Easier to get hired with a Truck?

I see you live in NW IA, why don't you buy your truck & pull hoppers. I don't own the truck that i drive, but i'm home every night. I haul corn to the local E-plant every day. Just something to think about

 

Not exactly sure how you get Hopper loads. I imagine it's a broker type thing eh?

Anyway thanks for your suggestion, I will look into it.

 

You should be able to find someone up there where your at that will hire you. It may take some work on your part but there are people that will hire you in your situation. Generally will be a small outfit with under 50 trucks. You know the smaller family owned carriers. Good Luck to you.

 

You guys have a couple of things against you. First off, in a lot of cases it is the insurance companies that dictate hiring rules to companies. Even the bigger companies that are self insured, their insurance is managed by a contract outfit that will try to set the rules.

The second thing is that you guys actually are experienced. That means you cannot be screwed over nearly as easily as a newbie can. At least you will recognize the screwing for what it is. A lot of these companies really don't like that in a driver.

 

I'm curious about this insurance thing. I dont mean to be rude or say people dont know what there talking about. The thing is when I got insurance on my own as a newbie and little experience I had no trouble getting insured and for a rate that was good. When I told people what I was paying they were shocked. I have a great record and history. So I think when people are having trouble gettting insurance they may need to look deeper then just experience. Just my thoughts.

 

Never knew a smuggler yet who worried about insurance. They were more concerned with getting busted for smuggling!

OK, seriously, you have a good point. But these mega companies do have a problem with insurance. They have so many "incidents" and accidents that are caused by carelessness and stupidity, that the insurance companies have put rules in place to protect their own assets.

 

You are right, for the car haulers for instance my insurance company said cars are such a high risk because most owner ops are responsible for things like rock chips scratches from branches and so on. So the insurance company ends up getting pounded with small claims and they said its just not worth it. Hard to believe people put claims in for as little as 200 bucks but I guess it happens.

Now I guess I never thought about these mega companies being they have so many trucks and drivers that they probably get pounded with claims and that makes there insurer really look hard at people. Never looked at it that way. Very good point. We all need to not work for these mega companies anyway and start smugglin it pays way better...LOL

 

Buy your own truck...but don't stop there....get your own authority...become your own boss...and watch the revenue start rolling in...
Or get one of those smaller 'chaser' vans...then you can still drive all over the place, without DOT restrictions...

 

What ins. co. are you with?

 

If I could come up with another $5,000 I would. I will admit that I am looking a little harder for that money every day, and I have something in the works where I could possibly come up with it.

Most likely I would get my own authority. There are some situations where I could see myself doing differently, but if it came to that it would only be used as a stepping stone until I got things worked out. If you're going to go through all the work to own your own truck, you might as well have the freedom to go where you want and make your own decisions.

My thought process would involve financing an under $20,000 truck and a $5,000-ish 53' dry van. I have put some thought into specifics of truck and trailer, but nothing set in stone. I'd have cash for all other start up expenses.

Smart thing for me to do, with only local experience, would be to get a couple weeks of training. Figure I could offer to run as a team with some owner-op for no or very little money on the condition that they would give me a crash course. Then, I could just run off whatever load board I decided, sticking close to home until I got comfortable with myself and the truck earned my trust.

There is both good and bad in my plan, and you have to weigh the risks vs. the rewards. With what I have in the bank today, the risks still make looking to work for someone else the smart decision. But, that gap is closing every day and I don't think it will be long before it will be worth it to make the jump.