HELP!

Learn Spanish, Russian, and whatever they speak in the Middle East and you'll be fine.

 

get used to flat tires, junk chassis, non working lights, hours looking for your unit, etc.

 

And looking for decent paychecks. Of course what a decent paycheck is, is subjective.

 

Go for it.

Working for a friend never causes any problems......

 

Get ready to be treated like absolute scum of the earth. Port works talk down to you like your nothing but scum.

 

I did containers many years ago and was in and out of Dundalk Marine terminal in Baltimore. There are pro's and cons to every job. You do want to inspect your chassis before leaving the yard. Make sure that everything is up to speed i.e. tires, lights etc. Because once you leave the yard, it's your baby or the company that you drive for. You may only need a signature to get out of the yard but those scum bag union people will give you no sympathy when they are going on break or it's quitting time. If you show up with a flat bed that needs to be unloaded, they will charge you boo koo $$ to do it too.

 

That depends on differant factors. The mist important bring if your happy where you are. What your longterm goals are, and What your priorities are. Obviously if hometime is top priority go for the local job.

 

Like AJ said, if it's hometime you are looking for the port work might be the best option. It depends really. For me, I absolutely despised going into the ports. Railyards aren't much better. There's just too much of the "hurry up and wait" mentality going on there, and with the unions in there NO ONE will help you unless they are customer service types, and even then it ain't always easy to get them to do their job. If you don't know where to go or what to do you are pretty much SOL until you do. It can be a real trial by fire. But once you get the hang of it it's mostly just a waiting game. Waiting to get into the port, waiting to get a spot to get the can off, waiting in line to get inspected to get out, waiting for the inspection, etc etc.

And if you think I was kidding about learning other languages, I once had a check-in person on the phone at Global in Bayonne, NJ thank me, in a VERY exasperated voice, for speaking English. That after sitting in line for 30 minutes with 1 truck in front of me to check in. Usually takes 2-5 minutes to check in.