Best I ever had was linehaul at FedEX Ground once I got the hang of pulling doubles. Pulled dumps and hoppers they're not too bad a little dirty sometimes not much money though in my opinion. Tried the big company dry van deal and lets just say I lasted a week and a day. Right now I pulling a flat and we haul veneer logs and new railroad ties. No tarping just strap and go. Sometimes gotta wait a little to get unloaded at the veneer plant but for the most part it's not to bad. Work for a local guy we have just 2 trucks. Some weeks home every night and some weeks I might be out a night or two. Thats my 2 cents with 20+ years trailer truckin. Have a good one.......... PJ

My thanks to all that have previously posted on this thread, the info that you have provided is very helpful. I will add a couple of questions that I think / hope fit the theme of this thread ...

1. What are the "tricks of the trade" to minimize your non-driving / dock time ??

2. What about scheduled or appt time -vs- first come, first served ?

In other words, what pro-active steps can an experienced driver take to keep the wheels turning??

Thanks for your help with this.

I drove a flatbed at one pont in time, with a spread axle no less. I would have to say I dont recall it turning any different than with the tandems togeother, some companies use a dump valve that kinda raises the inner axle up so only the rear axle pivots.

It is my experience that it is very very rare to lift a tarp onto a high load, I almost always had a forlift operator put the tarp up there for me...and without even asking.

Also with high lumber loads almost all places make you wear a body harness and you tie off to an over head sling so if you fall of you dont hit the ground.

I dont have any experience with vans, tanks, or reefers so I cant comment.

Been driving end dumps last 3 years. With those the tandems are at the very rear of the trailer. . You just roll your tarp over, get your product loaded then roll your tarp back shut. Take to customer. Make sure your on a level surface with no potholes and such, make sure there is nothing over head to hit your trailer on (power lines etc), dump 2 valves on trailer,and raise her up. Once product is out your on your way.

The only trick of trade is to get a dedicated van route. There is no such thing as first in line at a Walmart DC hauling reefer goods. If apt is for 3 PM you better be at the guard shack at 2 PM because 10 trucks may be ahead of you. Be late by one minute get punished until next day.

Reefers are horrible. I spent from 9 PM until 9 AM at Super Valu cold staorage in Twin Cities MN and never got one penny of pay. Yes you can haul both dry and reefer in a reefer as long as shipper will take a weight restricted load to offset reefer weight. Some won't.

Dry van drop and hook on a dedicated route of at least 1000 miles is the only driving job worth having since you get to know your route and where you can sleep, fuel, crap, eat, get repaired, etc.

Many shippers won't pay detention pay even if contractually bound to the trucking company to do so. This is why your dispatcher won't just give detention pay to you without a fight. Shippers will often threaten to take shipments away from trucking companies if they insist on detention pay. The result is that dispatchers are trained to resist all requests for fair detention pay from drivers. Think they'll explain all that to you at orientation.

I have no experience with the rest of trucking segment questions asked.

BRI

I am thinking of going flatbed with Melton, but started to hear horror stories of runnin flats,could be these guys were quite a bit outta shape or just a bit lazy. When i was running dry van I always parked to the back at truckstops to get the extra walk in for some kinda extra exercise, then after awhile I would walk around the other trucks to look at things they have done to their truck and ask questions if they didn't seem in a hurry. I just couldn't sit still after 11/14 clock was up,I just wanted to keep drivng and also wanted DOT off my back so I would park on 10 reset. I am currently not driving and working a assembly factory job for last 6 mos. and I am getting bored (not to mention the wife is getting on my nerves but thats a different story for a differnt forum.) I am taking everyones suggestions/comments and learning alot from all of you.

I started in dry vans doing LTL then went to a mega carrier dry van and then lastly ending with reefers.

Dry vans never saw much drop and hook with the mega carrier, saw lots more with the LTL go figure.

With the reefer it depends who you work for had the most D&H with them then anywhere but that is because we pulled beer loads and live plants most of which are preloaded.

As to the tricks of the trade get to the Shipper or Receiver early, get a good attitude and if you do take long to get loaded/unloaded enjoy your break time and get some rest. Then when you do get loaded you can get some serious miles under your belt again till the next stop.

Plan your trip and work your plan and things will be a lot more fun. Just remember, that no matter what the economy is doing, people always have to eat, and since most food is grown on the west coast and is ate on the east coast there will always be demand for reefer loads.

And yes most reefer loads are JIT which means that you usually get unloaded or loaded within two hours, not always but way more often then not as long as you are not late!

Good Luck and Keep on Trucking!

I'l detail my experiences for you. REEFERS; noisy! lots of late night deliveries, lumper fees aplenty, some companies reimburse later than others. plenty of night driving, and at grocery warehouses-tight backing manuevers.And mostly live unloads and loading. DRYVAN; at some major companies, lots of drop and hook, lots of live unloads and loading-depends on company. miles are variable, again depending on company and what the load is.
FLATBED; plenty of tarping, plenty of exercise. Less weekend pickup and deliveries, much less late night pickup and deliveries. Relatively easier backing manuevers, even with the spread axles. Less being blown around by the wind, as you have a lower center of gravity. More work in general. My suggestion is to try all and decide for yourself what is best for YOU! Good luck!

I have been hearing quite a few people mention melton in the last few weeks...........
something I might look into myself.............

__________________
Just my few words-----or not................J

Life is too short, try to enjoy it.....
Maybe we should drive buses

Well I found out Melton won't take me on. the job I am currently at is not a driving job and now been away longer than my experience. I had only 3 months experiance and been at temporary job for 6 months now. was told to go somewhere else and get 3 monthes again then call them back. The sad thing is in South Florida 75% of companies will not hire South of I 10. I may have to move and leave my wife and kids back to get a driving job. been with Swift, jb hunt is not hiring in florida even tho they have terminal here.leaves Werner which is real low pay. I'll move and try Rhoel which wont hire south of Orlando which I live 2 hours from.

Only ONLY (ONLY)......a suggestion....if you have family someowhere you can change your cdl address closer to ATL might help......if you can manage the travel to terminals.

I had some freinds of mine.........not driving.......4-5 get together rented a room in another state used the address to get hired with a company then later told them they were moving..........

__________________
Just my few words-----or not................J

Life is too short, try to enjoy it.....
Maybe we should drive buses