Need advice please

Every year there are more and more women solo drivers out here. Men are men and you're going to deal with that aspect wherever you work. I would not be concerned with the "safety" aspect, anything can happen but for every one driver you maybe need to be concerned with, there are 30 more who won't tolerate his crap. There are so many types of driving positions out there and each one has it's own set of issues. Today, a new driver has more options going in then drivers did 20 years ago. And that is going to be your biggest decision is whether to seek out local, or dedicated, or regional opportunities, or true OTR positions. OTR has lots of rewards and lots of potential negatives as well, mostly depending on how important family time is to you.

Trucking is a difficult life if you you don't have a natural aptitude for the job, but for women, I suspect it's even more difficult. Best wishes wherever you end up or whatever you decide. Trucking, as with most other life endeavors is what you make of it. If you can manage your time well, are a self-starter, are well motivated, enjoy autonomy, and don't have issues dealing with all sorts of people in all sorts of environments and contexts, you'll do fine as a driver

 

Many women that post on here start out with Central Refrigerated. Many husband/wife teams start there also. Check their website.

STexan pretty much covered the rest.

 

A truck is as easy as driving a car now. That's not the job tho. You will grow to be tough. Have to. Shippers don't care about "personal problems". The truck has to be there. Throw up in a bag, keep driving. Don't feel well? to bad, rest when your home. We pay you to drive, make miles. Have the squirts, by some depends. Male or Female don't matter out here. The tough make it, the rest go home. This is a very rewarding way to make a living, if your tough enough.

 

I think you would fit right in. I am just finishing up my rookie year myself and I can tell ya right now trucking is a pretty rough industry. As a female you will have some guys trying to mess with you, but as previously stated, most male truckers have enough chivalry to not tolerate this type of crap. If you find yourself in a bind at a TS, chances are that people will probably make sure you are gonna be ok.

Most carriers have a ban on bringing along guns. I don't know the specifics, but I am guessing it is due to the different concealment laws each state has (someone correct me if I am wrong). As for mace, I am positive you are well within your legal boundaries for protecting yourself. I carry a 5 lbs hammer. Works great for thumping tires, releasing trailer brakes in the winter and fending off crooks (personal experience).

You got alot of different carriers which specialize in different types of loads. I think I will get the support from fellow forum members that you should stay away from carriers that try to get you to sign on to a lease.

As for training to get an actual CDL, you got a few options. You can cough up the money to go to a private school (this will allow you to own your own CDL without commitment to a specific company). Some mega carriers will boast a "tuition reimbursement". If you got issues with funding, looking into the Job Corps will also help. I had a buddy that I went to CDL school with that got his entire tuition paid for.

Last but not least, you got the company sponsored training programs. I will not go into good or bad carriers since I graduated from a CDL school. Some of my fellow forum members will give you more insight if you ask or look around.

If you like labor intensive work, flatbedding may be right for you (I did it for almost 10 years). Aside from that, I would recommend one of the LTL carriers if you want daily hometime.

I actually have a friend that lives in the suburbs of Chicago that got right on board with a food carrier there. I forgot the carrier name, but it has "Brown" in it. I think I will ask him again the next time I see him on Facebook. He spends two nights a week in a sleeper and delivers food all around the Illinois area. He gets paid by the hour. I think he only makes like $24 an hour though plus the $50/night he gets to spend in his sleeper. His carrier will pay up to 13.5 hours each day (mandatory 30 min break... bahh). He has eLogs to keep everyone honest.

If you do want to go LTL, I can tell you from personal experience the good and the bad. The nice thing is that in my area, they start me out at 44 cpm and they get me home every night. The downsides are that the routes get boring as hell after awhile... plus they only give me about 2500 miles/week. So it does even out if you look at the OTR carriers which will give you more.

Good luck. Feel free to ask any questions.

 

Sounds like it might be Ebby Brown you are thinking of.

 

Being a female does not limit your options, but lack of experience does. I have seen small women that can't weigh more than 120 lbs pulling flatbed trailers. I have no idea how they tarp a load. I could be wrong but I think most new drivers start out pulling dry van trailers or reefers. You may end up "fingerprinting" (unloading) a lot of freight. You could have 40,000 lbs of various size boxes stacked floor to roof and the driver may be required to stack it on pallets or set each box on a conveyer with rollers. Maybe it is matresses and you must "tailgate" ( bring each piece to the rear of the trailer) or maybe use a pallet jack to put your freight on the dock. You may be paid $10 an hour or may be paid quite well, it depends on the company. Some companies allow pets and many women take a dog with them. You will learn to drive in all types of weather and you will find out that many areas you deliver to don't like trucks. You will be fined if you idle to stay warm or park in the wrong place. I think it takes one heck of a woman to be a truck driver.

 

Look at Maverick refrigerated and also Millis.