Possible to be a part-time or occasional trucker?

Roehl has a cdl school and has a 4/3 schedule

 

Questions for Mr. Mann:

1. What is the largest vehicle you have ever driven? How far and/or for how long?

2. Are you mechanically inclined? Do you have a set of well used tools, or hardly any tools at all?

3. Would you be agreeable to driving for 11-14 hour days, 2 or 3 days in a row?

4. Do you have any idea what you are getting into, or is this waxing nostalgic for Smokey and the Bandit? (It's been on tv lately).

Whether or not you could find an employer willing to give you a chance, I doubt YOU would really want to be doing this on a part-time basis. Unless you have prior experience, like doing this growing up on a farm sort of thing, you're not likely to be comfortable just hopping in the driver's seat for one weekend a month. There is just too much to know, to much to be comfortable with, and too much to chance for little errors to become catastrophes that you would really want to do this once in a while.

Every time I've gone on vacation for 2 weeks I've had to take a moment to get familiar with everything again, get back to being focused on checking all those mirrors every 10 seconds, while knowing what gear to be in for the downhill grade coming up (and in Northern Cal you will have lots of those), knowing how to deal with the weigh stations, knowing every single one of the 141 items on the pre-trip inspection of the truck and trailer, remembering how the weight of different cargo shifts going around corners, and on and on and on.

How many industrial filmmakers do you know that do it casually part-time and do it well, and are successful, without any prior experience, who got into it because they were just yearning to fulfill a childhood dream?

 

That's what I did when I first started way back then. I was active duty military, Navy, and the Navy decided to go with 10 hour, 4 days a week schedule to save on energy. Every Fri, Sat, and Sun I was off unless I had duty. But still most guys would take my duty for $20. It was with a company out of Jacksonville Fla and we ran 7 southern states. I say we because it was team driving which I really didn't care for. Every weekend I would get stuck with a new hire and I'd have to train them. We would take the freight to a drop point and then a salesman would come out and take what he order and stock these stores that were like 7-11. They ran leased tractors and trailers from Ryder so I had no problem with my regular job. This was back in 1977 to 1980 until I transferred to an aircraft carrier. Running Ryder lease was a top notch set up. Very professional and somewhat good equipment. They were Astro 95's with a 290 Cummins but still ran good. During that time I stacked up a lot of experience and it wasn't military driving which a lot of companies would not even look at. The pay was a whopping 12½ cents a mile which was more than the regular drivers ( 10 ½ cents a mile ) because I had no benefits. Way would I need them anyway. That was my first OTR job and I was lucky to find it.

You'll need to get out there and go to the companies. If you call or e-mail them I believe you stand no chance at all. It took me awhile to find the job because they were afraid of the Navy I guess. But once I did they were happy to work with me making sure I was bake home Monday morning. Good luck and go for it.

 

Im considering Schneider's part time program. I have emailed and received some info. It would work out great for me, as i work offshore on a 4/4 rotation.

 

I worked part-time for Schneider for the better part of a year. The pay was beyond decent, but my DBL and I didn't exactly get along.

 

Well i got a call back this morning. Apparently the part time regional driver position is filled. The lady at Schneider i spoke with said those positions dont stay open long.

 

I've got a buddy who drives for his uncle about four or five months out of the year. Usually in that twilight like season between winter and spring. You might try getting acquainted with someone who is an independent operator. Be warned, This is one of those jobs where "Either you are or you aren't" It's very hard to be a part timer in something that is not a job but a way of life.

 

Did she try to talk you into going full time?

 

I was one of maybe three at my particular OC. Only drawback is that most trucks you're assigned are just orange painted turds.

 

she did not. She asked about my schedule and said that she didnt see any other part time drivers positions in my area. she mentioned about putting alerts on my profile so i would get an email or text message about openings that met my requirements and I would be able to quickly apply.