Do you have advice for an Elder newbie ?

LOL, older means smarter rightJust kidding. But as far as the bulk hauling and dry van goes , dry vans are just a regular trailer like any other. The bulk haulers (someone correct me if I'm wrong , never done any of it) are the one that haul dry feed , grain , flour, and the ingredient for concrete I believe...sort of like a tanker , but they have an on-board pump to assist in the unloading. I think I got that right.

My trucking was done to start with with an uncle who owned a small dairy farm in the 60's , I spent summers there as teen , and he taught me how to drive a tanker so he could sleep on the way back. before too long I was doing 99% of it. Into the Army , came home ,drove a dump truck for a while then got a job running "coast to coast" with a company called Thomas Produce...did that for almost 3 years and then landed my dream job delivering McDonald's restaurants with GSF. Did that for 30 years and retired in 2011. I only count those years that I drove legally not the dump truck or those that I was doing it "farm to market". quatto , I'm one of the lucky ones, got to experience the good ole days of trucking 1st hand, didn't have to go to any school , and wound up with a job that paid well enough for my wife to be a stay at home Mom til both our sons were out of high school and on to college. Plus I have been blessed with great health, all along. MY story is not typical, but many drivers have been lucky like me...you know having a career , not just a job. I wish you all the luck in your trucking adventure , I hope it goes as well as mine did. Tony

 

I am 55 and looking to get my cdl as well. I have found one co so far that says I will be home on weekends and that is McElroy (flat bed only). Hope this helps.

 

As of now going to CTI in Tyler. Any thoughts

 

Dry van is just a big box on wheels.
Dry bulk is a tanker that hauls dry powder and not liquid.
The trans-system website shows a picture of dry bulk tanker, also Bulkmatic website.
Personally I like dry bulk; just have good hearing protection, some pumps can be loud. The money is good also.

 

I am amazed when I see the difference between my husband, and when my dad was his age ... Light years! I see a lot of folks in their 60s who in no way seem their age. I think 60s is the new 40s!

 

advice? do your absolute best to hire on w/an outfit that has trucks that will run at least the posted speed limit,70 mph or better,and automatically ( not an automatic truck!)eliminate potential stress that accompanies the transition/acclimation that you are about to encounter.

I know nothing regarding elogs,qualcoms,vorad,automatic transmissions,traffic impeding trucks,and load planners but can declare that all of the preceeding would tend to create a stressful enviorment for a newbie based on all that i hear out on the road and read here on this forum.

attempt to enter a specialized segment of the industry such as pulling an end dump.the compensation is on the higher end as opposed to refers/dry vans.flatbedding is a state of mind and can keep you young yet tarping in the rain,wind, or ice will not be fun.

best of luck and carry on driver-

 

This eliminates about 97.547% of the carriers that are willing to hire trainees. Good luck on finding the other 2.453%!