Husband and wife are empty nesters…what next we ask?

For one thing take those stories with a grain of salt. Nobody gets fired for something minor. That minor incident might have been the last straw in a long series of minor incidents.

 

Very good thread! Sounds alot like the situation my wife and I are looking into. I will keep watching this one. Thanks to everyone who replied. Sparky.

 

Trust me If you have seen the trash that they put in trucks anymore you would know that you don't have to be anywhere near worried about anything !!!
I swear if you can remember to breath you have a job !!!

You go to a school and I promise you you will find somebody to hire you no matter what your back ground looks like ......you may have to look hard and you might not like the way they treat you but you will have a job .

 

100% is bad. OTR requires you to live in a truck and away from family for a min of four weeks. Then you only get four days off. Plus, the trucking companies for the most part treat you like a number. Its very differencorporate America. If you can accept that....you'll be fine. What will make it easier for you two is you have each other.

PM anytime

 

Well, depending on how you cook up those numbers,,,

I'll give you a for instance. Company X has an orientation class 50 weeks a year. Each class has about 100 applicants in it. By the end of the week 40-50 people are already gone. (failed drug test, better offers at other companies, job references didn't add up, medically disqualified, etc.) Of the 50 that remain, 15 don't work out with their trainer. (personality conflict or they just cant drive) another 7 wash out on the final exam. 28 get assigned trucks. 4 have an accident in their first year. 10 find out they don't like the job and quit. 4 chase offers from other companies. 2 get into "other" legal trouble. 6 stay on with the company for 3-5 years. 2 guys become lifers.

So 2% retention right? Except this statistical scenario happens out of every class every week. So some guys bound to leave are still in the company while guys are leaving who were there for 3 years.

And that 100%+ turnover figure doesn't accurately figure in "churn". Where a guy quits/gets fired one day and applies/starts the same day down the street at a rival company. Which has been known to happen.

 

Fuzzynok is right on with his analogy of the laundry room except he says to take a break after 5 hours. Maybe an hour. then get back in there and finish your 11 hour drive time. Then switch drivers and you try to sleep while your partner drives. We usually get a bout 5 hours of sleep when we are on a hot load and thats only when you are dead tired. You cant sleep in there moving untill your dog tired. Also he forgot to say that you have to hook up something to the cot to shake and bounce it constantly.
The turn over rate is so high because so many people come into this with rose colored glasses and think this is going to be some kind of a grand adventure and when they find out that it is a grueling never ending road they quit. The average job expectancy rate is 3 months.
There is plenty of stress here too. I remember driving thru the sisters in Wyoming at about 25 mph with a foot of snow drifting across the road and hurricane force winds, thinking "Am I going to die here tonight?". There was nowhere to pull off so we had to keep going till we could stop. And then theres dispatchers and loads that absoloutly have to be there. Also this is rated as 1 of the 10 most dangerous jobs in America.
Some drivers will say I'm being negative and thats ok. I am. There is a lot of negative out here. Please dont think this is going to be a grand adventure. Its not. Pee bottles. Lot lizards. Beggars on the fuel island. People pissing on your truck in the parking lot when the truck stop is 100 ft away. Getting to the top of Cabbage with 80,000 lbs and looking down that 3 mile hill thats shining in the january sunlight and looking like a sheet of ice and you get to go down it.
Spending $30 for the TA buffet for 2 between the drinks and tip and its mostly chicken. You find out quickly that theres no where else to eat that you can get into. Just like anything, some Truck stops are better than others. Some have theatres. But as a company team driver for mega companies, you wont have much time to watch a movie. You will earn a day off a week but you will have to be out at least 14 days before you can take that time and most of them wont let you take more than 10 days no matter how much you have acumulated. Have a wedding on the 30th? They might get you there on the 24th. you have to request time off usually a couple of weeks ahead. You are another mans slave for sure.
Will you make money? Yes. But you will spend a ton eating.

All that being said, get your 1 yr exp., buy your own truck and be your own boss. Come and go as you like. Take loads where YOU wanna go and dont take loads where YOU dont wanna go.

As far as a trucking company, check out Conway. We started there when they were CFI. After Conway bought them we left but I hear thier drivers like it ok. Lets face it. They all suck. Some just a little less than others. But Conway has newer trucks and a very good maintainence program and some decent terminals.

Be prepared to be tired.

 

BTW Melton was CFI's sister company that didnt go with the sale.
Also the fact that you have each other is right on. You have each other 24/7/365 in an overgrown beer can. My wife and I can only take each other's crap for about 3 to 4 weeks then we have to go home for a week. You wont get a week after 4 weeks. you will get 4 days.

 

I just gotta point out there are better options for food besides T/A. For what you'll pay for dinner there you can go into a lower end chain restaurant, (Denny's, Friendly's, IHOP, Perkins, Bob Evan's, etc.) or some healthier fast food places, (Panara, Chipotle, any others?)

Not to mention you could get fresh groceries and cook for yourself. Wal-mart's policy on truck parking might vary from store to store, but Kroger's, Giant/Eagle, Food Lion probably wouldn't complain if you parked behind the store and didn't stay more than an hour. Use the same entrance as the delivery rigs.

Malls can be a good option too if you don't park like a tool. Security will usually cut you some slack if you tell them you're shopping and will be gone in an hour or two.

Also in PA there are some chain gas/convenience stores that have more than a few locations with truck spaces: Royal Farms, Tom's, Wawa, Sheetz, & Rutters. (if anyone knows any similar chains in other parts of the country? Pass it on, I'd like to know)

And all are better than you average Buckhorn.