Should I start trucking?

JFost,

Your asking pretty loaded questions. Not to be rude but when you need a new pair of underwear, do you just go buy them or look for reasons to??? I was a OTR driver about five years ago in a Class B Expedite Truck, hauling sports broadcasting equipment for ESPN and others. I grew tired of all the BS that went along with working for that kind of trucking.

Recently I found out after waiting and waiting for the company I work for as a dispatcher to get a health plan, that the owner is willing to pay $18,000 a month in Obama Care penalties instead of paying $13,500 for 50% of the employee premiums for Blue Cross/Blue Shield because he feels like he is being pushed around by a President he didn't vote for. Imagine that, Government Intervention in business.

Here is my view. Either your going to do this or not. You have some challenges ahead of you. If you want it bad enough, you will figure out how to get er done. Alot of the OTR companies won't talk to you unless you have all your documentation in order. From what I understand, many are just looking for felonies, misdemeanors are no big deal and can be explained.

Here is what I caught in your post and why I think your a bad risk. You were carrying a concealed weapon without a license. If you were willing to cut corners and carry a concealed weapon and say piss off on having it legally, what is to keep you from trying to cut corners as a driver???

No one cares about your credit card issue, you pay it and get it done with. A CC issue is not like a mortgage foreclosure because someone said let me stick it to someone. Let me be real honest in my question to you. If you were running a trucking company that was legit and someone with your issues applied, would you hire that person???

 

No you should not.

P.S.- Stop saying "open road". There is no such thing as "open road" any more. At 3am. in the middle of the desert, you are still gonna be moving over to let someone on the highway. We are over-populated, and EVERYONE is driving everywhere, all the time (complaining about the price of gas all the while of course).

 

OK I am guessing that you want to be a road philosopher?

Why trucking?

Those aren't gaps, those are pauses. YOU need to have a letter from YOURSELF (an affidavit) confirming that you were unemployed during those times. NO one else can do that for you.

Not a felony, shouldn't be an issue. When you fill out the app, read it, I think it says only felonies.

Not a biggy, jusy play their game. Every company is different and has different hiring policies beyond the FMCSA/US DOT regulations. Read the regs to get an idea what they are expecting the company to do.

It happens but like other companies large and small, they need to have a lesson in interdepartmental communication skills.

Credit card thing isn't important, if there is a pattern of credit abuse, then that is a flag. 3 accidents? I don't think that's an issue, I had a driver apply to drive one of my trucks with an accident where he killed a couple people, one of the local companies hired him.

Realisitic?

It is the norm now for many of these companies to put new drivers on the road. Don't worry about it.

TO answer your question - yes you do have a good chance.

BUT I don't know if it would be a good life style fit for you. If you are a teacher, it seems those types of people like being around others which is not trucking.

 

Hi jfost, I agree with most of the others, probably best to stay clear of trucking. When you've been in this business for a while, you kind get a knack who will make it and who won't. Sometimes, there are exceptions, but generally it's the very unskilled, uneducated that literally have no choice but to keep trucking. I've said it before and I'll say it again, trucking nowadays is a crummy job, and I think you'll get frustrated, because you are an educated person, and some of the schmoes you'll have to put up with will be unbearable for you. I think you could do better, and like White Dog says, you'll forget all about the "open road" when you are sitting somewhere for 9 hours and can't get unloaded( or loaded) because some doofus didn't do their job on the other end, and went home for the night. Good luck.

 

Also, don't forget the times when it takes 15 minutes to half an hour to load/unload....but 4 to 6 hours to get your bills because "the system is down".

 

Hi WD, oh, I hate when that happened. At a warehouse in Winona, Mn. where I used to load a lot, I'd usually load at 6 am, the 1st one there, after loading, when it came time to print out the bills, many times, being so early on a Monday morn, the was all kinds of trouble. They had to call a "tech support" in India (or where ever) and the tech supports response was, "did you jiggle the connections"? After about a half hour, they hand wrote out a BOL, and I was on my way.

 

I do that sometimes...when the speed limit is 55 and cars are merging. Bam!

 

Yeah you can make more as a driver but not in the first year. With a decent non-starter company and a year experience you can make $60k. That's about as good as it realistically gets for a company driver pulling dry boxes, unless you're driving for UPS or Walmart. They do better.

 

Jfrost020...
As I posted earlier if it is something you want then go for it...

When I got my CDL I had things that made it hard to get on with many carries.. I was on here, although a different screen name back then.. I posted the difficulties I was having, and posted some responses on my threads and others..

Then I got a few offers from a couple O/Os and small fleet owners.... they were willing to take a risk and give me a chance...... I didnt have the attitude you have...

So just realize, your attitude here may have turned away one of the many O/Os or a small fleet owners on this sight...