What am I missing?...

I hear ya. My only two options were CRST and Carolina Cargo...LOL That was after a month of looking and I couldn't wait any longer. But yeah, guys who live in the middle of the freight lanes do have a lot more options. They are just listening to their schools, who get paid to deliver trainees to places like Swift, Werner, CRST, etc.

 

Actually I meant areas with a lot of industry. I should have said freight areas instead of freight lanes.

Being near an interstate is good as long as it's not out in the middle of nowhere. I live very near I95 in South Florida. A lot of companies won't hire out of here because not much freight comes out of here. Plenty goes in though.

 

It helps if you live along the middle of the country. PA, OH, IN, IL IA, NE, KS, etc.........

You will see a ton of trucking companies that are very near the I-80 corridor. It is not the only one, but it is one of the major freight lanes in the U.S.

 

Certain companies conduct more of certain types of business in specific parts of the country. Also you have to consider hometime. If you live along I-80 for example, most OTR companies will not have a problem getting you home as they are running along 80 all the time. It is also dependent on where they have terminals. Trucks need to be maintained and if they have no terminal in your area it will be harder to get the truck in for maintenance.

Detention means being held up at a shipper/receiver for more than "X" amount of time past your appointment. With my last company it was 2 hours when I was on dry van and 90 minutes on tankers. For example if you have a 10am appointment to deliver and you are on time but don't get done unloading until 4pm that would be 4 hours detention. (On dry van at my last company). But if my appointment is at 10am and I get there at 8am and they assign me a dock, I still don't get detention until 2 hours past my appointment time. On a rejected load (for tankers), I got paid for all time spent at the receiver. Both van and tanker got $35/hr detention pay.

 

I agree, my dad drove a truck for over 40 years and my brother has driven for 17 and one thing I've learned is not to jump into anything too quickly. Take your time and figure out what you want in the industry. Once you've found it, don't let them push you around. Stand up for yourself, as long as you're a safe driver and work hard to get the load there on time, you do have a fair amount of power. Remember that these companies want a driver who tries to do things the right way. I may get some grief for this post but, oh well.

 

The road is a cruel, as well a harsh mistress, young man. You will soon find this out. Nothing is easy about this industry. You probably will not see .38cpm. Most companies are cutting their driver's pay. Pay your dues.

 

Schneider is kinda weird with their tank division, as far as I know they only hire driver from the Houston area for that division. They also use to run tanks out of Wisconsin or somewhere near there, maybe they still do. They will hire you to drive living anywhere but for tanks you have to move.

As for the rest of the industry many of the smaller outfits like to hire drivers near their yard for various reasons.