are there better otr jobs after gaining experience with large starter carriers?

If you want to stay OTR, then make a list of companies that interest you so that you will have a plan in place when the time comes. I always kept a notebook as a backup plan and it paid off a few times. If you decide to stay with refrigerated, look at companies like Holland Enterprises.

 

Wooly Rhino... that was an awesome post and the solid truth. I know I have not been a trucker for long, but in my short time I worked for a small falmily owned company, got paid .41 a mile.. which was great whn they had me running, but getting paid .41 a mile for a few miles is not as good as getting paid less for more miles. Also, the smaller company did not offer the benefits and accessory pay that I now get with the big bad training company I am with..
Also, as a new driver, I want to hav options to try different things.. maybe run dry for a while, then reefer, i enjoyed flatbed and may want to do that again.. may even try tanker.. I have that opportunity with the big bad company training company I am with...

I think the hardest thing to get newbies to understand is that it takes much longer to learn the ropes and in's and out of this industry and th job... so, of course the first year and maybe the second too is gonna be rough... you may hav learned to drive a truck, know how to and are great at backing but that is actually a small part of this career and barely a factor in your pay check.. think about it.. two drivrs working for the same company gtting paid th same per mile.. one is a siuper-star at backing, in the hole the first ime every time.. but, yet still gtting paid as his co worker who needs to set up a couple of times and provides youtube fans much entertainment...

The truth is, there is a lot more that goes into making a good pay check.. you got to know how to managee your 70 hours a week, you got to know how to work dispatch, shippers and recievers and much much more.. and it takes time.. not company hopping...

 

CAA

Carhauling carhauling

 

Find a small local company, some of the smaller outfits have better rigs, kenworths/peterbilts. I chose to go to a smaller family owned company. Average 3000 miles a week and I'm home on the weekend. Sitting on my couch watching hockey as I type this.

 

If they were going to make a trucker's bible, Wooly's post would have to be included.

All loads dont pay equal. Some customers are worlds more valuable than others. Because of that, trucking companies will have only certain drivers that they will send into this particular customer to load. It is financial suicide to send a bonehead driver into a valued customer to pick up a high value or hot load. This is the fastest way for a dispatcher to get fired.

In my line of work, we pull big, heavy, high value loads. They make you start out small and work your way up. Starting out, it absolutely sucks. But as you start to pull bigger and bigger loads, your freight lane changes, and the trailers change. Everything changes. You start out running as many miles as you can to try to grab 2-3 loads a week in a flatbed. You wind up doing 1 load every week and a half. Your deadhead goes way up because they start throwing money at you to bounce around and grab the bigger loads. And then its crane appointments, engineers, rigging crews, police escorts out of shippers and through cities. 2000 drivers, and about 50 'go-to' guys. You know something big is about to happen when you show up to a job and every driver there is an A-Game player.

I remember being in New Orleans at the port. The load wound up being much bigger than what the customer told my company. 16 ft wide and 15 ft tall. I had to drop the trailer and leave, because they were going to call another driver in to get it. Oh, was I mad. I wanted to quit. But I didnt. I stayed at it and worked up the ranks. One day, I was In Tampa, Florida waiting to get unloaded. Had an oversized on. Phone rings. It was a VP from the company. "Six, need your help. Got a big load that needs to be moved. Youre the only qualified driver in the state. Drop your load and bobtail to Orlando. We will send someone in to grab that trailer...just go!" So i get to Orlando and theres this crane and rigging crew with this trailer, and this big load. Theres another driver there, and he's extremely pissed off. The load wound up being bigger than it was supposed to be and they wouldnt allow him to pull it. It was 17 ft tall and 10 ft wide. I know how that driver felt. I know exactly how he felt. What do you say to this driver? Nothing. If he sticks around, he will understand.

Occasionally, I get ticked off and think about quitting. But I'm at the top of the pile...if I go anywhere else, I will have to work my way through the ranks. So, if you are happy where you are at, stay there and work your way up the ladder. Swift was just my way to get back into a flatbed. I had do that just to get any OSOW company to even consider looking at me.

 

Triplesix, your post is inspirational, both for your own story and for emphasizing the importance of Wooly's post. Even if you are hired by a new company at a higher than minimum rate, you need to put in your time before you demonstrate your reliability and will be allowed to haul for the most valued customers. The best jobs at any company will go to those that have demonstrated reliability at that company. You could have years of solid experience with company A, and based on that experience you can get hired at company B at a rate that is commensurate with your years of experience, but you still will need to put time in with company B to earn their trust to handle the best customers.

Even with starter companies like Swift there are opportunities working on dedicated accounts, that open up after you have driven for a few months, that will give you greater income and steadier income and more frequent home time. Those opportunities are available for those with near perfect on time deliveries and no preventable accidents.

The moral of the story is that if you are looking over the fence for greener grass you might want to turn around and look at the grass in the middle of the field you are standing in. Don't be a fence sitter, figure out where the greenest grass is in your pasture and go get it. If you really think that grass over in the next field is much better, then by all means get on over there and plan on playing "work up" to the greenest grass.

 

I assume that's a serious question. I sleep in nice hotels paid for by employer with per diem--the real per diem, not the bs tax advance stuff that benefits only the employer.

 

LOL....then you should help write the HOS rules---you couldn't do any worse!