Former May Drivers Lounge...

Welcome aboard!

Those local jobs have a downside too. They usually involve either driving in city traffic and getting very familiar with a pallet jack at odd hours or hauling containers from the Port or railhead and driving in more city traffic.

The I-5 routes are much easier to get. (You don't even need that much experience to get one; six months to a year oughta do it.)

Hometime with the wife is the holy grail. Keep your eye on the ball; you'll get through this.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words and advice
Will definitely keep my eye out for a decent i5 route after a while.

 

I work for a small outfit out of phoenix they don't run west coast or western 11 we run wisky loads from phx to Kentucky or surrounding area then back home to phx within a week ..... I just got a brand new 2016 kenworth t660 with the studio sleeper and it's nice

 

Kkiliadis welcome to the trucking industry.... first off that's the right attitude to come in here with, "rookies gotta put in work" be patient while in training and ask lots of questions. It might seem like much at first but it gets easier within time good luck be safe..

 

I definitely will and thanks for the advice, I'm a big question asker. I want to be as pre pared as possible when soloing out. I think I'm most excited about may just because of decent equipment. In school we drove a 96 international eagle, so mays new equipment is like being spoiled haha.

 

Double K, pack light while in the trainer's truck, 2 bags max. Treat the truck as if you were in someone's house, because you are. Every stop throw out your trash, no empty big gulp cups. I forsee that you will do well.

 

Glad you said that, I have one regular size duffle bag and my backpack, blanket, pillow, rain gear just in case, and extra shoes. Figured that's pretty light for being in someone else's truck?

 

Hey all, just thought I'd drop a "Hello" in here. Been a while. Hope everyone is doing well. Left my small (4 truck) curtain-van family outfit due to needing to move away from the Portland/Vancouver area. Good job, was nice having a brand new Volvo purchased just for me when hired. I do miss that truck... Found a good gig out of Centralia with Marten, a dedicated Baskin Robbins account. Lots of physical work, terrible traffic from Seattle to Portland, 1-3 nights out, weekends off, a fleet manager that doesn't micro-manage, and a solid salary that will be on the high side of $60k. Not too shabby. First 3 months of 2015 brought in $16,898. Hard work, as I move 50-60k+ lbs of ice cream by hand each week. But I am all buffed-up now! The girlfriend likes that... As I said, traffic sucks, and getting a sleeper tractor and 48ft trailer in and out of some of these parking lots is quite tricky. Haven't smooshed anyone yet though. But overall, a good solid job, great pay compared to all the other trucking jobs I've had, including petroleum tankers. If you're willing to be physical and deal with traffic, LTL food service pays very well.

As far as May for a starter company, I still believe it was my best choice, and I have no regrets about the choice. But as has been said, you will not miss them when you do eventually move on to greener pastures.

Keep the rubber side down, and the big turbo humming...

 

Good deal spoke man, now if you can keep the same budget you had in the past, you will be rich in no time.