How did you get your start (in heavy haul)?

I lied. Prayed a lot and acted like I knew what I was doing. Always ask the shipper how they load a product. They do it a lot, WE don't. Ask for help. Always works. No body knows everything.

 

I never pulled flats before the carrier I am with now. Boss started me with easy stuff and progressed me to the harder stuff. The other day I did a load of hay from williston,nd so colorado that was 12'6" wide and 15'6" tall. It was interesting to say the least.

 

Before I started driving, I did a stint in law enforcement. Think trucking is bad? Try being a lawman. Got suspended from the PD for 2 weeks and during the time, got my CDL A permit. Applied for a job being a doorslammer running team (anything to get my foot in the door). Month later, got issued my own truck. Had huge fights at receivers when they told me about how its my responsibility to unload the truck and/or pay a lumper. Got kicked out of FoodLion in Lakeland,Fla, Publix in Jacksonville,Fla, Albertsons in Katy, and RedFood (Its BiLo now) in South Carolina.

Signed on with Osborn out of Gadsden,Al (at one time, they used to flatbed and heavyhaul). Had to work the yard for two weeks and then they put me into truck #666. Pulled my first oversized load to Iowa. Was so proud. So proud that I didnt want to take the banners off when empty. Got my first ticket in a bigtruck on my first oversized in that eastbound scale to the west of Des Moines.

There was a plant to the south of Memphis that was being built and we were running in all the components mainly long and heavy. The only thing that was up was this huge metal light pole. At night, we would climb into 1 drivers truck, run to Tunica (they would gamble, I would watch the live boxing matches if there was one there.). Then we would load up on the beer, go back to the jobsite, drink and shoot at the light pole (the security guard would shoot with us. Back in the days before cellphones, everyone was packing). You could tell when you hit the pole, because the bullet would ricochet and spark (buzzed truckers firing off handguns...yeah, I know...)

Mom caught cancer, and so I came off the road. Found a local job for a demolition company. They had dumptrucks and half their drivers didnt have license. I did, plus road experience and so I got my first 4 axle. What a POS! I used to tote around a 74000 escavator on a 7 axle, with armstrong steering. The boss called me in one day and wanted me to run the escavator out across Suck Creek Mountain. The trailer didnt have any lights, and the tractor had 1 headlight and it was hanging out by the wires. I told him that there was no way I would run that load across the mountain, because the first cop I see would be in a black and tan car with the stickers that read Tennessee HP. He threatened to fire me and I volunteered to leave. His daughter in law raised enough sin with him that he went out and bought a new tractor and trailer, with everything working. Great! Still had armstrong steering. Great...

Ran lots of machinery. Ran the locks off the dam through Georgia to be repaired (my first 24 ft wide load). My brother and I decided to start our own construction company, so I quit driving and thought I was done for good. I was...until the housing market went belly up. was off the bigroad for 7 years. Noone would touch me. Had to join Swift because they were the only ones that would put me back into a flat without having me go to school. Had to ride with a trainer. I guess it was for the best, because during that time off, everything changed. HOS, permits, securement...everything. We didnt know what a WLL was at Osborn. I tried to go back to Osborn, but I found out that they were strictly doorslammers by then. Wow.

Lots of things changed. Schneider Heavyhaul was gone. Builders Transport was gone (they used to run the big Freightliner Classics, green with a tan stripe) AJ Metler was gone (they hauled the glass before Schneider and Maverick), Watkins and Sons, Trism...since Ive been back in the saddle, SMX and Arrow are gone. SMX was a good company with good drivers...hated to see Western buy them out.

Nowadays, it seems as if the companies want the drivers at each other's throats. Drivers from this company are not supposed to associate with drivers from this company. In fact, drivers from the same companies wont talk to each other. The company stays mad at me, but I figure that eventually they will get over it. Eventually....


(Gee, I feel like I am in therapy)

Next!

 

Hell that sounds like what I do with legal flat loads. I am wondering though;how would one get into Heavy-Haul? I don't mean 12' wide loads as I do that occasionally now. I'm talkin HEAVY HAUL loads.?

 

I was hauling glass for Schneider Specialized and was NOT happy on that particular day due to a less than pleasant experience at the Canadian border...I had already called and told my STL (Schneider's word for "fleet manager")...that I had made my last trip to Canada, I was quitting and to find me a load heading to Laurinburg, NC to turn my truck in.

He got me a load of gaurdrails out of Ohio, while I was there I met another Schneider Specialized driver (Mike...we're now very good friends) who was part of what Schneider called the "Opportunity Fleet", there were less than 20 of them...most of them pulled step decks but there were a couple of O/O's with RGN's. Its amazing that Mike even wanted to talk to me, I was mad as hell at Schneider and had nothing good to say about much of anything, LOL.

Mike told me about about the opportunity fleet, I didn't even know it existed until that day...It sounded great and I told him I wished I could get on that fleet and pretty much left it at that....it would be 5 years before I would see Mike again.

I didn't realize what was going on at the time...but Mike stood there and watched me secure those quardrails, never said a word about the way I did it...just watched.

I got the load all tied down and left...never giving Mike another thought...

I delivered that load and was 1/2 way through cleaning my stuff out of my truck when my STL came outside and told me I had a phone call inside...I said "who the hell is calling me?"

He said "Just come in and take the call"...I did, it was the man in charge of the opportunity fleet (Chuck).

Chuck said "I hear you're not happy hauling glass...I'm calling to offer you something different, Mike says he thinks the job will suit you much better"...he gave me the details, and when he said "1,180 miles average length of haul" and "we don't go to Canada"...I was sold!

I pulled a step deck for a little over a year, hauling some oversize (mostly excavators) but no overweight loads...the learning curve was very steep, I was not given any training at all....just a truck, a trailer, and a load...my first load was a paving machine, I had no idea how to drive that thing and it was an old machine with very few labels left on the controls...but I figured it out...I LOVED IT!!! That year was the the hardest, yet most enjoyable time I've ever spent in a truck...

Then I left the company (which was Maverick Specialized by then) for a couple of years, then came back to Maverick pulling a flat bed...and was happy with that...then one day while I was the the Gary yard, I see a guy that looks vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite figure out where I knew him from...I spoke to him hoping it would help me remember where I knew him from...he went to the shop to check on his truck and when I saw his truck hooked to an RGN I immediately knew who it was...it was Mike...he did not recognize me, but remembered after I told him. I thanked him for making that phone call to Chuck that day...and bought his dinner a few months later as we were running together hauling combines into Montana, but I'm skipping part of the story...

A few weeks after that day in Gary one of the drivers in this fleet had to retire a little unexpectedly...they needed somebody with experience and they need them fast...again, Mike made that phone call...and here I am pulling an RGN, hauling oversize and overweight...only 5 axles...but personally, I think thats a sweet spot....great pay, great miles, I load and unload myself, not many headaches.

Mike and I are now pretty darn good friends, we talk on the phone every day...sometimes 2-3 times a day...he has mentored me for almost 2 years now, teaching me all the tricks he has learned in his 22 years doing this kind of work, and surprisingly...he has learned a few tricks from me too...I had no help that first year pulling the step deck, had to figure it out on my own...and did a decent job of it I think.

Doesn't get much better than that....I ended up with a good job and, more importantly, a good friend...neither of which is easy to find these days.

EDITED TO ADD: The biggest stuff I've hauled is farm equipment...combines (13' wide, 14' tall), sprayers, (some are over 14'6" tall)....heaviest so far...D6 Dozer with a winch on the back....92,000 gross.

Not as big as some...but hey, ya gotta start somewhere.

And don't tell Maverick, but I wouldn't mind moving on to something bigger if it was a good fit...I have looked though and cannot find anything that would be much of an improvement as far as pay goes (I get 57 cents per mile as a company driver)

 

"I wouldn't mind moving on to something bigger if it was a good fit"

I dont think any of us would mind moving to something bigger. When I was at Swift, I started pulling oversized again out of Ottumwa. Had a two stack Columbia with a Detroit and a 10 speed. The truck actually pulled like a champ. But it was a condo. I hate condos. If the truck had been a midroof, I would have been content at Swift. I looked at Decker, looked at TMC, looked at Lonestar. Decided to go with Anderson because I could get into a midroof truck with an enclosed headache rack clear down to the frame.

I didnt know that the first winter there, they expected me to stay in Canada. I didnt know that it could get that cold. "How do people live up here?" I mean, it snows in Iowa. It would snow in Canada too, but it was so violent...like being inside a sand blaster. It was like renting an Extended Stay in Hell. Temps would dip towards -50. The storms would pound everything. Ever try to push through extremely powerful storms? The roads werent slick, because the snow was so dry, it would blow off the road. But everything so extreme...even taking a dump or a shower was an extreme.

Next day, sun's out, not a cloud in the sky. Temps at -15. Like it never happened. You know somethings wrong when -15 feels warm. In northern Canada, the trucks look like a mix between what we would consider a fleet truck and an oilfield truck. There wasnt a flatbed, step or an RGN, just those 5 axle lowboys. They put everything on those trailers. Everything we would carry. Big, wide, tall, heavy...everyone pulled the same trailer. Go running down the road and see 25 ft tall loads coming at you. Man, I thought my 15 wide, 15+ tall pipe rack was impressive. I remember calling Saskatchewan and asking whether or not I needed a pilot car (Its 2 lane road when you cross over at Portal). The woman asked me if I could keep the load on my side of the road. I said, "Yes." She said, "Then you dont need a pilot car until 16 feet wide." Holy Moly....

I see the Mullen trucks around, especially in Decatur,IL. I would like to drive for Mullen just to see if I would like it. I wonder if they would hire me.

 

On my 21st birthday, my Dad took me to the DMV at 9 A.M. By 2P.M. I was hauling a 14'wide 17'high load in Los Angeles. My Dad had more faith in my abilities than I did. Looking back now I realize that he could always spot the guys who would be "steering wheel holders" from the guys who were comfortable with big stuff. I was around oversize my whole life so it wasnt overwhelming for me at a young age (I was too naive to realize what a big deal a million pounds is).
23 years later I can say I started in the middle and went to the top, now Im back in the middle. I never had to "do my time" like many do. I have so much respect for guys who get into this with no contacts, or experience. Many of you have the most important thing you can have to get into OS/OD work and that is common sense, for those of you who have to be told exactly what to do in every situation, you probably won't make it...
After 15 years of running my own business, I have found my dream job. I get to pick up heavy things and someone else worries about all the stuff that goes along with it.
A lot of truck drivers count their success by how many million MILES, I count mine by how many million POUNDS (at once).

I posted some pics of a trailer in the "pictures of heavy haul" I REALLY REALLY hope I can pull (as I said, Im in the middle so I guess I am doing my time till Im lead again). 11's and 13's are still a rush! I have the best job (i think) you can have in the trucking business and a new outlook on life after bankruptcy and the death of my father in the same year, I thank him for teaching me a trade that I enjoy and good luck to those of you who wish to go big.

 

LOL, yep that sounds like me. My son is 9, he cant concentrate in school so we had a parent teacher meeting, the teacher said "he just draws pictures of trucks all day, and thats all he talks about". Im not sure if Im happy about that (I know his mother isn't).

I love your story ColoradoGreen. I noticed you said you're not a veteran yet, believe me, you have more experience at 21 than many "drivers" have in 21 years of driving. I see 13 axles in your future.