Need some advice

Don't forget pLaces that haul their own freight, roofing, plumbing, lumber, drywall, equipment delivery, electric contractor suppliers, alot of them have A and B trucks. Start in a B and move to a A truck once you prove yourself. Everything goes by truck...

 

Try Old Dominion, good outfit and always looking for PA drivers. Try for Linehaul; they also have P&D (pickup and delivery) and coast to coast teams. Linehaul would probably fit your wants and needs.

 

How close are you to Brookfield,OH? Nick Strimbu Inc. has a coast to coast reefer division that's Teamsters I believe. Usually the coast to coast outfits you don't have to live close to the terminal; they just route you home or get a load close to your home when you need hometime.

Abilene Motor Express might hire you since you are a CDL school grad. Those drivers post they have no problem getting hometime when they want it. Lots of California/Pacific Northwest runs.

 

Hey guys. Thanks everyone who responded.

I got a call today from ABF Freight for an interview. I´d start out as a City Driver/Dock Worker. The way the boss explained it was basically I work as needed and get laid off in January, February, and March. If I stick it out for 1-2 years when the next retirement happens, I get brought on full time. I know it´s a great company and it´s union. What do you guys think.

 

ABF is a premier freight company if you can stick it out for a year or 2. Which terminal? Crafton or Greensburg? Greensburg is in my local and I know a couple guys that work there.

 

Fairmont WV actually. I live in Masontown PA so it´s actually a little bit closer than Pittsburgh. I´m maybe 20 minutes from Morgantown on the PA side.

This would be my dream job. I´m so sick of the oilfield. Make a ton of money one week then no work for a week, etc. I just want a steady place I can retire from.

 

LTL isn't what it used to be. Before, it was a premier job and you needed years of experience just to be qualified. Nowadays, companies like YRC and ABF have their own trucking schools, and some are even recruiting at schools, and you have ask yourself why is that.....high turnover rate, that's why. ABF is a great union job, that's if your at the top of the seniority list, but just like the terminal around my area, new hirees are on call, working 1-2 days a week, and being laid off months at a time. And you wonder why nobody wants to stick around.

I think the problem with your situation is that you have only 6 months experience, and Class B, at that. I don't know if you have a Class A, I'm assuming you do since your looking for LTL work, especially linehaul, and I don't know if you have any experience driving a tractor trailer, but getting into a local LTL school like YRC, to get training means you'll be commited at least a year to them, or you'll have to pay back the cost of the training, which I think is about $4k.

Maybe try applying for UPS Freights dockworker position. You don't need a CDL to be qualified, so the one year experience doesn't apply, and top rate is close to $28 an hour after 4 years. And since you do have a CDL, you can possibly do the yard jockey position. It's not the drivers that do the yard jockey, it's the dockworkers. And you might be able to be promoted within, since your already in the system, and advance to a dockworker/CDL driver, and continue working your way up to P&D, or linehaul, or maybe you'll like driving a forklift all day and make just as much as the P&D drivers.

Best of luck.