Personal gear

just do all the research you can and do more. trucking is not a job it's a lifestyle. it's a hard life and oh so lonely too. drivers spend alot of time alone and sometimes it gets to them. it is not for everybody so just make sure it is what you want to do before you commit to it for at least a year. what ever you decide good luck too you. and don't hesitate to ask anything you want. there are plenty of good people here to answer and a few of them really know there stuff.

 

Most OTR or truckload co. will give you a truck to keep. Unless it has a major problem and needs to be put in the shop for an extended period. In that case they will just give you another one to move into. If you are willing to stay out and take your time off out on the road somewere(insted of going home so to speak), and are willing to get out there and run, most co. will keep you in a new truck.(after you prove yourself) About the only way that this would'nt hapen is if you wanted excesive home time(excesive would be more than 1 day for every 7 out).

 

Most co.s will give you 1 off for 7 out. So if your out for 2 wks you get 2 days off, or out for 8 wks you get 8 days off. Most co.s will want you to run 3 wks b4 you take time off. If you don't have any reason to come home, you can take time off wherever you want. Just let your dispatch know if you have time coming, and if a load is going to an area you would like to spend some time at, they will let you take as much time as you have coming. You can go get a motel room & a rental car, kinda like a mini vacation!! Also if you do a good job for your dispatcher, when you have a hard run they will give you a day off if you ask. The key is having a good repore with your dispatcher( you scratch my back I'll scratch your's). If you can pull this off, it helps keep a + attiude. Most co. have 1-2 good points & 3-4 bad ones. The key is knowing wich ones matter to you. Do your resurch!!! Get online, look at every co. you can find info on. When you find some that you like, come back to this site and ask ?s. Rip-off report.com is also a great way to get neg. feedback. Don't base your desicion soley on the recurter's word(their job is to tell you whatever it takes to get you in the door), ask them what their turnover rate is. Ask about their saftey rating, and ask if they can have a few of their more exp. drivers to give you a call, or better yet find some of their trks stoped(at docks, truck stops, rest aeras, ect.) and talk to the driver in person. If you can't tell I enjoy my job. Alot of drivers out there have nothing + to say about truck'n, when you run across them, ask them why their still out there!!!! It's not for everone, but once you get your CDL you will never have a problem geting a job(unless you trash your driving record).

 

there is no "typical" week in trucking much less a typical day. Days and hours do vary. it is too hard to explain in detail on here. if you just take it from where you crawl/fall out of bed to when you get back into it later it could be anywhere from 8 hrs to 18 hrs it just depends on so much. everything you do at home you do on the road. some examples eat, poop, shower, brush your teeth, and pay bills all while working. everything you do is much more public now. you get 11 hrs to drive each day and 14 hrs of total work a day. and this includes time spent at shippers/recievers. there are exceptions but stick with that and you'll do fine.

 

close. but showers won't/don't come that easy. personal hygeine is the hardest thing to keep up. it's like a second job in it's self. logs are a all day process and you usually find out where you going next before you are finished with that load. and don't forget about getting directions and looking at your map book. there are just so many things that can/will go wrong in this industry that it is almost imposible to show a typical day. you have to be very flexible to do this. it all sounds overwhelming and it is but once you get the hang of it, it is a piece of cake, per say.