Newbie FAQ

WELL JEWEL,

WHAT IT IS , IS , WHAT IT IS.

YOU CAN WORK FOR A GOOD COMPANY AND HAVE A CRAPPY DISPATCHER, HE'S EITHER IMCOMPETENT OR A JERK OFF OR BOTH, THEN AGAIN YOU COULD HAVE AN ACE DISPATCHER YOU JUST LOVE.... I

IF YOU WORK FOR A COMPANY WHO HIRES OUT OF THE CDL MILLS OR HAVE THEIR OWN CDL MILL , CHANCES ARE ITS A CRAPPY COMPANY TO BEGIN WITH AND YOU WILL BE TREATED LIKE A PIECE OF MEAT WITH A NUMBER.... NEW , NAIVE YOUNG DRIVERS ARE A DIME A DOZEN, SO THEY HAVE YOUR REPLACEMENTS AREADY SLOBBERING ALL OVER THEMSELVES WAITING TO JUMP IN YOUR SEAT...

YOUR OFF TO A GOOD START,,,, YOUR HERE, WITH THE REST OF US NOT SO SMART PEOPLE (LOL, IF WE WERE SMART WE WOULD BE DOING SOMETHING ELSE, THAT PAYS BETTER, hahaha).



THIS SITE IS ONE OF YOUR BEST RESOURCES AS A NEWBIE.

MOST HERE ARE GENTLEMEN AND LADIES, WHO WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHARE INFO AND KNOWLEDGE WITH YOU..... THEY ARE A GOOD SOUNDING BOARD , TO BOUNCE POTENTIAL JOBS OFF OF. IF THE COMPANY YOUR LOOKING AT , IS A SCREWED PLACE TO WORK , OR DOSENT PAY OR HAS ANY OF A HOST OF DIFFERENT PROBLEMS ; YOU'LL FIND OUT HERE. AND THESE FOLKS WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO WARN YOU OFF.....

ASK AND YOU SHALL BE TOLD.....

ONE THING ABOUT DRIVERS , MOST LOVE TO TALK AND SHARE WHAT THEY KNOW. THEY ARE THE MOST PROLIFIC KNOWLEDGE SHARING GROUP YOUR LIABLE TO FIND ANYWHERE, MOST WILL BREAK A LEG FOR YOU , OR GIVE YOU THEIR LAST SMOKE OR THE SHIRT OFF THEIR BACKS.

A MORE LIKABLE GROUP OF OUTGOING INDIVIDUALS, YOU'LL NOT FIND ANYWHERE..... AND I MEAN INDIVIDUALS. WE COME FROM ALL KINDS OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS. FROM ARCHEOLOGISTS TO ZOOLOGISTS..... LOL A-Z EVERY ETHNIC ORIGIN YOU CAN THINK OF.

I LIKE TO SAY, " YAH, WE GONNA MEET SOME REALLY GOOD PEOPLE TODAY, AND SOME OF EM ARE GONNA BE NOT THAT GOOD".

AS FOR MONEY , IF YOUR GONNA DO THIS JOB YOU MIGHT AS WELL FIND ONE THAT TREATS YOU GOOD AND PAYS DECENTLY AND ONTIME AND IS NOT TRYING TO SCREW YOU OUT OF A NICKLE OR TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU.....

AS I SAID EARLIER, MOST HERE AND IN OUR INDUSTRY ARE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WE MOSTLY OPERATE BY THE GOLDEN RULE , DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU..... SOMETIMES ITS DO UNTO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO UNTO YOU.... LOL

BUT OVERALL , MOST WILL TREAT YOU WITH RESPECT AND TREAT YOU AS AN EQUAL, BUT THEY STAND READY TO BEAR A HAND IF NEEDED..... YOU WILL FIND THOSE FEW BAD APPLES IN ANY BARREL NO MATTER WHAT BUSINESS YOUR IN... YOU JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM LIKE ANYWHERE. BESIDES 90% OF YOUR TIME IS WINDSHIELD TIME, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE CONVERSATION WE ALWAYS HAVE THE OPTION TO SHUT OFF THE RADIO OR CHANGE CHANNELS..... FOR ME COMING BACK AFTER ALOT OF YEARS GONE, I DON'T EVEN MISS THE CB RADIO, I USE IT WHEN I NEED TO , BUT COULD CARE LESS OTHERWISE..... IN MY OLD AGE , ALL I WANNA HEAR IS PEACE AND QUIET OR THE SOUND OF MONEY BEING EARNED...... IE; THE HUM OF MY TRUCKS ENGINE PUTTING DOWN THE MILES.....

GOOD LUCK TO YA, COME JOIN OUR NEW GROUP , THE WHITE KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD UNDER MISC TRUCK TOPICS/ TRUCKING IMAGE . YOU'LL MEET A REAL FINE GROUP OF PEOPLE THERE.....

 

quick question do you need to go to a trucking school or can you do it yourself....

 

go to your local dmv and get the cdl and drivers manuals and start studying. Then find someone to ride with who is willing to teach you and let you drive alittle and willing to let you use the truck to do dmv skills and drive test....

Yes you can do it yourself and save anywhere from 2 grand to around 8 grand for truckin school.....

If you find a willing teacher your gonna learn the whole enchilada not just learn to pass the dmv skills test that they concentrate on in trucking schools....

Mostly it depends on the school , some are better than others. Some i would not give you ten cents for.....most of us old school drivers never went to school cept the school of hard knocks. We learned ojt with a buddy who took the time to teach us and let us drive.... I took the truck up the mountain 15 mins after i climbed into it, and brought my first load of logs down an hour later.... Had a good teacher , who just recently passed away... God bless ya , jon..... I started learning the job from the get go with no truck driving school.......... Learned to sling iron on a 6% grade single lane gravel logging road 3 feet deep with snow.... We didn't stop trucking trees cause of rain or snow.....

 

I have a question about log books in CT.New driver and tring to find out if i need to keep a log book if i'm driving a class b truck and not leaving the state. I will be driving a dump truck and getting in and out to be laborer as well. Any help would be great.

 

I'm going to post this here because I thought it would be better than posting a whole new topic...

I have been considering getting my CDL for a bit over a year now, and I think the time has finally come for me to do it. I am looking at going to Roadmaster in Indianapolis and then working for Schneider, as what I've seen about them seems pretty promising so far. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it's even possible for me to get a job from the start that gets me home more often than weekly. I am married and have a nearly 8-month-old son, so being home is important to me. I understand that for a while, at least, I'll have to be gone for a while, but how soon should I expect to be able to find or even eligible for a local position?

I really want to make this work because I think it would be a good job for me. I know this is nowhere near the same as driving a big truck, but I used to deliver pizzas, and because of the independence while driving, it was one of my favorite jobs.

Again, I'd really appreciate any insight or opinions you can give to me about anything I've mentioned. Thanks!

 

Yes, you do have options sir...you can go to any LTL companies that are close to you, you may have to work the docks, or be a yard jockey/fill-in driver for a while til a driving spot becomes available. You can also try the local fuel hauler/gas companies, they sometimes hire straight out of school , Or , you can try the local beverage companies that use the bay trucks, Coke , Pepsi, or any of the beer companies , really hard work , but the pay is decent and you are home very night. Some will tell you how hard it is , but you can decide that for yourself, I did Food-service for over 30 years with a company called Golden State Foods....made a great living and after I got some senority I could take runs that got me home every day, but even before I was able to do that , the runs I had were only gone 1 night , back the next day, and take a day off before going out again.

Give those folks in your area a chance, before you head out on the road...just because you are new, don't mean you must do OTR...that is a myth. The jobs that are what you seek are out there you just have to look. Be ready to work the docks for a while if you can get on at an LTL place , but the wait is well worth being home with your family , Good Luck!

 

Yeah I've heard that asking local places is a good idea to find home daily jobs. I was looking at Schneider because they'll reimburse truck school tuition. Do many local places do that? I really don't have access to the kind of cash necessary for truck school. I'm hoping I can get financed, but my credit (like most people's these days) isn't that good. The lady I talked to from Roadmaster said that they do all they can so that someone isn't turned away just because of the cost of school, so we'll see how that goes.

 

Not ever heard of any that reimburse you for school. But you have to do whatever gets your feet in the door. I hope that you find a way to get started, whether its with an OTR company or a local one. Good Luck to you

 

DTCscout...when I was shopping for school a few months back I asked some companies if they did reimburse, but it's not really a "reimbursement" up front kind of thing. One company...I forget exactly who but it may have been CR England, said the reimburse was paid back at like a hundred bucks a month or something like that. If you stay long enough it does get reimbursed. Sorry I forgot the name of the company but it's one or two of the mega-carriers.

 

I know Schneider said they'd reimburse, I think, $150/month for as long as I'm with them. The school said that instead of coming straight from my paycheck, the company pays Roadmaster directly. I still have another month or so to get everything figured out (that's when I'd be able to start CDL classes). I'm just really excited to get started!

i think I need to talk to my uncle. He's been driving for a long time and said that he'd help me figure everything out too.