trailer potental

Well...i'm still a student myself...but...if you think about it...reefer normally does mostly foods...flatbed does mostly building materials...and van does anything besides climate controlled stuff...i know reefer and flatbed pays more then van...but flatbed slows down around the cold months because it's less building...unless you down south i guess...but you in MA...so it's gone slow down during winter months for flatbed...unless you doing OTR i guess instead of regional...i think reefers would bring home the highest consistant pay checks...but i really think it depends on the area...where you at...i would go with reefer...flats most popular in the west...mid west and down south...

 

I am new to trucking too. From the research I have done it is kind of a wash. Flatbead can lead to more speacialized hauling such as oversize/overweight and car hauling both which can potentially pay alot of money. It is true that flatbead slows down in the cold months but the earning potential could overwrite that. I personally went with flatbead because of this.....also from what i have heard is that flatbeadding is the harder of the bunch...so if you can do it well than everything else is a breeze.

 

Exactly...when your doing reefer...basicly you just make sure it got gas and drive...wow...when you doing van...just drive...another wow...but flatbed is actual work...so when i get older or is just tired of doing the hard work with flatbed...then i'll do reefer or van...because with a flatbed your still driving just as you would with a reefer or van...so i rather do the harder work now...to stay fit and get paid more money...then slow up and maybe get a wal mart job or something like that when i'm tired of flatbed...i'm only 23...

 

Im not a new driver, Ive been driving alot longer than I care to think about over 2 million safe accident free miles. Speacilized Freight makes the best money. Tankers, Carhaulers, Real Hazmat, etc... One thing about Refeers, is I believe its the most demanding as far as loading and unload, You tend to wait for docks alot, Which means "Driver go to your truck put your radio on channel 20 and well call you when a door is available. Tanker seems like as long as theres room for you you unload right away. I have pulled a tanker for the last 10 years, normal I pull in and get a unload location upom arrival and leave there plant within a hour. Loading average about 15 minutes in the loading plant, maybe 30 if there was a problem. With produce was not even through the check in 15 minutes.

 

My entire career has revolved around reefers for about 85% of my loads. To say to just check if the reefer has "gas" and just drive is ignorant. Much of my time is spent unloading my own trailer on LTL runs. I won't even begin to get into the tighter schedule we have compared to other drivers, I'll just to tell my off weeks are 3700 miles or less. Also, not all reefers run the same way. So a driver needs to have a VAST knowledge of all reefers if your going to be pulling different trailers and also have a knowledge of the trouble codes and how to fix the reefer because you can ruin a whole load if your not careful and don't keep it cool. I know I never want to see ice cream running out my back doors cause I didn't know how to clear a code and put a little oil in the reefer. Now, to make myself clear I'm not saying anyone else work any less. I'm just saying reefers are not a cake walk and please don't think its just "gas" and go.

PS: Reefers run on diesel.

 

WOW, you guy's are crazy if you think there is more money in hauling cars!!!!!...Lot's of extra work for no real pay raise.........Way to much time looking for cars at auctions,......you will be lucky to gross 800 bucks a week hauling cars, and that will take putting in 20 hours a day 6 days a week, dosen't leave much time to eat, shower or SLEEP................I hate hauling cars......

 

Run flats if you want to remain fit and trim; hot in the summer and freezing your a-z-z off in the winter.

 

now we know why Ron wears suspenders.

 

Yeah and I lost my beer gut too......