The Mack Dogs Help Thread

Hello to everyone,

I'm Mackdog and I'm here to help any way I can if I can I don't have all the answers or do I hold all the cards but,I have been around the block a few times.

I got my start back in 1998 I got hurt on the job I was working for a trash company picking up recycle in residential neighborhoods tried to do what ever to get hours to put food on the table so I would deliver port o pots well that is how I got hurt the injury was a ingroinal hernia had to have it operated on and have it repaired and due to this was let go by the company.

I got better and started looking or work but no one would hire me the company I worked for would tell the Employer I was applying to that they shouldn't hire me due to the injury.

I'm sitting there no job no money I didn't have a cdl and friends of mine would say to me why don't you go get your class A so I looked into it and after doing a lot of research found through the local community college a c d l program and the college sponsored the training the driving school was Shippers Choice but where they were sponsored I was able to get financial aid and got in I had my c d l in 30 days I recommend that you try it this way or go with Prime my way if you qualify you will owe nothing go with Prime you owe them a year but you will still get experience so that is a good thing too also this is the way to go if you can't find a local job

BOTTOM LINE NO ONE WILL HIRE YOU WITHOUT EXPERIENCE!!!!

I'm going with Prime right now I leave Sunday for orientation 3days then out with a Trainer for 40,000 miles then upgrade to company driver FlatBed Division,I should have done this years ago But,at the time my kids 2 boys were little and I wanted to e home and yes I knew some guys friends I mentioned earlier that helped me get my foot in the door driving local and the way I learned was I had to learn on my own I was thrown in the truck and it was ether sink or swim the driving school only taught me the basics it was up to me to learn how to drive.

I found that if you listen and watch you can learn a whole lot and then take that knowledge and apply it to what you have learned being a trucker is a never ending learning experience never think you know it all you don't and anyone that says they do they lie!!!

The reason I'm going with Prime is the economy is so bad right now there is no dump truck jobs or cement mixer jobs close so if I get the experience driving a 18 wheeler O T R I can better myself and my chances of getting a Tractor-Trailer job close to home it helps to have a PLAN for success to succeed and to follow through you won't fail or waste your time always have a plan!

I recommend you go company not lease cause starting out you don't know the ropes yet go company get your year or more then you can go any where

watch out for the bad companies do your research and believe it if too many people are saying it the same way it must be true I made a mistake back in Jan went to C R England don't do it they are a very bad company.

 

I want to add this as well,the truth that no one will tell you about what to really expect when you get into trucking.

1) The actual pay if you can run 2300-3000 miles a week is 700-1100 a week equals to 35,000 to 44,500 a year and that is company driver earning .34 cpm-cents per mile.

2)Going team isn't going to make you any more money because of the split you can make the same as a solo driver.

3)Being a owner operator will not make you more money because of cost involved you will make the same as a company driver I know a lot of owner operators that justify this.

4)Cents per mile is better than percentage of the load why because you don't have any way of getting someone to tell you truthfully what the load pays Example I will pay you 25% of the load they tell you the load pays 500 dollars you deliver the load and the customer tells you the load pays 2000 dollars you can't get more money because you already agreed to what you were told try to get more you won't get paid at all trucking is good but it can be ugly too this is based on a true experience I had people lie all the time and a rich man didn't get rich being honest now did he.

 

I didn't say a o/o won't do well and yes you can but most of the time you do get the big screw on % just saying or stating my opinion and sharing my experiences no harm no foul.

 

I agree completely I think the correct thing to say would be do your research get to know how the beast works then do what you feel is right but if it is too good to be true or in your gut you feel it is wrong and won't work out trust what you feel 1st impression is usually right go with your instincts.

 

No I couldn't I looked I need more Tractor-Trailer experience I been driving Dump Trucks and Cement mixer trucks last time I drove Tractor=Trailer was 2009 so there is Tractor-Trailer jobs in my area but I don't have recent experience which they require for them to hire me and with the way the economy is in my area there is no dump truck or mixer truck jobs so O T R hear I come and I found Prime to be the better choice for me.