I want a mentor

You sound like a smart young man...my advice to you would be finish your education while you're still young , get that degree (just in case you don't like trucking)....then if you still want to be a driver go onto a community college , get your training , and begin your dream....trucking involves an "all in" attitude ...you must be ready to sacrifice time away from home and loved ones , especially doing the OTR thing...your pay will however not be as low as some claim , unless you simply refuse not to work hard....(doesn't sound like you). You can however be very successful and live a very comfortable life....I've never done anything for my entire adult life except truck...did the OTR til my boys were born , then got a local job that lasted for over 30 years ( I retired from it in 2011) , and was home to help the wife and to share in their lives as much as possible....it can be done , you just have to find your niche...Good Luck to you...you can always feel free to ask any of the older hands around here...we'll all be more than willing to help mentor you!

 

An excellent plan.

Met a bunch of guys when I was going through orientation. We all hung out, kept in contacts and moved up the ranks (my company specializes in oversized and heavy freight. They start you off small and make you work your way up.) Where the other drivers would stab each other in the back and drop dimes on each other, my guys worked together and moved up the ranks really quickly. It's sort of like having your own criminal network. Dispatchers will absolutely hate when you work together, because it makes it very difficult for them to lie to you.

Sometimes dispatchers will have a driver sitting in an area, and try to get you to move out because there's a money load coming down the line, and they will have one of their favorites that they will want to bounce in and grab that load. But if you're there, the planners will offer it out on a first come basis. So they have to get you to move. Told one of my guys that there was a money load sitting on one of our yards, and not to go anywhere til he sees it. His dispatcher started throwing loads to get him to move. He calls me back and tells me that his dispatcher offered him a load paying $3 a mile going 350 miles, and he will keep his spot atop the load board. I told him to stay put and he will keep his spot. If he moves, the dispatcher will have a favorite swoop in and grab the money load. I told him the trailer number. He turns down the $3/mile load.
Planner shoots him the money load next and he accepts (the tarp pay alone paid more than that $3/mile load). My buddy backs up to the load, hooks up, and a driver comes running up, "Hey! What are you doing? They promised me that load!" (Aha! So that's the dispatcher's pet driver...) "Sorry amigo. Take it up with dispatch." Driver storms off and called his dispatcher every name in the book.

Another thing a network of drivers come in handy for is someone to talk to in the middle of the night. It really helps to know a Vampire Trucker if you run all night. The guy can't be negative though. Negative people are tiresome, and that's the last thing you need on an overnight run.

 

This IS perhaps one of the most sensible posts EVER put on the board. Bravo! Yes, get yourself a mentor. I've had a mentor since I started driving, I still call him about once a week. His advice has helped me greatly over the years. What is great, is that from time to time... I have even given him some ideas/help.

The only thing I would suggest is that you find a driver that you can talk to personally. Stop by your local truck stop, find some local drivers... Talk to them, tell them you are looking for a mentor in the business... Make friends with them, ask them questions. There are a heck of a lot of guys out there that WILL help you. Hint: My mentor works for a different company and if I ever wanted a job, I'd be working with his company in a heart beat... (in a truck the next day, is almost a certain). They could even help you with ideas for your first driving job, OR when you have experience... You would almost NEVER be without a job... Much of it is who you know, and what they think of you to get the better driver jobs. It's just like every other industry.

 

I'm like the Zoltar machine. Stick in a crisp $5 bill and I'll tell you what I know. I only got right at 3 years experience, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

Definitely

 

Bleee, if I was your age and didn't have a wife and kids I would get back behind the wheel of a truck in a heartbeat. The biggest stress for me, and why I lasted barely two years on the road, is not knowing if I was going to make it home for my hometime at the time that I requested. My wife would make plans for my weekend home every two weeks, but those plans got busted many times because of dispatcher scheduling issues.

If I hadn't had to make it home, I would have been happy to stay out four or five weeks at a time. I loved driving, but I was missing out on my daughter's teenage years, and there were things at home that my wife really needed me for.

All I can say is if you have been thinking about trucking, spending hours watching trucking YouTubes, researching the various schools, and spending time on forums like this, then you'd better just go ahead and do it or you'll never be happy. It's true that it might not work out for you in the long run, like what happened to me, but, hey, that's life.

I'm 63 years old, and had spent most of my working life behind a desk. The last couple of years behind the wheel of a Freightliner Cascadia were by far the most interesting, fun, stressful, rewarding, challenging and gratifying years of my life. I only regret that I didn't get into it several decades ago when I could have stuck with it.

I'd say, "Go For It!"

Dave

 

Hey SheepDog, my son is currently a PL in Troop L 3/278 ACR, Greeneville, ("Longbow"). He absolutely loves that unit. He transferred from his original CA NG unit, and he says those Tennessee mountain boys are like the difference between night and day from his CA unit. He calls them stone-cold, hard-core killers. He's mentioned something too about 'shine. I think it's used for powering high-octane engines or something... or something. I'm just glad that if he has to deploy with them there's a good chance they'll bring him home alive.

 

your wasting your time find another occupation...this job is for numnuts.

 

Cool, that was nice. you are also a soldier?