My Trucking Journey - J. Bauer Trucking.

Company has been great. No B.S. and always asking if I need anything. I truly haven’t had any real issues. Had to do a 34 hour reset in Lubbock, TX a couple weeks back, but that was due to not having a back haul and I completed more 4 days of deliveries in 2.5 days. The company pays you for the layover. It was not that big of deal. In fact, when I ended getting back home, I had some things to take care of and ended up taking some extra time (5 days) at home, which was good. However, as you are all aware, if the wheels aren’t turning, you’re not making money.

I commute most of the time back and forth to my home, but have been able to leave the truck by my residence. It just depends if they can get me a back haul that is near the Milwaukee area.

Regarding training. Your are taught what you need to do to pass the state CDL road test. My training consisted of spending the first week solely on learning to drive a truck. I fully expected to be doing that part for 3-4 weeks. However, my trainer felt I was ready to take the test. Upon completion of getting my CDL, I spent two weeks running with another company driver prior to being issued my own truck.

 

Hello all. I’m a bit premature on my 1 year anniversary, 01/20/22, but I figured I would give a sort of yearend critique of my journey in my trucking career.

As mentioned my 1 year anniversary is just around the corner. Year to date I have put on 113,647 miles. This includes approx. 3 weeks I took off for a vacation, deer hunting and other needed weekend events that were planned. I have traveled the many states as far as Maine to the East and as far as Idaho to the West.

Mainly I run window loads that require us to assist in unloading at our stops. I may have anywhere from 1 single stop to 17 stops per load. Typically I would the average number of stops would be approx. 6-8. I also do food loads, dry and reefer. I like the food loads if I am lucky enough to go to shippers and receivers that are on the ball. However, it never fails to be sitting way to long at a shipper. A perfect example is my current load that I am waiting for since 8:55am. Didn’t get to the dock until 7:30pm. A whole day gone. It is what it is.

I really can’t believe that I have almost completed my first year in trucking. Overall I have truly enjoyed this new career path and really wish I would have started earlier in my life. Yes there is ups and downs, but overall I truly believe I made the right decision.

I’m not one to share the financial aspect of my journey, but can say I have met my goal of what I set out for in my first year of trucking. Thanks for following along and a Happy New Year to you and your families.