Soon to be new driver considering tanker vs flatbed?

If you are based in Houston almost every delivery will be far away from Houston. More customers do EVERYTHING loading you than customers do EVERYTHING unloading you. When the customer does everything you either stay in the air conditioning of the tractor or a breakroom.

Customers vary about requirements to wear PPE like the rubber suit. I'm on the verge of buying one of the ice/water circulating vests cooler for motorcycles.

 

Tanker hands down you'll be thankful when winter rolls around or its windy.
Plus in most applications tanker will top out at a higher pay rate, unless you are doing something like oversized, overweight, or working for a private fleet like Boeing.

 

You hardly ever feel a crosswind with tanker, except pneumatic bulk tanker.

Easier to park.

Better treatment by customers.

Better pay.

All the cool kids pull tanker.

 

After a company purchases the buying company usually just changes the company name on paperwork for a while so the bought company keeps operating as usual for a while.

I WOULD NOT SKIP JOINING A GREAT COMPANY JUST IN CASE THEY ARE BOUGHT OUT.

 

A&R doesn't buy new tractors and they don't allow inverters on company trucks and have no APUs. O/Os at A&R may have some of those things, but IMO you have to have your head examined to buy a truck to test the waters of a new career.

 

I worked for a company that was purchased by another. I also have read what drivers working for purchased companies say. In most cases it's a total surprise. That leads me to discount persistent rumors of company A buying company B. It's usually in both company's interest to not let rumors get started. If word gets out of a purchase current drivers at the "bought" company start to leave, which makes the "bought" company less valuable.

At the company I was with, we were told on a Tuesday that next Monday we would belong to Old Dominion, we would have our jobs continue, but we needed to submit applications with OD. Our pay and benefits would continue as normal, either for a specific time or indefinitely, I forget.

 

The cool kids might pull a tanker, but the real men run flatbed

 

Then I guess us crazies run Hazmat Tanker!

 

@13grinder
Melton Truck Lines is one of the best flatbed outfits for a new driver.
www.meltontruck.com