Easier to get hired with a Truck?

I have been a Trucker now for 18 years. The first 8 OTR and since then the last 10 Local.

Well I took a part time gig with a guy near me to make a round trip to California and back. That got the bug in me again BIG TIME. I really don't want to work for this guy that let me make the run , since he is pretty much an Outlaw. It pays really well , but I know that I am the one taking the risks and any trouble comes down , it's on me out on the road.

Anyway enough of that. The point is I have the OTR urge once more burning in my gut and I really enjoyed it very much , just like old times. So I start putting in Apps at a few regular companies around here and they want to treat me like some newbie. I am not really down with that and consider myself a very good and professional Trucker. It annoys me something fierce.

I often say that I should just get my own truck and do my own thing cause I know the business inside and out but I don't really have enough funds to get BOTH Equipment AND authority.

So I ask for advice on if anyone has been through something similar and found that having a Truck to sign on with makes more companies open up?
All this BS they spew about 2 years RECENT OTR and blah blah blah makes me angry. As I said I been trucking for 18 years. Who gives a crap if I slept in the truck or not?

I can't even show 1 year RECENT OTR on my applications anymore and I'll be dammed if I want to ride with some "trainer" getting refreshed. Should a person in my situation just buck it up and play along or would I have a better time finding someone with my own Truck coming with me?

 

Ya that refresher course crap is dumb. Ive been trucking legal for 14 years and grew up a o/o son. Ive always ran somewhat local maybe sleeping in the truck few nights a week. I heard that same thing when i was looking for a job. I laughed and walked away from companys like that, ive seen the new generation of the cdl mill steering wheel holders. I must say some make the rest of us professionals look like crap. From what ive seen if you want to work for a big otr company, you must have not bathed in months, cut off sweats, tank top , complementry pair of flip flops. Oh and must work cheap lmao. I will just stay running local and make over 50k a year as a unexsperienced truck driver lmao.

 

You could try some small companies or an owner operator with a few trucks. I am in the same situation as you, but i am applying for my own authority and going that route cause im not going to sit in a truck with a trainer, that has a lot less experience than myself.

 

Do a couple runs for the "outlaw" and get him to give you a reference for OTR work. Or wouldn't you want to use him for a reference?

 

Nah I think he would be an ok reference , but it's really a lot of risk of messing up my record and pocketbook. You use the loose leaf logs and have to re do them every day before you reach a scale and keep pushing everything back. But toward the end of the run you can run out of room to push things back. It just isnt a real good way to go. It brings back the older days of trucking , most of his guys exist on 2 hours of sleep a day or less. He does not actually tell anyone to run like this but you soon find out you just cant make it unless you do. As I have already done this type of thing in the past I know it is a dead end street. You will get caught eventually and then it is YOUR behind . The DOT along the route all know about him and constantly pull you around back and give you the business so to speak. It was my original plan to just tough it out and get on somewhere else asap , but it is just too insane.

I am going to go back to my old job and just work on more contacts and set myself up somehow. I appreciate the replies guys.

 

I have the same problem I have 9 yrs as a truck driver and the last couple of years is been driving for these companys that pull doubles. So here I am in Florida out of job and looking for a driving job and all I see is otr and 2 yrs recent experience man I thought about working for a generic company with these recent grads and feel like a newbie again its a load of crap if you ask me.

 

I feel for you.

Have about five years local, but haven't driven in three years. Despite being able to drive a truck, a clean record and about 300,000 miles driven, I'm finding that without OTR and "recent experience" I'm worth less than someone straight out of school.

I've put a lot of thought into buying a truck, to pretty much just buy myself a job, but I'd run into the problem where my choices would still be limited by not having that 1 year OTR. Only choice left would be to go with the few companies that are desperate enough to hire anybody with a truck.

Looking like a better option every day, but just not going to happen at the moment. I can come up with the money to get started with a truck and the other start up costs. Problem is that I wouldn't have the extra money needed as a buffer in case something doesn't go 100% perfect the first few months, which IMO is just setting up for failure.

 

im in the same boat i've been off the road for about roughly a year and a half,I've been wanting to drive so i can get the bug out of my system and support my family.I personally think the system needs to be overhauled for drivers such as myself and other's that came off the road for various reasons.Maybe you had family problems,and had to take a warehouse job maybe you just had your first child(like myself) or any valid reason.Its not fair to us to get passed up for a student,I consider myself a seasoned driver that can navigate the tough condition steep grades etc etc.why treat the experienced driver like crap for guy that truly has no experience.I too have been contemplating the purchasing of my own rig just to do what i love it suck you have to go that route just to do what you love

 

I to was in this boat at one time and took the matter into my hands and went and bought a truck and got my own authority. I find it much better and more profitable to run on your own. I was so freakin pissed off after getting turned down to lease onto to a couple of the bigger companies due to my experience that I just about quit everything all together. But instead I got my own authority and with my driving history and the fact I had operated a class 8 truck locally I had no trouble getting insured and for a good rate. Plus by being independent I can choose where and when to run get as much home time as I can afford and so on. Another plus is I have now found a dedicated run of 1200 miles one way I do every week. You probably couldnt do that leased on to someone.
My opionion is if people stop leasing on and driving for these companies that rip people off and make all the money they would either get better quick or go away.

You can do it on your own and right now trucks are really cheap.