Laid off from IT looking into CDL

Thanks for the quick reply, this is great info, thanks!

DC is kinda funny about the CDL license & permit, my buddy working for beer distributor says I have be driving a 6 mo before I can get hazmat & doubles, does that seem right? Sorry for all the questions, thanks

 

Chinatown,. Thanks for the info.

I just saw a online job that said CDL dot physical safe driver cert, what is that ? Thanks

 

It wasn't as bad of a transition I thought it would be. I had worked blue collar before, so i kinda knew a little bit of what to expect. But compared to oil fields, trucking is only about half vlue collar. The terminals are dirty, some of the drivers are foul, but theres also females about and guys have to behave around them.

The overnight dispatcher talks about doing coke off a dead hookers ### but he doea it just for shock appeal. He loves his wife like everyone else.

Its all in the way you make the job. You can geek out your truck, have your laptop, internet, chuck Taylor shoes, and all the rest. Or You can be blue collar have your cowboy hat and all the rest. It allows you to to just be how you want, very much unlike working in an office.

 

Yea... Far from it. A "Cement" driver or more correctly a Concrete driver has 90 minutes from the time the water hits the concrete, to the time he has to dump his load. This is to ensure the concrete meets the slump test. Archaic I know, but it's the best "scientifically" reliable test to ensure concrete delivered is up to standard. Maybe in less congested parts of the country this isn't a problem, but in SoCal, every concrete driver neads seven ways to Sunday to get that load delivered or he'll be chiseling it out of the drum for weeks to come.

 

You are accurate with the word concrete. Ready Mix. Been there done that etc. All if it is point on and yes we used those archaic terms. Our trucks were ont he job at most less than 20 minutes. There has been a few long range special moves into the Ozarks where the driving was a hour and water a REAL challenge. That 100 gallon slush tank behind the cab aint much.

That is why I chose the word Cement. That goes into a bulk tanker, delivered to a ready mix. It's powder at 4.00 a pound or so back in the 80's Portland Cement is the proper term.

The Concrete days were a wonderful past time. What with putting that mack through some really scary offroad stuff where I am not sure if we would do it. However watching others do it gives me a clue. I was not much of a offroader anything until that year. With some exceptions and other trucks.

 

I learned most of the stuff when I was by myself keep your overall record clean it haunts you driving truck I know a guy he worked for CR England from middle November to March left them and now he can’t really find a decent driving job he has a SR 22 and bunch of other stuff and sleep apnea probably companies are passing on him left and right

 

I drove for Werner and FFE and now CRETE I’m looking for better jobs but I don’t think switching companies will help much these companies all have the same freight for the most part