Newbie looking for honest opinions

This may be helpful or it may not. Any large company is going to have it's flaws. Something to keep in mind when you hear overly positive or overly negative information is something my grandpa told me "If the company is as great as the recruiters say, then why do they have to keep looking for new drivers?" Everything you hear question it, and remember if all you're smelling is roses, then check your boots to see how much fertilizer you're standing in.

 

Howdy husker rage

 

If you're looking for morals and ethics, you're going into the wrong career...

No, seriously though, determine what your priorities are for truck driving. Is it more important for you to make the most per mile you can make, or get the most miles you can get even if it means doing it for less money per mile? Do you need to be home every weekend, or would you rather run 3 or 4 weeks at a time and spend some real time "off"? Is it important to you what kind of truck you drive? The longer wheelbase trucks (KW W900, Pete 379, Freightshaker Classic XL, et cetera) ride smoother, but they're also a lot tougher to back than something like a Freightshaker Columbia, KW T2000 or Volvo when you're in a cramped lot.

You're going to hear good and bad about every company. Personally I prefer smaller companies over larger ones. The smaller ones usually pay less money per mile, but at the same time you won't be competing for loads with 25 other drivers from your company in a 50 mile radius. The smaller companies (50 trucks or less) and even medium sized companies (200 trucks or less) can't afford for you to sit for days at a time like larger ones can. However, they typically can't weather the storm as well as larger ones during hard times.

I believe if you'll sit down and list what's important to you for your potential company, you'll get your search narrowed down to a handful of companies. Keep in mind, just because you sign on with a company doesn't mean you're stuck with them for life. I would suggest picking carefully, though, try to pick one you feel you can stay with at least 12 months. Once you get that first year's experience, your options for other jobs increase exponentially. It's my belief that most the companies that hire students are okay for students but they mostly suck for experienced solo drivers. That's why I used my starter company for 12 months, then got a job with a local, smaller outfit that was exactly what I wanted.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

No problem man, glad I could help.

On the small companies, remember while they have advantages that usually include less waiting and more moving, they also have drawbacks. Such as in hard times like now, if a couple of their routes shut down, they're more prone to have to lay off, as they have fewer 'fallbacks'...if they can't find decent brokered loads, then you're back in the same boat of either getting less miles or getting laid off.

As for idling... I'm not exactly certain if you're asking why do drivers up their idle speed when sitting or if you're asking is idle time restriction company policy or law. So, I'll answer both. lol

Diesel engines, when sitting at idle for extended periods of time, can do whats known as 'wet stacking'. Wet stacking is fuel getting into the exhaust. It can also cause problems with your oil. It occurs when the diesel engine has cooled and is running on minimal load (idle in this case) and fuel goes through the engine unburned. But, I'm not a mechanic, so I don't exactly understand it all. I just know several trucks won't run for more than a few minutes at idle. I assume that's a factory feature to prevent wet stacking. So when we're going to be sitting at idle, we'll set the cruise and raise the idle speed to around 1000 rpms. Some drivers know they're doing it to prevent wet stacking. Others do it because they only know otherwise their truck will shut the engine down. lol

As for idle time, many companies have policies regarding idle time. Some base bonuses around it, others will fire you if you don't keep your idle time down, and the ones I've worked for don't care about idle time. I haven't been to NY state in a truck for more than 4 years, but in 03 and 04 I used to run up there quite a bit. They had a state law that trucks were not to be idled more than 10 minutes an hour (I think it was 10). I'm quite positive the people who wrote and passed that legislation never spent a January night in Buffalo or Watertown trying to sleep in a truck with the engine off. I never even tried to follow that law, and it was never an issue for me. No one, not a dock worker, other truck driver or law enforcement ever said anything to me about idling my truck.

As for staying warm without idling, some companies run bunk heaters and other things of that nature. That all depends upon the company. Personally I wouldn't work for a company that gives me crap about idle time. If they run me like I'm willing to run, me running my truck while I'm sleeping in it won't hurt them. I'd be more than willing to swap places with the safety/disptacher/whoever thinks I should shut it down; and I'll go sleep in their house and they can try to sleep in August in New Orleans with no air, or in February in Minneapolis with no heat. If my idle time is too high, then the company is getting me crap for miles. My truck gets shut off for a reasonable amount of time (60-90 minutes- after that I'm cranking it back up to cool it down or warm it up depending on the season) when I back it in a dock, and I don't leave it running while I'm showering, eating, et cetera. I don't think it's asking too much for me to want the thing running to control the temperature in the truck while I'm trying to get a decent rest period.

Things like that are good to know when deciding who to go to work for. What's their average idle time for their trucks? If it's high, chances are good their drivers do a lot of sitting, either in docks or waiting for loads. If it's really low, chances are good they'll reprimand/fire you for running your truck when you're trying to sleep.

 

Your father in law will likely have to give up his CDL the next time it's due for renewal . Valid medical cards are now required for a CDL to be renewed .Many states have anti-idling laws . WalMart will not allow trucks to idle on their lots because they were fined by the EPA for trucks idling on their lots . http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FZX/is_7_72/ai_n26940883/pg_1

 

!. You're asking about IdleAire . They're easy to spot . They take up much of some truckstop lots with structures with large yellow hoses hanging from them . I've attached a picture of a control module with attaches to a window adapter . They offer local phone , internet , and cable TV . Service is less than perfect . Heaters often burn out . Drivers complain about air quality although the filtration system has supposedly been improved and units are purged after every use . Many carriers have contracts with them and alllowable hours per stay vary . I can swipe my fuel card on the window module and charge the service to my carrier's Comdata account .
2. Adding fuel treatment when fueling prevents gelling .
3. These are very variable depending on the driver's individual habits . The major fuel chains offer cards for drivers to receive credits while fueling - usually 1 credit per gallon . 500 gallons will get you a $5 Subway fot long sub (maybe add a few gallons for tax ) . Most fuel stops give a shower credit for every fuel purchase over 50 gallons . (200 gallons in 1 fillup still only earns 1 shower credit )
4. I hate states along either coast because of traffic and ridiculous EPA and other regulations . IL also sucks because of zero tolerance on axle weights on scales .