few questions for beginning a career in trucking

You can check out maverick. They will not require a school. You will have to ride with a trainer till they think you are ready. A trainer will also get you up to speed on logbooks as well. Pay will vary on companies and the driver. Most I would say 30-40. Mav's avg for new drivers used to be about 52.5 not sure what it is now tho.

 

If your working for the power co, why would you leave it you wont find a better deal in a sleeper just longer hours and not getting home for weeks at a time. You have a local job with good benes, and decent pay donot loose it.

 

He said for 3 years he worked for this company. Sounds to me like it is past tense. Also said he worked for a contractor, not a power co.

 

Hey, some of the posters on here are sharp as a tack and pay attention to detail.... Not mentioning any names, but some don't; lets just say the initials....Powder Joints.....

 

OTR is really just a bigger version of what you did with the power company. Since you have prior experience dragging a trailer behind you and backing-up into what I'd assume to be tight spaces plus double-clutching, you'd be at a bigger advantage than someone with 0 exprience.

Most of the big outfits seem to favor 10-speed Eaton Fuller or Meritor shifters. Some go with the Super-10. For a variety of reasons, automatics are becoming more and more common.

Yes.

Well, going rate seems to be .28 cpm or less these days out of the gate. Figure an average of 2500 mpw and you'e looking at about a $700 gross per week. This for working/being on the job 100 hours per week and away from home for 2-3 weeks a pop. No overtime in trucking.

As far as home everynight, that's a tough nut to crack. Most people who get those jobs don't leave them. In this economy, it's especially hard to find a job like that...one that pays decent anyway.

Pretty simple, actually:

Off duty = line 1
Sleeper berth = line 2
Driving = line 3
On-duty = line 4

Don't worry about this, your instructors at the school will make sure you understand the basic concepts.

 

They just cut the starting pay for inexperienced drivers to .36 cpm...thats gonna come out to around $36,000 per year (at least)...possibly going up to $40,000 if he "hits the ground running" (which is possible...but unlikely, no offense meant to the OP, just a fact of life)


That being said...notarps is right, give Maverick a call. They are hard to beat, best company I know of and you are in a really good area for them...won't be hard to get you home.