The Fuel Hauler Thread

Real talk fellas, i'm barely starting hell I haven't even had my first job as a trucker since I am recent cdl graduate should I continue?? I've always wanted to haul gas but from what I see it's going downhill :/ I'm still young I think I still have time to get out the industry or should I stick it out will thing get better? Will I make a decent living?

 

Jbeltran805, You're still very young and have an advantage if you play it right. Most gasoline companies want experience and hire from word of month from their own drivers. A driver may know someone and give his word and the company will hire that driver. DON"T let this scare you. You can go in and work with a company to get hired on and then you're on your way. If you're 21 to 23 you might find it impossible to haul gasoline. Most companies want 25 year olds.

Get out and go over to where the trucks are loading for deliveries. Be very careful because the drivers may not trust you. Do not walk up to the loading rack. Look for the office and stay around there. Start to take notes and find out which company is the low dog and which is the best. You have three types of haulers when it comes to gasoline. The top is the major oil company with their own trucks and drivers. They are fading these type of set-ups out and the companies are hiring trucks to haul their product. Which comes to the second best. The Dedicated Carrier. This is a company that has signed an agreement with a branded company to haul just their products. You can spot these trucks very easy if you know what to look for. You'll see a truck with maybe Shell painted on the sides of the tank and the truck might even be painted all yellow. It looks just like a Shell truck until you look at the door and see another companies name. Those trucks can only haul Shell products or whoever they are dedicated to.. Then the bottom. The Common Carrier. These are the trucks that will haul any petroleum product for anyone. These are the companies that most likely will give a driver with no experience a shot at driving. Sometimes you'll find a Common Carrier that has great benefits and pays well. So you need to do your research.

Once you find a company you like. This is after you've checked the benefits and all the company has to offer. You go in and talk with them. You level with them and tell them you want to work for them. If there is not any openings you ask " Do you know of any companies around where I might get hired on to improve my chances with your company"? If you get any indication that they just might give you a shot but not right then you keep coming back. Now's the time to get out there. Forget filling applications on-line unless they ask you. Try to meet all you prospects in person and keep notes. You wouldn't want to meet twice and the guy is just looking at you. Good Luck.

 

Ask yourself, what could you be doing now that pays better than driving a truck, with your qualifications? Probably nothing, unless you're college educated. In my tenure as a truck driver--the past 3 years--I have went from making roughly minimum wage, to making about $60k/year. And on that path, I have steadily decreased the number of hours I work from 12-16 per day, to 8-11 hours a day. Is it worth it? Yeah, it is. And wages aren't going to go down, no matter what anyone says. It'll never be the "glory days" where you could work directly for Chevron and make 110k per year. But trust me, you're not gonna be begging for change on a sidewalk corner, or living on a cardboard box in Golden Gate Park--both of which, I have done by the way.

We are spoiled because we have experience. I might complain about making $23 an hour because the next guy makes $27, the next guy makes 100k per year. But there's always someone making $100 a day, paid by the load, to drive cross-country and shave a small ### living space as a team driver, with some disgusting idiot who ####s in plastic bags.

Just get some experience man. Go haul some seasonal produce and get some agriculture experience. Then get some tanker experience--anything, food-grade tanker--it doesn't matter. After a year of doing that, go apply to haul gas. At your interview, tell them that you succeed at work by having a rigid routine and never, ever deviating from it. This is what makes us successful in the fuel hauling business. We just do the exact same thing every day, we never deviate from the procedure in any way because it compromises the original training, and that will bite us in the ### one day when we're not paying full attention.

Trucking is never going anywhere. I could have done any number of things for a paycheck. I could have become an accountant, pharmacy technician, computer programmer. A great many number of us are smart enough for these jobs--but are they recession proof? No. Trucking, is the best kept secret dude. The public's negative perception of us, gives us an advantage. I was delivering a gas station the other night and some dude pulls up to me, and gets out of his taxi, and says, "#### bro, that job must suck!" Yeah bro, it's terrible. I would rather drive a Taxi and pay for my own gas, and deal with idiot passengers all night.

 

It's one of the last few honest ways to make a living in the US. As much as we complain sometimes I can't really see myself doing anything else. I graduated from college 8 years ago to be a teacher. My state was on a hiring freeze so I needed to find a job. My grandad drove and my dad was a mechanic so I decided to go get my license. Making almost $30 and hour with 100% paid benefits for my family is not something that exists in teaching or hardly any field these days. I can support my family and live a good life thanks to this industry.

 

How about O/O in fuel hauling? I've been in the fuel hauling business for 4 years now. I'm trying to figure out that next step to O/O but they are rare in my part of the country and if you can corner one they're very tightlipped

 

KAG has O/O programs. I worked with a guy that does that now. I know a couple of others but they aren't in your neck of the woods.

 

Kenan is dead in Savannah. They lost all their contracts a few years back. What's left is a shoe string operation.