New Driver settling for a class b?

Well i dont know sqaut about mass, but around here there are plenty of local p&d companys that run A and B trucks, get in on a B cuz its easer and tell them you dont mind slip seating for the A's on vacation. Never know might find a good local gig. Dont belive the put in you dues talk. Most local comapnys dont care about otr experiance and vise verus, they are two differant beasts.

 

Class B more money, jump on it.

 

You're 25. When I'm asked to give career advice to someone your age, I always ask one question. Where do you ultimately want to end up? 25 years from now, where you do want to be? Do you want to be driving a truck or would you rather be driving a desk say, managing drivers or trucks or that sort of thing? There's no wrong answer here. Its just a matter figuring out what you think you'd like to be doing down the road then you figure out which job is most likely to give you the opportunity to move in that direction.

And if you don't know or care so much about that stuff, then think about the money instead. But when you do, apply the same logic. Don't look at what the job pays starting out, look at what it pays finishing up. IOW, what's the top pay you're ever going to make at that job?

I see so many guys in this industry that only focus on the dollar that's in front of their nose right now and never look at the big picture. Then 20 years down the road, they're only making a fraction of what other guys can pull in because they made every decision based on what someone would pay them right now instead of looking at a given job would give them the potential to make over the long term.

For example, a company that drives B and pays well to start might look tempting. But if they're paying you that money because you have to hump cases freight at deliveries by hand all day, then you run a high chance that you'll end up with back or shoulder problems before you hit your 10 year anniversary. Then where are you? 10 years of B driving under your belt with a back injury. Not a whole lot of no-touch B jobs out there so what would your options be then?

On the other hand a job doing local flatbed or dump work for less money could pave the way to getting experience hauling heavy equipment or better yet hauling and operating said equipment which tends to pay fairly well. The point is you want to try to see the big picture when you're making these decisions because sometimes making less money now can turn out to the better financial decision in the long run.

 

never mind.

 

Does the class B company also have class A positions? Class B experience really doesn't do you any favors if class A is where you want to end up. But if the company does both, then perhaps you might be able to transition from one to the other while you're there.

 

How big of company? How long have they been in business? Do they haul general freight or their own product? Have you spoken to any of their drivers off the company property? Are those guys happy or unhappy?