My 2 & 1/2 Years with McElroy Truck Lines, Inc.

...McElroy has a Terminal in South Pittsburg, TN. That Terminal is EXTREMELY close to a Sheetrock Plant (I think U,S.G.) that has a drop yard for McElroy. But, as I recall, you have to strap and put corner protectors on yourself there. Anyway, it is possible that they may send you by there on your way to the house, but if you are looking at McElroy, DON'T look for much "home time" beyond one or two nights a week brother. It is largely an OTR company, and if you have never worked for a Trucking Company before, YOU NEED OTR before you can make a decent living "Local".

In other words, you have to "pay your dues" and show local companies that you can drive a "big truck" and can "show up on time". If your wife and kids love you, they will understand, but go ahead and accept that for the next two years or so, you will be home approximately 48 hours per week. During that 48 hours, you will have to:

1)Do your laundry
2)Love on your Wife
3)Love on your Kids,
4)Put your truck "back together" (i.e. make your bed, replenish your food, paper towels, etc..)
and
5)Plan your next route for the load you have on you.

THAT is the life of a TRUCKER Dude. Think long and hard about the costs and benefits before you make the transition. THAT is my 2 cents.

 

....but after all you have posted and what you have been through, don't you want honesty and truth? If and when you are ready to make the "jump", you will DEFINATELY make more than the "you want fries with that ?" Crowd. BUT, they will be at home "broke" and you will be AWAY from home and "NOT". Right? All I am saying is that it is a trade off. I',m not going to "Sugar Coat" TRUCKING for anyone becasue THAT would be a "dis-service"

 

....I just don't want you to get your hopes up about getting by the house too often, because remember - even if you are picking the load up near to where you live, you will likely be delivering it far away from where you live and vice-versa.

In the winter when it was slow, they would often have me pick up out of Proctor, W.V. on a Thursday to be delivered in Norfolk, VA on a Friday morning. Well, that receiver in Norfolk is located about 5 miles from the Truck Stop where I parked every weekend, so I would always start having this "fantasy" about being able to make it back home Thursday night and being at home a night early. It NEVER happened. Why? Because they would either make me wait half the day for my trailer, or it would be over-weight and so I didn't want to risk the hassels at the weigh station, or traffic would be bogged down trying to go through the MD/D.C. corridor that I would simply run out of hours.

Now, it did happen a few times that I had a load going right on the other side of the Eastern Shore and I would stop by the house for the night. Sometimes I took a load home on a Friday that was due Monday near the house so I would get Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. But most often, they plan the loads to try to give you miles, and if they keep you too close to the house, you won't have any miles. You get PAID BY THE MILE, so you really don't want to be stuck at the house man. But, it is a nice treat when it occasionally happens.

 

...well I am FINALLY driving a truck ALONE. THANK GOD! But, I have noticed that since Bluelinx is a "local delivery" type company, you don't put as many miles on the tractors. Therefore, all of the tractors are old as hell. (14yrs old) They finally got the Freightliner fixed (the supposedly "good one"), but it has a crappy split driver's seat just like the old beater Mac I have been driving. I'm starting to think I may just want to stay in the Mac, because at least the radio works and I have gotten used to the "loosey-goosey" shift pattern (Reverse is like 1 millimeter from 2nd, but Fourth is four feet over to the right LOL!)

The Manager says he is trying to start me off "easy", so all of my runs have been ONE trailer per day and no more than 5 or 6 stops. Ordinarily I would think this is cool, but because it doesn't take me 8 hours to do it, I have to find "make work" crap to do around the warehouse each afternoon to get my 8 hours. I am hoping that things will pick back up starting tommorrow after this Holiday break. I don't like 12 hour back-to-back days, but I DO like full working days and until I am through with "probation", I NEED some overtime to make up the difference. I am being paid a dollar less per hour during my first 45 working days, so that makes a difference when you are paid bi-weekly.

After probation I will be paid a dollar more, and one of the other drivers tells me that we will ALL get a raise in September, but I'm not holding my breath. I haven't had to tarp yet with them. I was going to the other day, but the Manager said "no", so I didn't. Drove through 5 seperate rain storms down to Buxton, N.C., but they took it all off the truck and didn't complain, so it's all good I guess