New to Forum and Trucking- need some advice

Probably not for long!!!





**See.... told ya.... there's ol' Lurch rainin' on our party....LOL....

 

Time for my 2 cents.

I'll be the first to say that schooling is not the end-all, be-all a lot of corporate America would have you believe it is.

I'll also be the first to say, stay in school. Heck, stay in school forever, if you want. There is no more interesting place than school.

Big name schools are.. rife with benefits. They come with drawbacks too (not the least of which can be an attitude issue) The idea is to find the school that offers the best education in your chosen field... then work from that.

All that being said - sounds like you like where you are. I'd not change that, even if it did get me closer to StoryTeller.

Yes, there are plenty of jobs that pay more than trucking, and require half the effort. I'm not convinced they'd provide even half the satisfaction, though. That, I'm afraid, is a question only you can answer.

My thought: go for the CDL at the very least, and even if you don't do OTR, you can spend time locally (cement mixers, dump, etc). If nothing else, it gives you an additional skill you can rely on to keep a roof over your head - and food in your face.

Speaking of...no matter where you go, you'll be paying for food. It may not be a separate item, though - so, make sure you account for it. If something comes along that 'includes' food, deduct your approximate food bill from the pay to do a good comparison.

Further on the subject. I've found that I eat a lot less on the road than I do when I'm at home. I tend to eat a bunch of grapes (sorry), and other finger fruit. I drink lemonade instead of soda or coffee, and water instead of lemonade. Carrots, radishes, and the like for veggies. My usual meal is half of a 2 foot long super-sub (I manufacture it myself.. loads of turkey, ham, etc, cheezes and the like) per day.

Works out to about $10 per day when I'm extravagant, more like $6 on a normal day. Once a week, I find a restaurant and park my butt in a booth instead of a bucket seat.

Give or take. Sometimes, of course, a deal comes along.. like that $11 prime rib dinner I had in Reno yesterday.. had to go back to the truck and sleep it off.

I'm rambling again.

Let me just leave it now at pointing out that there are many many worse things you can do than take a stab at trucking.

 

Hey! I think everyone should come out here and keep me company!

 

Not on a dare. I *Hate*, I *LOATHE*, I can not STAND that part of the country. To those of you who like it, I wish you the best of it. I'm planning on heading back to Alaska.

 

I think that might be a bit misleading...

yes, the high turnover carriers are to be avoided.

However, I don't know of a company out there that *expects* you to stay more than a year. They know full well - as some drivers do - that success means both parties have to be happy. And that one size does not fit all. They'll have no problems at all hiring.

In a year, you give your 2 weeks, and that's that.

Any company will train you - you have to ask; how good is that training? Do they pick up where the CDL school left off, or do they merely make sure you won't bend their truck before turning you loose on your own?

If you've made it far enough in the hiring process to be with a trainer/mentor, don't worry about leaving in a year. They'll make more money with you as a trainee than they would with just their regular drivers - even if they pay you tolerably.

 

heck,at $500/day, it'd take me forever to learn anything!

Other than that - I agree. My trainer was always in the B seat the first two weeks out. Then he relaxed a bit. Then the company handed us a run that could only be accomplished as a team. He clarified that with the higher ups and they gave the go-ahead. After that - sometimes he was B seat, sometimes in the bunk, and sometimes even taking a nap.

Gotta prove yourself first. Not a lot he can teach in the middle of Nebraska on I-80

I got a flat rate per week - trainer got a small bonus for training AND he got paid for all the miles I drove. Seems fair to me - it's still his neck if I screw up and park the truck under a low bridge (as I almost did - well, I almost turned down that street, anyway). He's teaching me on his time, he should benefit from it. He did - in 9 days, we cranked out 4801 painless miles. Even if he were making the base 30 cents, that's almost 1500 for a bit more than a week.
If I'd bent the truck like that guy outside Rawlins WY did yesterday, we'd both be unemployed.

If I'd had problems backing, he'd have helped me. I did have problems shifting - he helped me. Fair trade,as far as I am concerned.

Does that mean I won't leave the company in 6 months if something better comes along? Hardly. It does mean, though, that it'll be harder to FIND something better than if I drove for a high-turnover outfit.

 

Hey Lurch........ those dispatchers messin' with your head already?

Last time I checked Alaska was just a tad bit WEST of ya'll?????

Maybe I'm mistaken?


yayaya....I know ya meant cali..forn..i...a....hehehe