Prospective Trucker

Kinda like a secret handshake or the old "wink & nod".....pro!
Trivia question: Do you know if Oriental Massage Parlors, along the interstate, have truck parking?
Answer: Yes, or so I've heard.

 

Me personally, knowing what I know, my best advice to you is: take some of that money, buy a nice diesel pick-up and a fifth wheel camper. Go take your vacations out west. I don't know much about how trucking works in the west, like the concentration of small brokers and things like that. But I know in a lot of areas, shippers are few and far between and megas have many of them buttoned up. In the southeast, there are a lot of shippers, and still quite a few independent brokers. The most successful OOs, are connected to a broker, through family or old family friends. If you're not connected, you're going to have a problem getting under someone's authority with no experience. If you get your own authority, you're going to have to buy an old MCA number from someone retiring, and those can cost 10 or 20 grand or more. If you just take a new MCA number, you're going to have brokers that won't let you have their loads. There are even brokers, that have blacklisted other brokers. We still have an environment where monopolies seem to be just fine with the gov't, and that makes the picture kind of bleak for the OO business model, and more and more consolidation continues to happen. The individual health insurance market is about to get a lot worse for consumers, there's that to consider. If you're in a situation that requires you to stay on the road a lot, to make the income you need, after a few years your health is going to suffer. There are dominos still yet to fall, from deregulation, and other policy changes that have been put into place since the eighties and nineties, and changes that are happening now. I don't mean to be a downer or stomp on your dreams, but there are aspects of the industry that suck, and suck bad. I wish I'd never gotten in it. So think hard, and best of luck whichever path you choose.

 

Get your CDL, work as a company driver for 1-3, and THEN decide if you want to put your cash at risk for this job. The majority of 1st year CDL holders do not finish out one year of driving. It would be stupid to assume all of the financial risk of operating a truck before you have done this job. It doesn't take a super-hero to do anything in this industry, but it's foolish to bet your money before you have to. Don't buy, don't lease a truck until you have worked as a driver for 1-3 years.

During your 1-3 years driving you will see with your own eyes and ears what are likely answers for most of your questions.

 

repost

 

Not sure how you view trucking and what parts about it seem attractive to you.

I'm going to summarize trucking in a nutshell and hopefully you learn something from it.

This is trucking,.. 101.

You go through school to get your CDL. After you gain that CDL status to your license,.. its still a difficult pill for insurance companies to swallow with out having the required 3 yrs of recent experience.

You can gain some seat time and driving experience by hiring on with a company that hires new CDL recruits. Chances are that this will be what is considered one of the bottom feeder companies that will ask you to sign on to what they call a refresher course. This will put you in debt to that company for a period of time until you drive/work off what is owed. You will probably be out on the road for 4 - 6 weeks at a time. Home time is not guaranteed,.. when it does come,.. its only for a few days and then you will be back in the truck. While on the road your days will consist of dealing with company equipment that may or may not be 100%. You may switch with several different trailers. Each one having its own problems and issues. You will have to deal with long wait times at shippers and even more and multiple receivers. All the while your HOS clock is ticking down. There will be a dispatcher who will be pushing you to drive and operate to your limits of endurance. You will be tired and feel exhausted on a daily basis. Endless miles of roads and empty faces from state to state.

You will be dealing with constant issues that will rob time/money from you. Down time due to truck problems/repairs. Trailer problems/repairs. Slow mechanics, slow shippers, slow receivers,.. traffic congestion, people cutting you off on a daily basis. People with road rage testing your level of humanity. Flat tires out on the road waiting for hours for a service truck to show up,.. missing your appt and route schedule. Then getting chastised by the company and dispatch for things that were out of your control.

I havent even touch on personal/home life. If you enjoy living in a 6x8 sleeper of a truck, lacking time for laundry, shower, rest room breaks, being away from friends and family. Testing the bonds in relationships. The loneliness, borderline depression and constant anxiety. No time for hobbies or other things you like to enjoy.

After you have completed paying your dues and still feel going the O/O route will be any different. Let me put that into perspective for you. Owning your own truck and booking your own loads does not magically get you more home time or allow you work any less than a company driver. First off,.. you mentioned moving out west,.. Colorado, Nevada or Wyoming. Beautiful states. How ever,.. they are not exactly over flowing with good rates for truckers. Me personally,.. I avoid those states like the plague. If you plan to finance a truck,.. you will not only have to manage the insanely high insurance costs for a new driver/new company,.. but you will also need to make that payment on time every time. Being a novice with no inside knowledge of what good rates are,.. where to find shippers or how to negotiate with them. Where good trucking lanes are, where to stay away from,.. how to stay profitable in this business. I dont see jumping directly into the role of owner operator working out that well for you with out some prior experience and knowledge of this industry.

Me personally,.. if I had a job were I made enough money to put away enough cash to get started into trucking ($50k - $75k minimum),.. I would not be wasting my time trying to get into a career that will take up so much personal time and require you to work 70hrs a week plus more off the clock. I would be keeping the job I had and enjoy sleeping in my own bed at night,.. nice hot showers,.. evenings to myself,.. time with family and friends,.. time to enjoy hobbies and vacations.

Trucking is a lifestyle that not many can get used to. It can make or break many personal relationships. Once you get into trucking,.. its not that easy to get out of. You will find that its a constant event of one load to another,.. taking time off requires having the money set aside to maintain bills and expenses while on down time and praying you have enough to get some loads in to send out invoices and collect in time before you run out of money.

Think about this very seriously. This is not the RV,.. see the country while you work,.. fun and games, that TV and recruiters try to sell you. You will either love trucking and the challenges that come with it or you will come to loath every moment of it.

Thats the reality of trucking.

Hurst

 

^^THIS^^

 

You do have flexibility as an o/o, I go where I want when I want. That being said you have to know the profitable lanes and the areas out west you mentioned are dead freight areas.

If your heart is set on trucking, do your research and gain your experience first. I got mine through a food service company, there's many ways to skin a cat. But don't let anyone talk you out of it if that's what you really want.

 

Hot women banging on door? I always get the ones that would scare a scarecrow,
Just go to Columbia SC at the TA around the 70ish exit of I 20, there was this thing washing herself at fuel island going from truck to truck, been about 2 years ago, maybe 3, I no longer stop there, imagine being woke up at 2 am to something like this photo, when you don’t have your glasses on

 

I quite my IT office job and started OTR trucking at age 29. I started as a company driver for SWIFT for 6 months before buying my 1st truck (not lease purchase). Had two young kids and married when I started. 13 years later, i am still happily married with 4 children and my trucking carreer allowed my wife to stay at home to raise my children the entire time even though she have a college degree and a good career.

My only regret is not having enough time to watch my kids grow and time have pass by too fast. I can not even remember them as babies because i am out too long. If I can do it all over again, i would of gone into the Medical field and not pursue trucking.

Now, i am going to continue on trucking until i retire.