Newbie intro and couple questions

Glad to see a newbie bucking the norm. I've preached the research angle repeatedly to new prospective drivers. There are jobs out there for newbies that pay decent and even good wages. Not all will land on the sweet spot but some will. I've been driving tanker since right out of school but like you, busted my tail with research and contacts and selling myself to prospective employers.

For me it was a no-brainer regarding what I wanted to do. I don't like to wait around and don't have the patience nor persona to deal with the games that go with a majority of truck driving positions. I did flatbed for a few short years back in the eighties and was prepared to go that route, possibly even heavy haul like yourself, when a driver (and a few others on this forum) turned me on to fuel hauling. It was the best decision I could have made. No waiting to load (longest I've waited at a rack was two hours when another lane was down), no waiting to unload, no jerk-around by receivers and power-tripping guards with ego problems and miserable employees who have to stop what they're doing to unload your truck and ... the list goes on. Is my job perfect? No. I hate the Qualcomm but that's my biggest complaint. My company leaves me alone, pays me a decent wage and I'm home every night. Many days I'm done in eight hours, sometimes sooner. Other days I go 12, 13 or 14. When all is said and done, I love my job. If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing it.

 

God please help me if this is the new breed we have coming into school. The days of paper logs, manual transmissions, and truck drivers will be wiped out. Good luck with what your looking for I'd suggest finding a different career path as trucking is not going to do it for you.

 

Not again... Ok, First thing to do is scrap them pre hires... Nobody wants to work for them companies. If you really wanna do this Find a small carrier. That will put you on. If your a smart guy can read a map and drive well... your training could consist of 1 week following a veteran in your own truck... Then they will cut you loose. As a newbie with a small company, you will likely start at .35 CPM (it's what they gave me when I started) then move up from there. Not great money but it will get you $1000-1200 gross a week.

 

Let the church say "Amen"..It all just boils down to a "Why settle for less, when you really dont have to"?

 

As far as pay goes I only know what I've been reading, long hours waiting on some broker to find the cheapest load or can't unload and must stay a day or two. 30 years ago I set in Washington State waiting on a load of apples for 8 days but now I own several trucks and only do contract running so they pay me good to wait but that never seems to happen. In my contracts It has a merge after 2 hours and that's with loading time. but you see, I started in 1960 so I know what hard times are so I pay my drivers good and I've only lost one driver in the past 10 years and that was because of his health. Drivers these days are not getting paid as good as they did 20 years ago. If I only make 400 per week per truck I'm doing fine as far as my pay I don't care because I've got this card that takes care of my needs. Now the guy that landed the job of heavy hauling well that pays good. My brother does the heavy hauling in our family and he makes out fine, can't beat 4.50 per mile and my trucks only make 2.50 per mile. We also farm and I've got 11 boys and one girl so there is plenty of help when needed. My record well, I been caught speeding and I was banded from AZ but that didn't slow me up so bad gig because of a ##### record, that's funny.....with 17 trucks I must be doing something right.

 

Holy crap when did you decide to come back to the forum I ain't seen a post of yours in ages?!?!? Good to see your back though!

 

Lmfao, but everyone starts out with those big dreams, just remember the higher the risk the higher the pay!, been flatbedding for 13 yrs and going try tanker this year to old to throw tarps any more, or perhaps oversize, loved old company i worked for got paid to take my rig off road and maid darn good money too, but unfortunately company went under. I miss that job, well good luck all you new drivers, and remember we were all rookies once.

 

You would never know it the way some of these people talk on here!!

 

Glad to hear that some people never forget that we were rookies at one point and now some people, not all, will act like they have never been a rookie. I know that people will beat me up on this but hey we gotta learn somewhere. I know that the op has a lot of things on list that will not happen but like CCJR76 stated persistence pays off. Maybe the op will find what he is looking for. Hope everyone has a safe trip.

Terry

 

Try Con way truckload.they pay much better than most for training.they treat you like a person and they hire out of Florida. We have nice trucks too.