Time to un-retire...

You get free showers when you buy fuel at a truckstop.
Doubt you'll ever drive in Mexico. Usually, when companies post about freight going to Mexico, that means they drop the trailer at the Mexican border and another company hooks to it and takes it to Mexico. Usually a Mexican trucking company.
As for Canada, main issue to watch is the speed limit which is in kilometers per hour, not miles per hour. This is when a truck speedometer shows both is a good idea.
As for CFI Temp-Control, tell the recruiter that's what you want.

 

Here are a few of the things that shocked me when I started:

The rotating clock. You may be used to going to sleep at a particular time of day and getting up at a particular time. No more! You'll be getting up and going to bed at all hours. The schedule of your shippers/receivers and your clocks (11 hour, 8/70) will decide when you get to sleep. It takes your body a while to get used to this. Your hours will change every day since 10+11+30 doesn't equal 24. Let's say you finish your driving, rest and break in 22 hours. Every day your clock starts 2 hours earlier than the day before. Just try doing that now for a week without the joy of having to drive a truck for 11 hours. Of course, when you get used to that there may be a long delay in your day due to breakdowns, construction, the Wyoming DOT or a difficult shipper/receiver that stretches your day by 10 or more hours.

The simple things are a pain. Want a haircut? If you're not in Denver, CO; Troutdale, OR or Walcott, IA it will be difficult. You may luck out and find a truck stop near a strip mall but most truck stops are in the boondocks. Groceries are another issue. Truck stops have a limited selection and the prices aren't great. Trying to find a grocery store in a strange city while 4-wheelers are swarming all around you isn't fun. The store may tow or boot you if you park there. You might think, "Why would they do that, I'm a paying customer?" Enough other truck drivers have hit their lightposts with a trailer or dumped pee bottles in their lot that you're no longer welcome there. If you run out of groceries you better like Arby's. I was shocked that they were so popular while other options are relatively rare (Taco Bell, Wendy's) or non-existent (Five Guys, Taco Time). Burgers are plentiful, pasta is rare.

The parking crisis. If you have to deliver or pick up at a late hour in a strange city you will roam the earth looking for a safe, legal place to park. The truck stops are FULL after dark and in some parts of the country they fill up in the early afternoon. Just because your truck will fit on a wide spot on the side of the road without a, "no parking" sign doesn't mean Smokey won't be tapping on your window telling you to move your truck at some ungodly hour. No, he won't let you finish your 10 hour break first.

The unpaid labor. Drop your load and park at a truck stop waiting for a new one? You may be waiting for a few days, unpaid. Truck dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree so you take it to the dealer for repair. There's a line of trucks ahead of you so they'll get back to you in a few days to tell you what's wrong with it and about how many days it will take to get back on the road. The first and last day at the dealer are unpaid. Days in-between are paid at a pittance. My first job paid $39/day for breakdowns. Drop your trailer at the receiver and they don't have an empty for your next load? You may be driving a full 11 hours looking for another one, unpaid. Trucking companies generally don't know where their empty trailers are, there are some exceptions who have satellite tracking but those are rare. Your FM will give you the address of a past customer. You go to the address and ask the gate guard about an empty. He tells you, "no". So you find a place to park the truck, send a message to your FM asking for a new address then do it again. I've crossed five state lines in a day looking for an empty trailer, unpaid. You pull into town with your load on a Thursday afternoon. The receiver turns you away and tells you they won't be able to take the load until Monday. You park and camp out for three days, unpaid. You pull up to the shipper on time. They tell you to park in a far corner of their lot. It'll be a while - they had 6 guys in the warehouse call in sick so you wait for 8 hours for your trailer, unpaid.

Optional hygiene. Your schedule may not allow you to shower for a day or two. You may get to a truck stop and think you have time for a shower only to find out that there's already a two-hour line ahead of you or worse, all their showers are out of order due to a plumbing problem.

 

I don’t know of a company that will let you take 2 weeks off somewhere you just delivered to. They pay insurance on the equipment and the equipment needs to make them money. If you go with your own truck that might be an option, but you will still have to pay insurance that is not cheap and than truck payments or just eat up deprecation if it’s paid off. It’s a business with a lot of fixed and not so fixed but certain costs.

 

I agree that a company driver probably couldn’t do that on a regular basis but an O/O surely could as he is the one paying for insurance

The last company I leased to charged cargo insurance by the mile and the one now I’m on with doesn’t charge me so if I
am parked then all I have is my truck and trailer liability
Still not cheap
I would usually run 3-4 weeks out and 2-3 weeks off but lately I’ve been running out a little more

 

i really am "entertaining" the idea of unretiring as well.

been looking into part time, weekends operating a vac-truck for parking lot cleaning companies.

no CDL required.

i'll update on this as time goes on.

 

RWL, Lunatic Fringe has given you some REAL-LY GREAT info and advice to think about.

Starting off a trucking career, despite what most of the outside world may think...is NOOOOOT easy.

I did the same thing--starting trucking when I turned 55. Began with Schneider...in their dry van division, doing OTR duty.

HIs above advice on truck parking & food is especially good/accurate.

Because of the above-mentioned factors (and others)....I read somewhere that the wash-out rate among first-year drivers is something like 90%.

If you want to avoid more of the "rotating clock"..... and have more of a set schedule....you might look for jobs with a very high percentage of "drop & hook" loads--& start off in dry van.

Reefer (or temperature-controlled) jobs are especially bad about deliveries at odd hours.

I'm in more of the school of thought that suggests one learn how to drive and handle the truck/trailer FIRST. Then....later...after you've mastered those skills, you can move on and pick up the skill sets needed with tanker, flatbed....or whatever you think you might want.

For my part--I finally managed to get enough OTR experience pulling boxes (dry van, & reefer) to come back home to a more local, home daily job.

Now, I'm doing tanker duty, hauling fuel.

--Lual

 

Go get a DOT physical first ... at 60 years old it’s not a slam dunk.

 

Even if you are an experienced owner operator, leased to the same company for years, you won't be able just to stop "and see the country" whenever you want. the only thing you are going to see is the inside of that truck and the only schedule will dictated by your operations people.
I was in hands down the most flexible arrangement as far as that goes, owner operator leased to a power only company, lots of bobtail so easy to play tourist and was still hamstrung by the company needs to haul time sensitive trailers..."but your the only guy we have in the area"...
If you think you are going to make money and have the freedom, I think you will be disappointed, particularly as an entry level company driver, who has almost no say in his operational future.

 

I disagree with your entire post except the newbie part “ might “ make it a challenge but I don’t even think that’s an issue

I’ve never been a company driver and have not had either of the two companies I’ve been leased on with ever not allow me. The owner. To do what I wanted. When I wanted

My guess and just a guess is that anyone being pushed by a company to do X either needs a new company or needs to learn to say no. I’m off this week

I take on average 4 months off throughout the year and have never had any issues

I simply tell them that after delivery I’m off for X days or weeks

Got to the point that dispatch would email me and ask. Going to take time off or keep running

I think it’s about standing ground although I have not been in that position and just keeping everyone in the loop