100% No-touch freight

Brexit; double post.

 

@Flattie C - possible team member and he lives in Richmond,VA

 

Unfortunately there are no situations where you are GUARANTEED TO NEVER BE REQUIRED to unload (touch freight). ANYBODY that gives you advice telling you otherwise is either talking out of both sides of their mouth or don't know and understand trucking. It is a pipe dream. Yes, there are some places that normally will be (no touch) but you are not guaranteed of this everyday and in every situation. I know a driver that drove out of the Greenville (or Spartenburg ) SC Overnight terminal that back in the late 90s had to open his back pup and repack a spilled pallet. If I were a new CDL holder and knew what I know now and had the physical limitations you have I would try to get on with a carrier that has a Walmart Contract and service Walmarts. If my memory is correct this is going to be your Swifts Werners and Schneiders. Unfortunately I do not know who has the contracts (IF ANY) for the Walmart DCs in the Petersburg and Willamsburg area. Or contact CR England about their Smithfield account. Smithfield Va is not that far from Richmond.

I am going to change gears a minute. If you physically are prevented from doing the physical labor and lifting because of your issues make #### sure you tell the person this that gives you your interview. It may be possible for them to help you avoid this lifting. However has had been stated there are other aspects to trucking that require sometime intense physical labor. Raising and lowering a recalcitrant landing gear comes to mind. Pulling a 5th wheel release lever can be hard. I once had a 5th wheel that was so hard to release I had to take some advil after moving 3 trailers just to get to my loaded trailer. You had better right from the get go let somebody know of your limitations. Don't wait till you are faced with a repack situation. Now that I think about it I had to go grab a pallet at a Walmart DC once and repack the top parts of a pallet that spilled out after I opened the trailer door. It was intense physical labor handling cold meat. Just saying, it is my belief you are looking for something that don't exist in the trucking world!

Edited to add: My father taught me so many things about trucking I wish I had had a tape recorder so I could index it. However he told me something I have never forgot about physical labor and trucking. He told me to stay away from flatbeds because if I did not one day I would fall off the #### thing and bust my head open. He then told me if somebody ever tells you that you will never be called to do hard work that person is engaging in one of the things truckers have done for years. It is called telling whoppers. Over the years I have come to see the things my father told me was/is true and I wish my father was alive today so I could apologize to him for doubting him.

 

You passed the DOT physical, so you're hirable. Don't discuss anything with anyone about any issues. Talking too much is why Werner isn't calling you.
Some companies don't require another physical and will accept you current cdl school physical. Try those:
Freymiller
TransAm
Magnum Ltd.
J&R Schugel
CRST

 

I honestly believe you can find a good situation it is just going to take some time. I would give serious consideration to driving a yard dog moving trailers around. Not a lot of hard work involved just a lot of up and down moving the gladhand off and on the trailers. I don't think the pay is all that good though. Don't just give up. Beat the bushes pound the pavement.

 

Any trucking job will require pulling a 5th wheel lever daily, sometimes many times per day. Dropping and hooking trailers is a common daily occurrence. Some newer trucks have an air actuated 5th wheel release (just push a button on the dash) but they sometimes do not work properly and require manually pulling the handle (I had a truck with this option for several months).

If it takes you days to physically recover from pulling a 5th wheel handle then you may want to reconsider this career.

As others have mentioned, pulling the lever to disengage the pins on trailer tandems will be even more difficult than a 5th wheel handle. Newer trailers have an air actuated button to disengage the pins but there are still many many trailers with manual levers. When the pins get jammed (a common problem) it requires a great deal of strength and applied force to pull that lever.

 

Under the circumstances I don't think this is good advice. By his own words he has a disability. Not disclosing that said disability might cause a serious issue later on if OP can't do something when asked. You know as well as I do that a generic DOT physical is not hard to pass. I have seizures and diabetes. What is the chances I could pass a physical? There a lot better then you know. .

 

I've driven yard dogs and they beat you to death; those things are rough riding.

 

Did you use a puller? Or did you just reach under and grab the bar? I've worked with a few companies that had air release 5th wheels and tandem pins, only physical part of the job was sweeping out the trailer. You can even cheat on his part and buy a battery powered blower, I've seen more and more guys using them. A lot of companies offer 100% no touch, especially if you're in a solid drop/hook positions. Landing gear might be an issue, but you can take your time and find a way that doesn't make your arthritis flare up.