Passionate about driving & REFUSE to be enslaved via mega-carriers

Virtually every motorist throws their education and training out the window in favor of teaching themselves what they can get away with. You seem to want to avoid formal education and training.

Yeah, it's far harder, with far more serious potential consequences for mistakes.

I didn't mean to belittle you.

It seems to me you need to decide whether or not you're an expert. That sounds to me to be the opinion of an expert... who's only about 6 light years short of being an expert.

Because they throw their education and training out the window... and I did not suggest or imply any training program is optimal. I am unaware of any driver training that often manages to trump those 16 years of witnessing Mommy and Daddy's oblivious motoring.

That's no feat or measure of competence. The typical truck driver shouldn't be permitted to ride as a passenger in a golf cart.

Maybe you could explain why the typical truck steering wheel holder doesn't/can't do it for 1320 consecutive feet.

Of course you are, you're the victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect. I got 500K miles, and am not confident, because I know human visual perception is NOWHERE near as reliable as it seems, for just one reason.

You might want to get your MBA before you start postulating what dictates business success.

 

Being in the Chicago area your are in very good shape because lots of freight comes in that area and a lot more heads out. Either way I work in LTL and if you do your homework you can get an entry level job. One thing you will need for these carriers is to have the right endorsements on your CDL. These are required: Doubles/Triples, Tanker, HAMZMAT, NO DUI. With the shortage of qualified drivers and students the LTL companies have had to make being entry level acceptable which is great in your case. YRC, Old Dominion, and Conway are all excellent places to go and put the CDL to good use. In Chicago, YRC has some openings for linehaul drivers (less than 1 yr experience) i seen on their website just a few minutes ago.

You will be put in with a qualified trainer who has most likely 15+ yrs experience and will teach you how to drive their equipment, Hook your doubles, Pretrip, understand HAZMAT routes,logbooks (legal). Your going to be paid decently at YRC because its a union carrier and not turned into a second logbook for some driver to pimp you out. Also your going to be dispatched on a seniority basis but remember your going terminal to terminal not to the actual customer which is awesome.

Some other things get a Truckers Atlas and a Truckers GPS to plan your routes. A GPS is great but don't use it as your primary means to plan a route. A good Atlas is probably one of the most important tools you will have. Lastly make sure you can drive the truck and float gears that is mandatory to pass our driving test so do go to truck driving school. I think maverick may have some automatics in their trucks but if you can get a manual transmission take that truck. We had a guy who came to YRC who only drove automatic shifts and couldn't get out of the yard. He was not given an opportunity to work here.

Another thing if your going to start out on flatbed nix the "its not rocket science". Your going to be hauling coils, bars, pipe etc that weigh in excess of 35-40,000 lbs on the deck. So yes it is rocket science. There are things your going to need to know and understand when securing those types of loads for DOT and SAFETY. If that load shifts you could kill someone or yourself in a rollover. So yes remember it is rocket science and anyone (like me) who has done flatbed will take load securement to the level of rocket science for the sake of myself and the public. Flatbedding is safety first period. Without a doubt maverick is a great start. You will learn a lot over there and in my flatbedding days their drivers seemed content with their securement training and had good equipment.

 

I'm kind of in the same boat as far as experience, but I'm not ex-military (other than having worked for the USAF for 16 years). I have my CDL A, but haven't been able to find anyone who can afford to hire me because of insurance. Frankly, I'm not good enough yet to just jump in a truck and hit the road. I've looked at quite a few "mills", and my strategy is to look to community colleges. They will make money, but the classes are almost always longer, and that - I'm hoping - means more thorough education. This has made my short list:
https://www.southeast.edu/TruckDriver/
This is in Lincoln, NE and costs around $2200, and takes a few months. This is half of what the places around here quote and lasts more than twice as long. My guess is that you would have access to some serious financial help, and maybe even some billeting assistance. When you graduate, there are numerous companies that will hire you on the spot. Take a look at the course descriptions - they cover everything.

I'm sorry if you're getting tired of hearing it, but we're not getting tired of saying it:
"Thank you for your service"!

Mike

 

I sure like your attitude! If some outfit had a hundred guys like you, they could take over the !!

 

Sapper...thanks for your service to our country. I left driving school with highest scores in my class. I hired on with Shaffer Trucking. They are a mega per se but I started at the highest com than anyone in my class and just got a raise too. We have a terminal in Indy too. If you would like more info just let me know.