Need some tips from salty dogs on entering this industry

Did you mean take home 80k? 800k probably isn't going to happen with electronic logs coming...

 

80k is doable but probably not the first few years and #### sure not home daily the first few years. Driving around D.C. You will definitely want to be paid hourly and with overtime after 8 hours. Company paid training is definitely possible but I'm not sure which company I would recommend in that area that's home daily. You might need to be OTR or dedicated home weekly or something out of the gate and reimburse school.

 

If you want to get a CDL, look ino local community college or J.C. the cost will be lower and may have a few different programs to choose from. Some offer a nights and weekend type of course. They should also be able to tell you what companies they place drivers with. That should give you some start points.

If your in a hurry, then look into a local school that you can pay cash for. maybe one close to home you could attend. then you can sleep at the house. And it will most likely cost less.

I would recomend you use the compay paid plan as a last resort.

while the company paid CDL program can work, the cost they claim for the school is in some cases three times what the actual school charges if you just walked in and paid cash.

The point is, you will be tied to that company for at least one year, maybe two or three. Should you decide to leave that company, they are going to want the money in full now, and not at the discounted rate they said if you did your year or two. Remember, you signed a contract that you agreed to this. you could be on the hook for several thousands of dollars.

It does help to know what type of work you want to do. Flat, box, tank, etc. Still study and take all the tests. Hazmat is up to you, know plenty of people running just fine with and without that.

Company truck, lease or buy.
Truth be, your more likely to have a higher income as a company driver than a lease, and likely as an O/O as well.
Several factors here, company, lanes and rates all play into this. If you decide to run OTR or regional. One thing your going to need to decide, what is a weekend. Friday, Saturday or Saturday, Sunday or ?
What 36 to 48 hours consecutive do you want off at home. Then your going to need to have a bit of flex in that. Unload or loading problem, breakdown and a long list of other things are going to happen now and then that will toss that in the trash real quick.

Income is not stable. as the rates and freight bounce around so does your income. Some years I have been over 100K, others hard fought 65K. Again lots of factors here. First two years, you should be able to get to 50K, after that it really is your choice.

 

Maverick Transportation has their own cdl school and flatbed division is usually home weekends. Maverick has 3 divisions, flatbed,glass,refrigerated; but in my opinion "flatbed" would be best for weekends home.

TMC is flatbed and has their own cdl school. I don't see Washington,DC on their list for recruiting for their cdl school, but you can call and ask. They're usually home weekends.

UPS Truckload & Linehaul pays the best and they have flatbed and dry van. Must apply online after cdl school graduation since they don't have their own cdl school. The pay is $.7042 cents per mile plus whatever accessorial pays they may have.

Roehl Transport has flatbed & refrigerated plus their own cdl school. They also have various hometime options. Don't know how good their pay is per week, but they have threads on here where you can ask.

Don't know if UPS has a rider program for the wife, but the other 3 do have that program.

 

Wow a steak that sounds tempting although most folks in here will be quite happy to give you free advice so quit trying to bribe them. With a military background you'll find every company will have an open door for you, so with such a huge advantage you can sit back and take your pick at the buffet table full of juicy company offers. the right pay, the right miles, the right home time all seem to be the top priorities amongst drivers if you get all 3 wishes you can't go wrong.

 

If I were you I'd probably give myself about 5 years before going independent. There's so much to learn about just the basics alone; then you are going to want to pick up some diesel mechanic knowledge along the way (especially if you're going to go the owner-operator route).

But one really important thing you're going to want to learn is how to run a business. A lot of L/O's and O/O's out there probably won't make it past a couple of years; from my experience it's usually because those guys who don't make it know that they're truckers, but they forget that they are also now business owners. I don't care how good of a driver you are, you're still going to get your butt financially handed to you if you don't have any business knowledge. Seen it happen way too often.

 

UPS Flatbed :
UPS Freight Truckload is hiring individuals to work as Full-time Flatbed Dedicated OTR Drivers. This position involves the driving of a tractor-trailer for the over-the-road delivery of freight to two or more locations. Dedicated drivers are primarily assigned to run freight for one customer, and may be assigned to an operation based at a specific customer location. These drivers are normally on the road from three to five days at a time. The term dedicated refers to the customer, not a particular lane or destination.
Dedicated Drivers must pass a DOT physical and successfully pass a UPS Freight road test. Qualified applicants must have a valid Class A Commercial Drivers’ License. Dedicated Drivers are expected to comply with all appearance standards.
Applicants must be at least 21 years of age.

 

If you want to make 800k, you'll need a really nice sleeper with a quality apu. All you gotta do is get your perfect temperature, go to sleep, and never stop dreaming.

Or you could just get a brick and hit yourself over the head with it so you have double vision every time you look at your paycheck.

In all seriousness though. Thank you for your service and good luck in the industry.

 

If you are in washington DC area, then look up Hahn Transport in New Market. Or Schlumberger in the Virginia area. Or even Giant in Landover area there is a major warehousing there. running daycabs delivering trailers to stores and back.

You are not going to see piles of money in the coming of ELD's when the ELD says stop. It literally means STOP at that spot. You will not be allowed to drive 10 feet (To paraphrase) without causing problems. You will also find that your time with HOS limitations have no value with the customer. He does not care and will not hear you complaining that you have only a hour left in your 14 hours before you have to stop. That is not going to happen you will not be stopping to go home. You will stay there at the customer until he or she is finished unloading etc. Again your time has no value.

You will need more than a few years in the industry to understand what it takes to run a semi truck. After again experiencing the limitations of ELD in every truck on the road you might understand there might be no more money in doing anything in trucking. You would want to take your relatively late years in life and use the time to do something close to home.

I have a feeling you are looking for a little bit of freedom while it's still possible. You will again find the new ELD a cramping of that freedom. The east coast is a tough area to make a living. It's still possible with the right freight. My personal choice will be with McKesson wherever they may be in the east as a base to run medicines out all over because people need to have those medicines no matter what. It is a growing segment in health care as the population gets older and needs more medicines. McKesson also loads back to your home base with cardboard waste bales so you know pretty much that you will be reloaded and rolling back to home base relatively quickly. Not too much lost time.

Reefers, flatbed, bulk tanking, gasoline, van and heavy haul etc all have plus and minus. I prefer flatbed because alot of what goes into it is a intellectual exercise. I need the details in my work to thrive and enjoy my day.

Tanking is fun. But I missed out on the gas boom here. Delivering a tanker to support a rig off road crossing mountains and so on to get to and from that rig I find very stimulating and exciting. But also every exacting in demanding my skills so nothing will get wrecked. I missed out of that type of trucking. Maybe one day I'll be lucky and have a run or two for a bucket list to a rig but it's likely as not going to happen.

Bulk is huge where you are. And will continue to be. You will be home every night for the most part. But only long enough to get 5 hours sleep and then commute back and start the next day. 6 days a week probably means you will not see your RN wife very often. The money will take care of itself.

VAN is not really that good, to me I find it easy to become bored or neglectful with a van. You can do van work with a reefer and haul more interesting things like medicine at 60 degrees in winter. So I generally avoid van work. It's strictly how i approach them I learned to leave the vans alone. They don't do well with me. (They really should.. but again, the people around the van type hauling appears not to carry the espirit de corps or have the self respect that they need to have to do well and pay attention to the work.)

Your spouse can go on runs with you as a passenger, provided she signs a waiver. You both will need some kind of insurance so that if something bad does happen (*Rare but it might...) one or both of you will be ok. Keep in mind that due to 9-11 and it's laws etc, your spouse will NOT be allowed inside the gate of a seaport, airbase, etc or other facilities regulated by your TWIC card (Get one for her just so she has it...) She will have to stay outside the gate and wait for you to finish, however long that takes. Im my time you could be invited right up to the ship have have dinner aboard but those days are gone forever and ever. And I will always miss that loss of hospitality near the Sea.

If you do take your spouse with you, make sure that you have more time off than you actually need from her Hospital employer because sometimes in trucking it will take a few days to get back home. The fact you have a passenger is of little importance to freight scheduling.

Finally but not last, buying your own truck and acquiring the necessary expenses in insurance, freighting and so on to maintain same is one of the most efficient ways to reduce a 2 million dollar bankroll to 20,000 dollars in a short time. You will be consumed with not only the driving part, but also the shop and telephone part as well as the desk work needed to keep up your permits, stickers, fuel and taxes etc. It's not all that it's cracked up to be. However some people enjoy the freedom and that type of work because we are America, land of oppertunity.

Thank you for your service. The Marines in many ways has been a influential force in my own life but as a deaf man, I could not serve. However I have no regrets as I managed to live my life the way I chose to and got away with it for the most part.

Trucking is going to find itself in a position that it might be regulated out of existance if they continue to abuse it with ham fisted stupid stuff like ELD's (In some ways we brought that upon ourselves... there is no one else to blame...) and the oncoming emissions getting to where liquid fueled big trucks would be banned. We would have to do something else to run freight. Probably the old steam vehicles from the 1910's fired by solid fuel or something boiling water. You can do alot with those, even today.