Complete Newbie

That's correct, you deal with a different breed of animals at reefer/ food warehouses.

 

Every CDL school will find someone to loan you money for CDL school. About half of trucking companies offer Tuition Reimbursement for new hires. If trucking is your way out of unemployment or underemployment the Feds/state may grant you the cist of CDL school. This is known as WIA OR WOIA and is admimistered by your state unemployment office.

I say all of the above to say "don't limit your choices to the trucking companies with "free" training."

 

Flatbed is about the only trucking that requires some blood and sweat. Dry van, reefers, and tankers have very minimal physical work (unless doing local work). They all have pros and cons. Reefer has long wait times, but they also get a lot of high mile runs which means days where you do nothing but drive and fuel. Dry van is more straight forward, but you can deal with a lot of multiple pick ups and deliveries bundled into one load. Tankers usually have less wait time loading and unloading, but you can end up hauling some gnarly products. Thats just to give you an idea but there are many many many more pros and cons between the types of trucking.

You have all sorts of types who make career changes into trucking. Lawyers, Doctors, Teachers, hippies who worked at pizza hut their whole life. You see all different types out here. You got pretty boys, you got cave trolls, you got big berthas, you got cowboys, you got thugs, etc. Some people hate it, some love it. Some come in with stars in their eyes at the thought of getting paid to travel the country, then 6 months later they are cursing the industry. Its all what you make of it.

Prime can be ok. Thats where I started back when. Their training process is extra long, which can really suck. They keep nice equipment, but their trucks go super slow. I know when I went there they had better pay than most of the other training companies. But its just a means to gain a little experience and move to a better company. Pick your poison, really.

 

Cincinnati. Been thru Canton/Akron area many times.

 

Yeah my company won’t let me anywhere near the freight, or the loading area for that matter.

I just drop off the paperwork and go to the drivers lounge and grab a free complimentary cold shower.. if the showers are decent. That’s about it. Physical fitness is going to be up to me.

 

My experience with reefers have been mostly drop hook so far, not much waiting. But that’s because I do linehaul so I don’t deliver to customer distributions.

I am waiting at a truck stop for a load right now that isn’t ready, but so far I’ve only ever waited a few hours. And a few hours probably won’t bother after driving. You can get something to eat, sleep, play a game on your computer, call the significant other, and grab a shower... if you can afford it.

 

It is not a misinterperation. I have said that it is good you like larger vehicles.

There is a HUGE difference between getting into a toy car and into a semi.

I used to have trouble with my little tiny Colt decades ago which weighs less than what you will put onto one pallet back there in the trailer. I had 40 ton hands and it would hurt the car for about a hour until I readjusted going home each week.

I am going to stick to my guns and say your first 40 ton load is going to reveal some new experiences for you. No worries. That's all I have for you here. You will learn soon enough and do well.

I would be remiss if I did not thank you for your services to those who needed you. Just sorry you had so many hefties that needed lifting.