Overwhelmed and seeking guidance

I am currently employed but due to being starved of hours I am wanting to use my Class A CDL I got a few years ago. I am in the process of getting my medical card back up to date and getting all of my endorsements. I have been reading into tankers and flat bedding the most, simply because pay is better from what I have read. I found out on here that Schneider has a tanker division which they train people with no experience to jump into and learn. I was planning to team drive but unsure if the money would be a big enough difference so maybe someone can help me with that answer also? I hate to admit this but I am a recovering addict who just completed a 60 day rehabilitation program and am finally on the path I was before I let the crap take ahold of me. My questions are as follows and also I am located just south of Charleston WV.

1. I would mainly like to know any tanker outfits or flatbed outfits that train newbies near me or in my state. Vans and reefers and any other types are not out of the question at all so post em up but i would like to drive tanker or flatbed if I had the option. I am completely Willing to travel to a terminal if it would be worth it anywhere in my state.

2. Are there any companies that I can stay out however long it may be but have 5-7 days off once every 6-8 weeks for example or so on to get time to see my kids? I don’t care to stay out and run hard as long as I can get 6-7 days with my little rascals being as they are into sports heavily year round. I know being OTR is hard to get home time but I am very flexible as long as I can just get time with them.

3. So I also checked drug testing on here and Schneider does do hair testing as do many other companies. I am unsure how far back they or any others check back for and unsure if it would even be worth my time to drop my job and get to orientation only to be sent back home jobless.

4. And of course pay, it’s all about the money and I would of course like to find decent to good pay, I know I’m green and I know I have to pay my dues.

5.What is a good ballpark amount of experience to where someone can finally start applying for jobs with local opportunities or jobs with better home time, better pay and so on? Basically at what experience level or timeframe does the grass start getting greener for a guy who makes the commitment of putting that first bit of time in?

I’m not new to the industry as my current job is a dock job at a LTL Company, but if I drove for them I would be starving like now possibly worse. It’s bad enough that guys with 2 decades of time are worried if the place will be open when they come to work to start a shift. Sorry for the long post but just wanted to make y’all aware of what was going on with my situation. Please no negative comments on my past I am good now and ready to rock!!!

 

You want to wait on the hair testing for a few more months. Also you are probably beginning to enjoy a clear mind and a healing body. It only gets better from here.

Any DOT doctor who sees you (Or any Doctor in the USA) is required by law to look up your personal drug history under the state PMB that holds it before they go into that office to see you. If they see all these drugs that are designed to help you recover and break addiction then you have some 'splaining to do.

Wait a while. Provided you stay clean etc all of that too will pass. However in the trucking industry you need to let a few more months pass before you take on a drug test. Particularly now that Jan 6th of this year a new database drug test registry is set up where CDL holders WILL NOT be hired if they do not have their name in that list. They must never have refused tests or have tested positive. If you go in and they find something hot in hair or whatever thats it for you.

Trucking pay has not improved these last 20 or 30 years. In fact given inflation I believe truckers are running for .34 a mile or thereabouts. As much as I know how to manage and make savings, I cannot run on that little and will not run on that little. Why? too much feast and famine and there is a awful lot of famine today.

A Union Pacific Container train passed by me two days ago, we call them Pacer Stack Trains, usually 4 big AC engines with hundreds and hundreds of containers rolling daily each way. The train I saw two days ago was one little engine with maybe 60 boxes if that. 70%+ of the well cars only had one box. If this is what our Country's trade has declined to, then we are in for a bad time that will last for a while.

The idea that you are green and paying dues is BS. You are a trucker, you invested quite a lot into the CDL etc not to mention the endorsement and your personal effort getting clean. You want good pay for your investment say .45 or better per mile. (I earned 0.48 in late 2001 which was top pay for top hands give or take three cents) My spouse a team driver trained by me earned all of 300 gross each week and when she got to full seat team she earned about .32 a mile. pitiful. Ultimately based on our total hours out that year we earned 34000 each or 4.56 a hour or so below minimum wage for 7600 hours give or take over 306 log book days away from home for that year.

What was good for Spouse was simple She was approaching GS10 as a paid federal employee at some point in a couple of years or so give or take 5 at most. Ultimately her position has been erased and her office converted to a robot computer server. And the physical old office is now a waiting room today. Poof all gone.

There was no money in that. Not for a team. When 9-11 happened our payroll was destroyed. We had savings that carried us just about two months until a new payroll was caught up.

Finally but not least, this industry is breaking. There are just too many people falling into this industry because they cannot earn anything decent in life doing gigs or working dollar store as a cashier or whatever. There is no money in that. And college is worthless.

Ultimately there are too many trucks, according to Cass Index we have about 15% of our trailers parked and 10% of our tractors parked. The situation will only worsen as people starve out under 1.15 loads. (Break even is around 1.50 or so, profitable is 3.00 a mile etc otherwise park it)

We have many trucking companies coming in under the old fly by night and operate with no regulations at all in some cases. These would be under those who are immigrants and could not be bothered to be ###### to follow our rules and regulations. You will get nothing with these.

It's hard to be positive and sunshiney with all the rain and clouds. But you have a opportunity here. One that rehab bought you. Don't screw it up.

 

You can get a head start (pardon the pun) on hair follicle testing by getting a good short hair cut (you don’t have to have shaved your head). Wait two weeks and do it again. Do the same with your body hair (all of it). You’ll have removed any hair that would have traces of THC, but you’ll still have enough hair to be tested after a few more weeks.

 

Thank you x1heavy, I see the type of drivers you stated running vans at my terminal, company guys pull doubles but vans are contracted out to them and half of them cannot and I mean this literally even dock a trailer in wide open space, it’s scary to think they drive full time.

 

If you have any drugs you want tested, send to

Dave_in_AZ
c/o TTR

And we will test them.

 

As in my hair correct? How much hair do you need, hoe far back does the testing you do go, cost, and what is the company called? Thanx btw

 

How short we talking here? I already rock a short cut since I cut it all off with clippers and no guard on the clippers. I mean it is usually low enough scissors would not even cut it. it’s as close to bald as you can get without a razor lol, also it was not weed if it matters I was on opiates pain killers so would it still be the same process?

 

like Arizona needs stuff coming in from other states.

all you gotta do is walk a few feet and you’ll get what you need.

 

Leave the body hair alone, just get a military trim. After a time it will grow out. Then only then get a LIGHT trim A couple more weeks to a month after that? Go for it. But remember, you cannot even have drugs or be around people who do.

Some people say I talk big and wont do some things that I talk about. That's not true. Some of my friends in the DC area were into the Pot and LSD scene and Ive had both under a Class A in those days. Pot is not my flavor. In those days early 90's they imposed a new CDL system with a focus on alcohol detection, which was something that I had to change along with dropping those friends from my life to protect my CDL in those days from drugs. I have other vices but it was important for myself to do what I needed to do to stay clean.

If you went ahead and shaved all hair then showed up to tester, you will be deemed non compliant due to shaving and given a hot positive due to all shaved hair. It's a formal behavior used by those seeking to bypass detection.

 

@Chinatown