Going with Roehl

Well my recruter called to confirm my monday start date.. Im excited but at the same time kind of worried because I have to leave my family of a daughter (2yrs) and son (10yrs) and my wife behind. Not that I cant be without them for long periods of time since im doing this to provide for them, its just that my wife works nights and she goes to school during days and she is considering a "nanny" . She will be staying at my house all night and almost all day with my children and that doesnt sit to easy on my nerves.. I will have to search around myself for maybe a family member or close friend to take care of my children for me to be at ease while away.

If that wasnt a issue I will be hight excited to start class. But now my heart is kind of heavy..

 

I can understand what you are feeling and going through. I am in a similar situation. Even though my 2 kids are older.....still hard just the same. For the first time ever, I won't be home for first day of school for my 6th grader. Plus, she is starting at a new school this year and not real happy about it. On top of that, older sister is starting college and needs a lot of guidance right now from both parents. I may be back in time for her first week of classes but nothing for certain. Sometimes, I feel like I am abandoning them at a critical time.

However, after talking it over, they know I am doing it to provide for them. At my age and having put together few marketable skills (stupid & foolish!) thru the years, this is the best option by far. My wife has been talking about taking a 2d job at night and/or weekends which makes for an even more unstable environment than it already was. Maybe once I am out of school and on the road making some dough, she can drop that idea and be at home with the kids. If my kids were as young as yours, it would be much more difficult for me to make the choice we've made. I wish you and yours the best and hope you can find a family member to help.

 

hey riverside and midwest: I'm a stay at home mom of 3 (13, 5 & 2). My hubby's been OTR for about 4 years - he's missed alot too, but there's always video's to take with him and lots of phone calls. The Kids adjust really well, quicker than me, but everytime he comes home - there's hugs and kissed all around. He says he feels more special cause when he's home, we all want to be with him, yes even our 13 yr old daughter! It's nice to see parents that are truck drivers worried about their families, but rest assured it's not an easy task your families are about to undertake, but they will rise up and you will see strengths in them you probably never saw there, even the little ones. Good Luck, from our family to yours!

 

Ziggy, stay away from Swift. You'll regret going there sooner or later. Roehl is much better to go with, and so is Crete. Have you looked into Crete? Their headquarters is just east of you over in Lincoln, Nebraska. I worked for Crete once, and they're #### good. You won't go wrong if you go to work for them. Roehl is very good, too, though. You'll be fine with either of these two companies. Your life will definitely be bleak if you go with that POS ouftfit that's based out of Phoneix.

 

Tip,
Thanks for the reply. Im not sure even where to go. Im a teacher but I think Im going to take some time off...although I hate doing something that doesnt use my degree...feel like I wasted my money in college if Im not using it. Right now im in WY, but Im trying to get back to Fargo / Moorhead area; but I have no experience driving truck. There are a bunch of outfits over there for trucking...but I don't think any of them train. There is Laidlaw transit...but they want me to physically show up at their location and fill out an app so thats not possible as its 1000 miles away.

We are just here in WY mainly because this is where we worked and we have a Double wide we currently own....but nothing is really stopping us from moving back north...well lack of a job...not sure how easy it will be to find a place if I have no income, lol. I did get an email from J-Mar which is based out of Bismarck and Fargo and they told me they like to hire people with at least 6 mos of experience and they told me to check out transsystems which hauls sugar beets...but crap...they ALL drive like bats out of hell. Im not sure if trucking can open the door for higher up positions down the road or not.

I was originally thinking of Swift, because it seemed like one could live anywhere and I figured If I bit the bullet and drove with them, I could least live in the Fargo area. Roehl wants me living further south in MN and with their regional line, I would have to live in St. Cloud. I could do their 7/4, 7/3 routes, and that would let me live further north, but Id then would have to drive to Newport MN to get the truck which Id share...not a fan of that...but maybe its not bad sharing? Id prefer my own assigned truck.

Heck...actually, I was thinking of getting into the auto transport carrier business, but I can't find any information at all on that. I wouldnt mind buying my own Dodge (Ive heard the Ford diesels are crap...and Im a ford guy too) and hauling a gooseneck or fifthwheel aroudn with cars or campers. I would like some more info on that because with that, I think I could live in that Red River Valley area. Got any tips or suggestions?

Ryan

I also am in the process of looking into crete or shaffer...but all they seem to have is national stuff...being newly married, Im not sure how well Id manage being away from home for so long...but shaffer gives 1.5 home days for every 6 on the road...not bad. Crete is 1 for every 6....not sure why there is a diff since its practically the same company.

 

Driving a Cummins Dodge or a PowerJoke pulling cars wouldn't work out, or at least that is my opinion. When I drove, most of the cars were hauled by big rigs, meaning there really isn't a niche for guys who have large pickups for car hauling. Besides, I bet a fully loaded PowerJoke would get only about twice the mileage of a big rig. If you take it easy (meaning keeping it at around 55) you may be able to get 2.5 times out of it.

Plus, you'd have to juggle deliveries or say "no" to some cars because they'd be too far away from your main line to drop off. Going 300 miles one way, out of my way, to drop off one car wouldn't be something I'd do.

One other thing....If you drove a cummins or a jokepower, where would you sleep? Motels? That'd get expensive, as I imagine sleeping in a 3500 cab every night would get old after about the first night.

 

You brought up some good points. Seems out here in southern WY...there is a market for it as I see (to me) quite a few of those haulers around...either hauling cars or camper trailers. Some haul the trailers one by one via gooseneck / fifth wheel and others haul a couple smaller camper trailers on a trailer. But then again at the same time...true...not sure about other expenses such as insurance, gas, lodging...etc. I figured with all the trucks I see...thought it had to be halfway decent. Crimeny.

Well this just stinks...I thought that might have been a good route. Id like to be able to run my own biz...something where I feel Im using my degree at least a bit. Of course, I can't really be a O/O if I have zippo for experience either, lol.

 

I know in Logan, Utah, there is an outfit called "Logan Coach", and they may need people to pull the little horse trailers they build.

Also, there is always a need for "condition critical" loads that straight trucks carry. There used to be a good company that was devoted to solely this type of freight, but I can't remember its name. They ran frieight in 6-wheeler vans. The cabs were small and used the Q-comm system, and the trucks had small sleepers. They may be still around. Don't know.

 

pickups hualing cars up north is a big thing, my bro did it for awhile for the local dodge dealer, but they paid all expences...plus he saved them some money by sleeping in the back seat (years of rodeoing will get you used to that).....but the only semi's i see are the regular car hualers(7+ cars).....the rigs with 3 car trailers just dont make any money in the north.....sad but true

talk to the local dealers....if you can save them a few bucks over doing it themselves you'd be in like flynn.....theres a few guys in helena that hual only for the local dealerships and they make money