Questions From A Rookie

I wanted to make sure this did not get to far down without a response. I may not be able to give you extreme clarity. I am not an owner operator. So let me tell you what "I" have picked up from being OTR truck driving and talking shop for the last 3 years or so. If I am wrong or need clarifying, Please someone jump in and set me right. But here is my best...

1 CB- Easy question, sorta. Almost all activity for truck drivers is on channel 19 across the U.S. Sometimes its not the best for family friendly listening especially around truckstops, but its still a great tool for directions and traffic info if you can put up with the knuckleheads. I tend to have it off until I need it, but I am a ham op too. There are some stretches of interstate that use other channels for whatever reason. I have no clue why. Most likely a hold out of a different day when local cities had there OWN channel. Maybe the trucks moved off of 19 because to much local stations in the past. Thats my guess. I know one of these is I-5 which is on, ummm,,,,,, Channel 17? I forget off hand. I think someone told me I-15 was also, but I never had a problem raising someone on 19 on both of these roads. There is no real private enterprises (unless you consider the use of a truck driver) that use CB even though it was originally setup as cheap small biz communication. You will find a lot of Shippers and Receivers that use CB to communicate with the drivers in there trucks. They will tell you what channel. As for emergency, it is VERY rare. There are some hold outs, but if you need help, I would not waist my time with it. (they would be on Channel 9.) Just use a Cell phone or call out on channel 19 for someone that does have a cell phone.

2&3. Here is where I hear you really need to be careful or you will fail. Brokers are fine as long as YOU run your biz and not THEM! You must find out how much it takes to run that truck. How much per mile does fuel cost? How much is all the plates and insurance and ifta and all that? Figure that in to a monthly expense. How much does it cost you to live? Mortgage, rent, food, health care. You have to figure in that also. When you find out how much per mile you need to make (Based on a realistic amount of miles), then you know how much a load costs to go into the box. Then you have to know fuel costs of where your going and other factors. Then YOU must tell THEM what it costs. Don't get in a habit of asking how much a load pays! Its your biz, not theirs. I hear after you establish yourself in the industry, they will treat you with respect. I hear the good thing to do is get a weekly load that pays the bills if you can. After that, anything they throw at you is profit and they will have to actually pay you premium because you are on premium time at that point. Also look for loads that pay both ways, there and back. Then once your there, just get any load to come home with as PURE profit.

4. I would think this is what would you prefer to haul. I would assume that a box with a reefer would make you eligible to the MOST freight, but a flatbed would make you eligible for more pricey specialized loads. In the end, I think its up to what you like best. Maybe both?

5. I don't know of a truckstop "website", but most of us, I think, use the major Truckstop chain directories that they provide. For the smaller places and all kinds of other info, there is Exit by Exit guides. These are really useful while driving. More so then the web would be. I am sure there may be software that has stuff like this that you could print out a trip plan, but I would not know how much it costs if it does exist. There are GPS's that have this stuff programed in also. But they are pricey.