I Narrowed Down My Wish List

Don't even want to drive through it. So far I'm leaning towards USA truck and heartland express.
I like that heartland express has a western otr that seems to encompass the Dakotas down to Oklahoma, and seems to exclude Texas. At least according to their map.

 

All of those are megas. You don't recommend any small companies? Why only those companies? Haven't checked in a while, but last I heard Crete's trucks cabs weren't specd very well for a couple living in the truck.

 

Yes that's the one. I didn't see they had a hiring restriction based on the address of your cdl. Oklahoma is not far from TN and it's a company with terminals in TN. One thing that concerns me about dry van is the issue of layovers. I don't like sitting around much, because "freight is slow right now."

You may be right, but I'm not letting anyone tell me that three years of OTR experience with a clean record is the same as someone with no experience. They can take a hike. I don't really have to get back into trucking, so if I don't find what I'm looking for I probably won't. I always had my wife as a passenger, and it really helped me be efficient. For a job, it was fun, and I didn't waste time. Failing to hit mileage goals was always the fault of planning, dispatch, or breakdowns.

Lots of forum members talk about how there are plenty of companies out there that don't mind drivers that've been out of a truck for a few years.

I'll take your advice about those megas to heart in any case. I never drove for a mega, but I always wondered what it must be like. People on here always talked bad about them. Part of me thinks I might enjoy it more though, since (as you point out) they have more freight options. Even usa truck has that choose your load option that chinatown always mentions. The other advantage with a mega is that they have more terminals in more places and more company shops in more places. Personally I don't care if "I'm just a number." I always saw the "be part of the family" culture of smaller companies to just be a facade. Last company I worked for was on the small side, they only had one terminal in the whole country, route assignments, fuel assignments, and the first company that had an office jockey chew me out about my use of an e-log. They were probably the biggest micro-managers of the three companies I worked for.

Just curious what is your background in trucking? And why did you mention those companies specifically? Some of them I've heard referred to as bottom feeders by many. BTW, all companies I ever worked for had PC miles. As someone living on the road, I honestly don't see how I could do it without that option. I should've included that in my list of requirements.

 

Define mega?
Judging from the number of terminals they have, I would define them as such.