Is there any way to drive just seasonally/weekends?? (not full time)

I'm a total newbie at the moment (intro at http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...s-respectfully-here-to-learn.html#post3775570 ) who originally was hoping to do trucking sort of 'on the side' while doing things like going to college, but it sounds like that's economically impossible... even moreso as an owner operator, but apparently insurance companies consider you the same as a new driver if you're not in constant endless 24/7/365 driving which seems a little unfair. (really? I could drive commercially 6 months a year for 20 years and i'd be the same risk as a total greenhorn, even if the other 6 months I routinely drove it for my own farm duties? Yes is what they told me.)

Are there any experts who would disagree though?

Even though there are other 'first careers' I would like to do in the future, I love big trucks and could totally go for driving them a few months per year without burning out I think, even if I didn't make "as much" money in the process. I'd also consider it a backup career if things went to hell for a main career, but that's less useful if i'm considered a newbie driver in my 50's after losing a job from age discrimination. Far as i'm concerned though being an owner-operator would give me an excuse to own my own semi and write it off, as long as I make at least some profit above expenses with it each year it's kinda like making the government buy most of it for me instead of paying for it with after tax dollars from my main job or career. I also have enough heavy things i'd expect to want to haul for myself that that alone would probably make it pay for itself.


So is there anyone that can suggest a way that doesn't require permanently signing off the rest of my life? My original hope of "drive in summer, college in fall/winter/spring paid for with what I made" wont even work right now but i'd love to be wrong.

 

Buy your own truck for cash. Drive when you want.

 

Many senior (very experienced) drivers do this regularly. As a new driver, it might take a while earning some solid experience first. If you prove yourself to your initial company, most would allow taking time off and returning. You might not be able to participate in any benefits programs (health insurance, etc). But again, you're going to have to make yourself very valuable to where they will always welcome you back provided you don't stay away too long. What's too long will vary from company to company and how much experience you gained in the beginning.

Some companies refer to them as "casual drivers".

 

Seems unlikely. It seems natural to believe truck driving is a skill you just "get" and that it doesn't differ substantially from driving a 4-wheeler, so just steering a 4-wheeler is sufficient to maintain those skills Despite the fact trucks are most often operated either like a 4-wheeler or as a 4-wheeler should never be operated, it does. Maintaining "skills" requires "practice". The first thing a student should learn in truck driving school is to forget everything they think they know about "driving", because the vast majority of it is wrong.

Trusted drivers, with years of experience and company tenure, are sometimes granted seasonal OTR jobs. I've never heard of that being extended to a rookie, and I don't expect to.

 

Check with Penske, Ryder, etc. Most of them need hikers, which is moving trucks between customers, or locations for service, etc. They might be able to accommodate a weekend only schedule.

 

I have two friends that do what your talking about. One is an O/O who drives about 7 months a year then spends the rest in Puerto Rico with his wife and kids. His trucks paid for as well as his house here. Wife's family owns the property in Puerto Rico. Second maried a lady from the Philippines and works for Knight Transportation out of the Phoenix terminal. He works about 9 months a year then turns in the truck, then he and the wife split for home. He owns nothing here but a car that stays at the terminal when hes gone. He comes back around the end of February.

 

I was hell on wheels in the 90s. Got into a rhythm where I would just drive hard all say. Covered a lot of miles and made a lot of money. Retired at the top of my game in 2000. Kept my CDL for 'just in case'. Had to jump back into a big rig. In 2007. No school, just had to ride with a trainer at Swift. In orientation, had to do a road test. First out. "I'm gonna show these losers at Swift how it's done."

I could not believe how much skill I had lost. It actually scared me. "What happen to you, dude? You terrorized North America in a hood, pulled 11 axles, ran triple digits, jake shifting...etc, now you're scared of a Swift truck?" I didn't gave a problem with shifting, it was everything else. Turn, the mirrors, the trailer.

Rode with a trainer for 3 weeks. Was up in Burns Harbor grabbing a coil. 'This stuff was so easy...why is it so hard now?' I was slow. Those chains and binders felt heavy.

It took a while, but the sharpness came back. Got my foot back in to a company who specializes in big loads. First OD was 10 wide. "Great. Here I am being slow again. Can't remember what I am supposed to do next". The oversized mindset took even longer, but thankfully, those skills came back too.

it is amazing what time out of a truck does to you.

 

Right Triple Six-Getting back in the game can be a humbling experience. My story is pretty much the same-hauled the Dalton, Yukon, Northern BC etc.- Started in Montana, Wyoming, ND, SD-how hard could THAT be? Well, like you I finally hit my stride, but it did take a bit. My skills are probably as good now as they ever were-not as wild as I used to be, but older and (hopefully) wiser. Safe travels!

 

Once you have experience, you could drive for a temp/ leasing company. There you can work as much or as little as you want. But that is in other people's trucks.

 

It's possible to find such gigs. I have one doing what's basically a daycab run on my days off, and, once I relocate to the Denver area, I'll likely be running flat and fork on my days off for a previous employer of mine.