Looking for a good job in a rural area in northern NC/southern VA

I am looking for job opportunities in the northern NC to southern VA area. I own my own daycab tractor and have been driving for 10 years, currently hauling fuel which I have been doing for almost 3. I would like to haul fuel but I will pull anything if the money is right and I find the job conditions suitable. I would like to find a niche job in a rural area that would get me home every night to my inexpensive house on several acres near a swimming hole. I might consider a company driver job but it would have to be a really good one. I would also like to hear examples major shipping hubs in the northern portion of north Carolina and southern Virginia, specifically places that are spread out but have a lot of trucks coming and going. I have cropped a map to the area I am looking. Thanks in advance for all the useful advice I hope to get. I am looking for specific job opportunities as well as small towns that might be full of opportunity for a truck driver.

P.S. I would also like to hear about any job leads from Winchester, VA south heading down 81 to Roanoke.

 

I had a job with a temp service when I was younger which was a terrible experience, but the idea of showing up some random place as a temp DRIVER (as apposed to a temp undesirable job knocker outer) and driving some random truck with some random freight sounds fun and it is not something I have considered. I will look for driver temp agencies in the area I am searching, thanks. Did it pay good?

 

That sounds interesting, i will research those leads.

I might consider that, but I am hesitant to stay out even once in a great while. We have 2 kids and my wife will most likely be working as well (she is a hairstylist and gets stuck working evenings), in which case we will both have to work around child care for our 4 year old and 12 year old boys

They have a terminal here in Baltimore and the owner operators seem to like it. I heard rumors that they hired too many drivers and couldn't keep them all working around here but that is unsubstantiated. They seem like one of those companies that give the owner operators room to breathe and I like that. That's exactly what has kept me happy at my company. They have standards and expectations of me as a driver but for the most part they let me do my own thing. I don't even go to the office except to pick up my paycheck. I get emailed my work and email back the completed paperwork at the end of the day, I only have to call the office to turn down work(which they are usually cool about) or to communicate about moving my schedule around for maximum efficiency or to accommodate my needs, or they might call me and ask me to move my schedule around to accommodate their needs. I have gone over a week without an actual phone call except maybe to see how many gallons of what to take to a station. I would love it if I could find something similar in North Carolina and I will make Dist Tech one of my priority leads.

 

That sounds appealing. I would hope to fetch more then $19 an hour in Baltimore (I consider my time including my truck to be worth $50/$60 an hour and as a company driver I think I would expect about $25/hr) but OT after 8 is nice when work is slow and double time after 12 sounds awesome. I expect to take a pay cut along with lower cost of living moving to North Carolina but I don't know exactly what constitutes good money or cheap living there yet.