ltl for first driving job

I have no idea about the company. I am sure it is similar to Cisco, FSA, or Ebby Brown out of IL. You have a trailer full of food supplies and make your rounds to different locations within your local area/region. You will probably run a liftgate trailer since most of the customers do not have a dock. Average length per stop could be 30 minutes or more. It really doesn't matter since you will be paid by the hour. Some customers will send out one or two guys to help you unload... some will expect you to do everything. Job requirements aside from driving the truck would be unloading food items, stocking up their shelves, maybe even rotate their crap around, and you will be doing the basic paperwork any P&D driver has to deal with... "sign here, initial there, date and time there".

Job environment will be inside a chilled/frozen trailer breaking down pallets and sliding around a bit.

Expect to work the 10-12 hour days you mentioned. You will be doing alot of repetitive lifting of boxes to load up your cart. I would guesstimate that it will be about 50 lbs or less per box. Heavy boxes will be frozen meat products/frozen soups and lighter boxes will be large bulky frozen potato waffles/fries

If you are lucky, you might get a free meal out of it. I used to work for Chick-Fil-A and our driver got a free meal and some lemonade for the road.

As for questions, I would ask about their health benefits. You might need a chiropractor in the short run and if you are doing this for a long haul, expect some good wear and tear on your body. Ligaments will start to break down and joints will eventually give in. Look around here and ask some of our P&D guys. Some got knee replacements and all kinds of other surgeries. If you are young and strong, go for it. You might last a year, maybe two decades.

You may succeed your first year and make a career out of it... or you may not. Big question for you will be whether or not you make enough to keep the lights on, have enough home time to chase the wife around the house... and most importantly whether or not you will be happy.

Additional questions would be how long you may stay out (some guys run sleepers and stay out two nights each week). Also ask about long term benefits like pay raises and retirement/401K plans... plus employer contribution amounts to it.

Paid vacation/time off is the norm.

Before or after your interview, ask around the terminal and see if you can borrow a minute of a few people's time and ask them how long they been there and if they like it or not. Just tell them you are a potential new recruit and get an overall feel for the job environment. Keep in mind some people will ##### and cry no matter how good/bad they have it.

I make about $1,000 less/month with my current job. But on the upside, I am happy as a clam and I would not undue my decision to leave my old job. Financial security should be your top priority, just keep in mind that making the most doesn't always equal happiness.

The fact that they have a training program is a major plus. Some local/LTL companies throw you in the deep end of the pool and just tell you to start flapping your arms. Some of us either swim, sink, or stay afloat long enough to get the hang of the job long enough to keep it. If you value hometime and decent pay, I would give this one a shot while you got your foot in the door.

Hope this is enough info for you to help you out. Some of the other members on here can assist you further if you have more questions. I think I covered the basics though.

Good luck.

PS: If I am the only one that responds and this helps, you can always buy me a beer or two. I drink PBR, so I am a cheap date. HAHAHA!

 

Doesn't matter where you run, the job requirements will be the same. Benefits are a huge factor though. If they got a 401K plan, jump on it. Many carriers stopped doing pensions... mine went a step further and doesnt even do a 401K plan. What I pay into my retirement is up to me. But again, this is something you need to look at into the long run... nobody wants to run forever.

Your health benefits will be a key factor and whether or not they have something to cover your family. I am not going to get into a pissing match between union and non-union jobs... but historically, union jobs have better benefits when it comes to that.

If you're prior OTR, your benefits will probably INCREASE. Your hometime will definitively increase. Tell ya what, give this thread a bit longer for some of the other guys to start waking up. They can tell you more about it.

Paid vacation should start at a week after one year, and then increase each year or every other year. Then some carriers will do funeral leave if god-forbid, one of you close relatives dies. Again, this will be outlined by your employer. They usually will give you a full fact sheet of what you will start out with, what you will progress to, and everything in between.

 

I wish I had started in LTL instead of doing otr first. I make more as a P/D driver working a 5 day workweek with weekends off and home evry single night,and an overall better quality of life than I did otr working 7 days a week. LTL > Otr any day.

 

some places also pay you a couple cents per case,so your pay per hour can increase quite a bit..I am a hard worker, but food service wears on the body too much. Give me a forklift over a 2 wheel cart any freaking day