questions for new reefer driver

Knowing how companies are I would take dedicated and stay away from OTR unless money is'nt an issue for you all.I've never drove for knight but a company is a company.I very much doubt he can pick and choose his loads unless hes a lease or owner operator.He cannot turn down loads,the company will put a service failure on his dac report.What do you mean by restrictions?

 

trucking has changed alot since the 80's and the outlaw days. His biggest issue might be learning/ understanding all the new trucking laws and regulations, esp Hours of service rules.

 

I guess the only restrictions would be following the hours of service regs.......

 

Do not know your area nor do I know your husband at all but I have to believe there is a smaller company or an excavating company he could possibly drive for and make good money? I know up here they can't keep seats full but of course it's primarily seasonal here. My fear for you is running the risk of going through all the trouble and not reaching what you need, all the while increasing your and his stress by him being away from home.

 

There are very few carriers that run at 100% efficiency with their entire manned fleet. But some run of the smaller companies can run a driver "legally" pretty much all the miles their hours of service will allow, while many (most) of the larger carriers simply don't have the freight to run all of their drivers maximum possible miles. A few drivers are well connected and proven and make good money, while most will sit long between loads, get lots of shorter, crappier loads, and/or both.

I regret to inform you that he may well make more money driving a mixer truck (for a good company) then he will out here competing in a flooded asset (truck) market that does not have a flood of freight. Unless he can get in the door of a handful of smaller trucking companies (not too small, but not too big) it will be hard to make good money right out of the gate at a typical company who hires drivers with no recent OTR experience.

Knight Refrigerated may be as good a starter company as there is. I'd avoid Knight Dry Van, though if you can get into the refrigerated side as a trainee, out of the gate.

 

The first year with any company will be tough. New drivers have to show that they are capable, reliable, honest, and hard-working. Your husband can expect to be mistreated, ignored, and abused by the driver managers and he will probably make it. He will get good loads and poor, high mileage and low, good paychecks and bad. He should stay off the CB, not listen too much to other drivers' experiences, and not believe much he reads online. After the first year, if he does a good job and has kept his record clean and mouth closed - both are hard, by the way - he can expect to be treated better. After all, so few new drivers make it through the first year that if he does, he'll have a level of seniority. And the all-impofrtant track record.

Good luck to him. And you.

 

Knight was as good as any other company back a few years ago when I was with them. I ran a dedicated route, average about 3000 miles a week. Reasonable medical insurance rate. I like dedicated cause i know what I'm doing every week and i know how much money i make. But things have change alittle since then. If medical insurance is not a issue and money is more important, he might want to look at a very small company that will run alot harder and may pay less per mile but he can make it up on the total miles he drives. even a owner/op with a couple trucks might run him hard.