Good luck on being that selective and demanding, i have doubts if you could fill 200 trucks. With all those requirements you would have to offer top pay, excellent benefits, plus top notch equipment, which would be very costly to you as a owner. Nothing wrong with the "elite fleet" dream, but in the real world i doubt you could pull it off. Don't get me wrong, there is no good reason for anyone to be filthy for any extended amount of time and the truck should be kept reasonably clean. A clean cut, well dressed driver doesn't guarantee they can handle the truck or do a better job, they will just look and smell good doing it. Some of the best and hardest working drivers I've seen are usually a little on the rough side.

They could by bottled water and do a spit bath atleast. I worked in a truck stop and there were a few I REALLY REALLY wanted to offer to take them outside and hose them off and throw in some dishsoap. Even when they left it would take a long time for the smell to leave the store and our noses. But for the most part all the truck drivers that came thru were clean they weren't scared of water.

i no, and on a realistic side that is how i would want my company ran.
and thats how i am going to run it, maybe not be all that strict but my drivers will be clean at all times, and my trucks will be clean at all times.
and all of the B/O's will have " plsease notify company if drivers hygene is in poor cond. "
or something like that.

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my dream of becoming an o/o and making something of myself is starting to become nothing more then a fairytale

There are hobby truckers and hobby farmers. How does one make a $million in trucking? Start with $2million. It is time to move on from dreaming to reality. As someone posted, not enough clean-cut people are drawn to this type of work. The slack is taken up by folks less presentable who may not qualify to read the TV news.

It is time to start a business plan. The following is taken from a web site, and it is not my writing. "Writing a full business plan is a ton of work no doubt. If you are a student it could take 6 months or more to make a full plan. If you aren't seeking funding or don't want to create that full on business plan then what options do you have? I still think you should create a plan, just because it will be incredibly beneficial for your business, but there is a shortened business plan that you can create that will give insights into the industry and business you are looking to run without the time investment of a full plan. This shortened plan is known by many as a preliminary venture analysis. (called a PVA for short) A PVA give you the info needed to create a fairly quick decision on whether or not your business is feasible or if you have a smaller decision that needs to be made such as whether or not a new product line should be launched."

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When I was running Flatbed I would stink a lot. I would get sweaty and dirty from the tarps, straps etc. A TS with a shower is not always at the end of the day. With the precious little time that we have (courteousy of Uncle Sam) it is not always easy to stop in the middle of your 14 to wait in line to take a shower. When I am at home I take 2-3 showers a day, when I am on the road that becomes more like a shower every 2-3 days.

Heyns57 i hear what your saying and i agree strongly.
i do not intend on doing something like this within the next 5 years.
i am on a 5 year plan.
year 1-5 drive for a company. take notes on EVERYTHING. learnt he trucking industry while getting paid for it. then, year 5-10 work on purchesing my own truck. and then a second one that my buddy will run. run the 2 trucks for several months, to a year or 2.
then buy 1 or 2 more trucks. and each year continue to keep growing.
i dont plan on this to happen over night. i going to take it slow and easy, and take a year at a time.
i am 22, just starting out driving. learning the ropes already, and so far it has been a blast. but it has been serious as well.
this will happen by th time im 35, hopefuly it will happen.
im looking forward to all the ups and down,
im expecting the worse, and praying for the best....

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my dream of becoming an o/o and making something of myself is starting to become nothing more then a fairytale