Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

Never trust what a manufacturer claims. They are trying to sell you there product. They will cherry pick fleets to track so they can make claims of great benefit. Remember International made lots of claims about the efficiency and dependability of their maxforce engines. 5 years from now it might turn out that the claims of the 18 cascadia are based off a hand picked fleet running 4k lb Styrofoam loads from new orleans to jacksonville and returning empty.

 

Naive is my guess. You are putting to much faith in what you are reading, and don't have the personal experience to see how unreliable that info actually is.

 

2018 has no real world numbers yet.... they're not running real freight lanes and freight.

Look if a 2018 is what you want great get it however keep in mind it may not live upto the numbers you're seeing as advertisements.

Realistically speaking you can expect 20% less than advertised in the real freight world.

Nothing ever equals controlled testing.

 

Im not here to sprawl with anyone... just putting what i think is right... if you guys are telling me im wrong... well you have the experience... i dont...yet.

Thats why im here. not trying to cross anyone... honestly. here to learn. Its not easy to be told that your research is wrong... but im taking it. And i do appreciate it... even tho im reluctant.

 

So if you guys are running 7.5 and better MPG on older trucks then maybe its smarter to grab an older truck and save half off or more then paying on a new truck. Been wrenching on trucks since i was a kid up until recently did a set of drive drums and shoes on a friends Pete. I was purely going for MPG with a new truck. but if the difference isnt truely that great then i really dont know...

and by older im thinking 2-3 years old. I already know ill love trucking been a part of it my whole life... spent many of summers with my old man on the road... dont know why ive been avoiding it for 10+ years.

 

There is no right or wrong general answer it's truly dependent on your preferences.

How much experience driving do you have?

 

Well i learned my first s-pull up and docked my first truck when i was 15... almost 20 years ago. Probly turned 100k before 21 for my old man driving... then he retired...

Ive driven just about anything with a gas pedal and a steering wheel in just about every condition... But never did it full-time for long... and i actually regret it. Love to drive. The bigger the better. Drove a rock truck in a local mine for a while, but that hardly counts... then the quarry shut down and been doing travel construction for a while now remodeling motel 6s... hate construction... just good at it.

 

So as for OTR recent exp. None?

Do you have your CDL?

Are you coming to Schneider as a company driver 1st?

You said this summer you hope to buy a 2018 cascadia?

 

I only ask because you read like a starry-eyed kid in a candy store.

I'm not trying to put you down or discourage you but this industry isn't what it was 2 years ago let alone 20.

Being a O/O or LP driver isn't what these threads sometimes lead readers to believe.

If you work hard save money and run when the freight is strong and don't mind being away from home you can earn a living and a modest profit.

It's alot more work than we can ever type on a forum too.

Again not trying to discourage you but if you're serious about this as a career and not some get rich quick scheme, take your time run as a company hand for 4 or 5 years. Learn the ins and outs of freight patterns, lanes, shippers, companies etc.

Use your time as a company driver to learn from your mistakes and others.

Get a couple full years worth of seasonal driving under your belt.

Listen to those who truly try and help you.

Always save for that rainy day because it always rains eventually.

And buy your truck from a dealer so that NO company has its hands in your pockets.

Trucking is a Lifestyle not a job.

It's a lonely, boring, tiresome, lonely, hard, cruel, dirty, lonely, aggravating lifestyle that you'll either come to Love or Hate.

 

Mad respect, and thanks for the advice.

Believe it or not I can fully comprehend what I'm getting into.. Just fine tuning and updating my understanding. And yes I'm excited. And yes I will be company driving my minimum required time.... Not a day longer... Just makes sense before committing to a truck payment, and yes I do plan to drive for the pumpkin... Again just makes sense to learn it from the company side before going IC...

Understand the hassles and hard ships... But from what I can tell the pros still out weight the cons. For myself.

Have some decent coin saved now, and will just add to it over the course of a year. Nothing like half down on a new rig! Just doing my home work now.... I like to be prepared and have all the possible options laid out in front of me, including the bad ones!

I certainly plan to run OTR for a while since I don't have kids yet, but certainly going to run hard so I can pay a truck off when that time comes sometime next year. and I will want to be home more in the future when I do have kids.... And I imagine that's easier to do with when my house is already paid off, no truck note, and a hard working women in nursing by my side....

I'm certainly not doing it for the money, more the life style... And like I said I fully plan to put my time in to get to the gravy lifestyle that truckers can have if they play it right.

There is a couple guys that just run 10 days a month and still make 40k a year... Of course they put their time in and live modest lives...

Now I'll leave you boys be for a while... Let you get back to you IC talk... Some infor on this board is just priceless for understanding as an outsider looking in.

Stay safe all and God Bless.