Attention all rookies and wannabes: Local Jobs for New Drivers

Here are some stats, based on CSA- (Estes freight lines-59.9% vehicle maint) (FedEx-55% driver fitness) (UPS Ground-57.7% vehicle maint) (Saia motor freight line-63.7% vehicle maint)........... Poorly kept equipment, unqualified drivers and a very high crash rate....LTL is very unsafe.

 

I'm not anti ltl. I'm just stating the facts. I like otr over ltl. I pulled locally for the la foodbank. 16 hour days. Loading/unloading 53' (by myself) 2,000lbs pallets. Sometimes the electric would break and only pull jack available. Very tireing work. Made $15.00 per hour with overtime. Avg $600 a week We used 02-03 daycabs that had lots of dot related violations. Good times though..

 

like you said yourself you like lt better than ltl and to each and their own, i ve never driven otr and work for a ltl company. Started driving hauling produce locally and enjoyed the driving part but waiting for the load i hated it, had to hurry up to be on time for the appointment and wait for hours the longest i waited was 7 hours, i know for some of you that might be short but if you re like me can sit on my behind for longer than 10 min, the good thing was i was getting loaded at the city i had some friends in so they came and hung out with me otherwise waiting sucks. with ltl i dont have much time to wait get in n out, its a faster pace work and i enjoy it more, my day goes by faster and i get to interact with all kinds of people, can get interesting

 

Coke isn't really a driving job per se. I worked there 2.5 years before going back out regional otr. If you're young enough with a strong back, you can make some decent money. Probably drove a total of 2 hours in a 12 hour day. The rest is hand unloading and stocking. Sometimes 30k of product, fingered 2 or 3 times a case. .

 

Where I was in Northern Indiana they eliminated bulk. The walmarts and bigger grocery stores were split on trucks with c stores etc. so all the older bulk drivers bid on utility routes and if they didn't see the kind of route they wanted they flexed and went home.

 

Harvey Wallbanger :

Well I cant PM you because you need 7 posts or more to PM people, but if you could help me with this decision it would be really nice: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...56-conway-and-suburban-driving-school-mi.html

I plan on making my decision by Friday so any input would be nice.

 

Very informative post Harvey! Thanks.