Pulling a pup...

Pup trailers take awhile to get use to because they are shorter and they can get away from you faster. Never drove one on the ice and snow, but In rain they do get a little wobbly. I would go to a company who is going to have a trainer. Just look at some of these recent post from students who have rolled their truck, or have had 3 incidents and now no one will hire them. If you don't want to go to the bottom feeder training companies. See if you can get with the tanker company at least they will have somebody to give you a little more one on one training. .

 

1. Sounds like a sweet gig if they put you up on a hotel. I run local LTL, so staying in a hotel for me is something I usually look forward to since you don't have to share a bathroom. Having a nice open room to stretch out is also kinda nice. I think it would be a good way to gain some experience.

2. No, pulling pups is not that much harder. They maneuver really nice in tighter city patters. Also easier to find a turnaround spot if you miss a turn. They are harder to back though since they respond much faster. Once you get the backing down well, you will have to readjust your backing strategies when you go back to larger trailers. As for ice and snow, it really depends how heavy you are. I pull empty double pups all the time through some really nasty areas, and it definitively will be a relieve when you have some weight over your drives. As for high winds, shorter trailer means you have a shorter wheel-base to stabilize you. It also means you have a much shorter profile and may have less problems than those that pull the 48-53 footers. Again, having some weight will help you out. My experience with wind is that it really only gets kinda scary when the gusts exceed 50 MPH, again, with empty doubles I usually have the ability to keep all the wheels on the ground.

3. Make use of your freetime by practicing your backing. I would focus on alley dock/jackknife backing so you get a good feel for your equipment. You will be surprised in some of the areas you will be required to back into. It will help a lot to have a good amount of experience with backing.

4. Being on top of your class doesn't mean crap. I had a 98% average on all my exams and tests. Also blew out the state exam with almost no issues. My carrier told me "Good for you rookie, pat yourself on the back and hang your achievements somewhere where people will actually care. Your real achievement will be a monthly safety bonus once you prove you can drive for a year without breaking anything". I would explore the tanker idea once you get close to your six months. Start your application process at least a month early so you and your prospective employer have plenty of time to adjust.


EDIT: As for scales and truck stops... Don't worry too much about it. Make sure your logs are up to date and your equipment meets compliance standards. Nothing flags a truck faster than having lights that are out or something else that could have been corrected with a thorough pretrip. Watch their traffic light! Some of the MCS clowns love to play the red-light stop and go game to weight each of your axles. Seeing how you will always haul the same freight, you should not have issues with weight as long as they load your truck within the same order each time. As for truck stops, don't be the idiot that parks in the fuel lane to go grab a bite to eat, or worse... take a shower.

Good luck.

 

With a rental you're going to have the basic tractor. No fancy items and most likely no engine brake. It's rare to have a sleeper on a rental but they are out there. The one good point I ran across with a rental is if you breakdown you look in the book for their repair shop and get the tractor fixed or replaced. Make sure they provide all the paperwork and such with the tractor that you need on the road. And above all work with the people that are renting the tractor and don't settle of any less of what you are required to have.

 

Please explain " wobbly in the rain "
How does a pup "get away on you faster" ?

The OP may have a great, rare opportunity here, and more brains than the average Muppet. Why steer him elsewhere?

 

Yeah. No kidding. This has also peaked my curiosity. I have about 150k miles of pulling solo pups. The only time I've had one wobble was when I was hydroplaning in heavy rain. That was also my fault for going so fast.

 

Getting away from you when backing the trailer. If you are not use to pulling those trailer. Since it only need small wheel movements to get it to go where you want it to go. Seeing that most guys out of school have problems with over steering. It will get away from you. But he just said his school taught him. So he should be fine. The pups I had was one axle or maybe 2 but I just remember it always seeming like it want to hydroplane on me. Can't remember if that was when I was only empty or not. Now thinking about it. Its been 13 years since I pulled one so my memory is not all that good.

 

Sounds like a sweet driving gig. I would jump on it . I mean pup trailer,rental cars,hotel rooms,surrounded by hot dancers. Best sounding trucking job Ive heard of lately.I've drove pups and they are a lot less to worry about behind you.I was used to a 53 footer and it took 3 days to adapt to keep from over steering.If you can try to initially set up with your trailer and cab for a straight line back.I was chasing around in a circle at first because of oversteering. Only turn the wheel about an 1/8 of what you think you should when backing up.They respond quickly when backing.Usually had enough room to swing around in front of where I wanted to back in and pretty much back straight back.Are you going to be unloading with a lift gate? That would be ideal.Usually the landing gear on the pup trailer is closer to your tractors rear drive mudflaps. So ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR TRACTORS FIFTH Wheel Slid All the way back (towards the rear.And like dinomite said if its windy you probably wont feel safe going much over 50 mph.Any faster and youll feel like you cant control it.Pups arent the best in the snow either(single axle and light weight

 

Sounds like a sweet driving gig. I would jump on it . I mean pup trailer,rental cars,hotel rooms,surrounded by hot dancers. Best sounding trucking job Ive heard of lately.I've drove pups and they are a lot less to worry about behind you.I was used to a 53 footer and it took 3 days to adapt to keep from over steering.If you can try to initially set up with your trailer and cab for a straight line back.I was chasing around in a circle at first because of oversteering. Only turn the wheel about an 1/8 of what you think you should when backing up.They respond quickly when backing.Usually had enough room to swing around in front of where I wanted to back in and pretty much back straight back.Are you going to be unloading with a lift gate? That would be ideal.Usually the landing gear on the pup trailer is closer to your tractors rear drive mudflaps. So ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR TRACTORS FIFTH Wheel Slid All the way back (towards the rear.And like dinomite said if its windy you probably wont feel safe going much over 50 mph.Any faster and youll feel like you cant control it.Pups arent the best in the snow either(single axle and light weight