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OK Question

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by ao2005, Dec 10, 2009.

Page 3 of 5
  1. Dec 11, 2009 #21
    Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    May 28, 2009
    Rancho Mirage, Ca.
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    Ao2005, there must be a thousand (slightly Exagerated) questions like yours here everyday. Just have a Plan B ready in case trucking isn't for you. What I see is so many people think that trucking will be their saving grace and then find out it isn't for them. Now they have to go home and face friends and family and most blame the trucking company. What you have to understand is its a completely different lifestyle. You are not waking up in your bed, using your bathroom, eating in your kitchen, driving a few miles to your job, coming home 8 hours later and watching the 6 o'clock news in your EZ chair. Then sleeping with wifey in your own bed. Then having the weekend off at home. Forget all that if you get into trucking.
     
    Allow Me., Dec 11, 2009
    Allow Me., Dec 11, 2009
    #21
    TbonesPapa, ao2005, outerspacehillbilly and 4 others Thank this.
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  3. Dec 11, 2009 #22
    ao2005

    ao2005 Light Load Member

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    Nov 5, 2009
    Beaverton, MI
    0
    yeah i have read enough to realize that its not a 9-5 job, but after reading all i have read i still think its for me. No matter what i will not know until i get out on the road. Its aslo a nice thing to have a cdl just incase someone will hire me localy. Thsanks for your post in was very informative.

    Thanks,
    Alan
     
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    #22
  4. Dec 11, 2009 #23
    ao2005

    ao2005 Light Load Member

    162
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    Nov 5, 2009
    Beaverton, MI
    0
    also i should add its by no means the same but in my last job i was away from my girlfriend and kid living in a hotel with nothing for 4-6 weeks at a time and only home for 2-3 days. So im used to life on the road. That being said i do realize that a truck and a hotel arent the same at all. The only thing im compairing is they both have a bed to sleep on and have some space for some dry goods and maybe a frig, and no loved ones around.
     
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    #23
  5. Dec 11, 2009 #24
    TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    You know what gets me? Every time you see a comparison between a flatbed and vans, some doorslammer mentions securing and tarping in bad weather. Is it really that bad?

    Had an OD load on an RGN with 4 tarps on it. Im parked along the curb at the very back 40 acres of a Petro because my wagon is too wide to fit in one parking space. Theres a bunch of oversized load parked along the rim.

    5:30am Flatbeds start streaming out of the truckstop. 6:30am, the OD guys are pretrippin and briefing escorts. 7:30am, I head out with the first wave of OD. The vast majority of trucks still in the truckstop are reefers(not dryvans). Are they waiting for their dock appointments at the local grocery warehouse?

    1pm, I get to my destination. A team of guys come out of the plant, I remove the securements, they roll up my straps and fold my tarps, tell me how glad they are that I made it in today. I back in through a door and underneath an overhead crane, and they take off the big machine and sign my bills. It takes me longer to put my gear up than it did to unload.
     
    TripleSix, Dec 11, 2009
    TripleSix, Dec 11, 2009
    #24
    REDD, mizdageeragn, ao2005 and 1 other person Thank this.
  7. Dec 11, 2009 #25
    pinola flash

    pinola flash Bobtail Member

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    Jan 17, 2009
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    I started out 1 year ago did not know what to do either, got my cdl hired on with a flatbed company and I am loving it. first 3 months are tough but if you like hard work and don't mind getting dirty and working in all types of weather it ain't bad. flatbed is not for everybody I see guys hire on with us, alot of them don't make it 3 months, there is more to it than just driving, but the money is good and the hometime for me is great.
     
    pinola flash, Dec 11, 2009
    pinola flash, Dec 11, 2009
    #25
    ao2005 Thanks this.
  8. Dec 11, 2009 #26
    ao2005

    ao2005 Light Load Member

    162
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    Nov 5, 2009
    Beaverton, MI
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    thank you both triplesix and pinola.
     
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    #26
  9. Dec 11, 2009 #27
    REDD

    REDD The Legend

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    Jun 29, 2009
    Dueling Banjoville
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    You sir are 210% correct! Sure there are days where it is raining, snowing, freezing, and I have to drag some rags across the load & I seem to whine like a little girl on those days...

    Then there are days like today. Just loaded a machine going to North Carolina that had to be tarped... The loaders not only loaded it... They also secured it, wrapped all the sharp edges with padding, and pulled my tarps over the load. All I had to do was bungie it down. And I did that in a 70 degree building here in frozen Jersey.

    But you never here about the gravy loads!!
     
    REDD, Dec 11, 2009
    REDD, Dec 11, 2009
    #27
    outerspacehillbilly Thanks this.
  10. Dec 11, 2009 #28
    ao2005

    ao2005 Light Load Member

    162
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    Nov 5, 2009
    Beaverton, MI
    0
    the hardest part for me getting anything is that i just am in the wrong part of Michigan and alot of companies dont drive up around here all i see is Werner, Swift and US Express
     
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    #28
  11. Dec 11, 2009 #29
    TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    If you want to learn to flatbed, Swift has a good program. they have a terminal near AnArbor(sp?)
     
    TripleSix, Dec 11, 2009
    TripleSix, Dec 11, 2009
    #29
  12. Dec 11, 2009 #30
    ao2005

    ao2005 Light Load Member

    162
    15
    Nov 5, 2009
    Beaverton, MI
    0
    Ann Arbor yeah i was looking at them but i have to be 23 so i figured ill pay for my trainning with cash and then go there.(i got like 2 months until im 23)
     
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    ao2005, Dec 11, 2009
    #30
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