24yo no-lifer, need company / newbie advice.

Once you have experience, Steel/metal can pay good in that area. As for first job i'd look at summit or possibly mr p
TMC does some metal, they are reputable for large training wheels

 

I would try really hard for TMC. They deliver into where I haul out of a lot. They consistently have very nice equipment and good drivers. If you got on with them doing flatbed I don’t think you would do much better with anyone else.

 

They have to tarp everything ... No Thanks

 

One of my co-workers previously worked for TMC.

His feedback was why I recommended them.

Plus: you will operate some of the best-looking flatbed equipment on the road.

-- L

 

You can find plenty of negative reviews with/about pretty much all the beginner fleets.

It's new drivers finding out that driving a big rig isn't (to begin with, anyway) the ultra-high paying, bed of roses, walk-in-the-park, easy street they thought/hoped it would be....

-- L

 

Living in the truck, possible. Taking a month off every quarter, not jolly likely. The truck is a tool for making money for the company. Not many companies will be happy to watch that truck sit still, so you become a newbie with high demands in a period of VERY SLOW business. They have 50 other drivers with no experience willing to work all year.

Industy has been slow for 1-2 years. There has never been a driver shortage, just industry PR types pushing that story & lazy media types running a story because another outlet just ran the story so it must be true? How many felonies or speeding tickets do you have? If it's more than zero think about being a cowboy or starting a motorcycle gang or maybe become outfielder for the NY Yankees.

 

One of the problems in trucking right now is the companies that take new guys limit pay in various ways.

There’s lots of ways they can limit your earnings but one way or another you’ll find it’s very difficult to make more than a thousand bucks a week when you start.

Another problem is you would make more money starting with a class B job. You could probably find something that will start you around $25 an hour and get overtime.

No overtime for Class A rookies but no sleeper cab for class B drivers.

And most likely class B experience will not be relevant for a Class A job in the future.

I think flatbed is a good choice but my current company has a program im pretty excited about. I’m actually in the process of transferring over.

The program is a bit of a jack of all trades. One job hauls flatbed, reefer, and van. No tanker tho. I have 6 months experience myself between two different companies. I started flatbed and currently reefer.

There’s no magic answer unfortunately you’ll just have to find what you like. I would recommend really thinking about what you don’t want, and go from there. Flat bedding ain’t easy.

Tarping in the wind sucks, and most yards are going to be wet and muddy. You’ll track dirt in truck and bedroom everywhere every day.

Lots of guys love flat bedding, my trainer had been doing it for over 20 years.

Good luck