So sick of not making a living wage!

@Whatagal
Raider Express
2400 Cold Springs Rd.
Fort Worth, TX 76106
http://www.raiderexpress.com/

1) runs primarily refrigerated & grocery products
2) 350 company owned tractors
3) 700 53 ft. refrigerated trailers

The Raider Express service area consists of 60% inbound and outbound Texas freight, , Over 90% of our freight runs through the Midwest. 99% no touch freight, no HAZMAT, and many runs are drop/hook. See the chart below for the states we service.

 

Freymiller and Crete Carrier/Shaffer Trucking still have trucks with standard transmissions.

 

@Whatagal
Frozen Foods Express (FFE)
3400 Stonewall St.
Lancaster, TX 75134

Mailing Address:
Frozen Foods Express (FFE)
P.O. Box 655888
Dallas, TX 75265-5888

FFE Transportation - Wikipedia

God bless every American And their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

If your wanting to have a standard transmission, not run in the snow, and pretty much not go where there is anything bad then I would recommend staying on that I-10 corridor and also around Intrastate in Texas. Find a small company that runs reefer or something that does runs on the I-10 or find a small company that does runs in Texas. There is somebody out there that has a standard transmission and never sees snow.

 

@Whatagal
1) Here is another suggestion that may be of interest to you. Apply for a city transit bus driver's job in one of the major cities as, Dallas, Fort Worth, etc..
2) For the most part, these jobs are full time year round work, with good pay & benefits. From what I understand, age is not a barrier, as long as you can pass the DOT physical, and maintain a safe driving record. It's worth looking into.
3) You are home every night.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

@Gdog66223
1) Once upon a time, I TRULY & GENUINELY wanted to go to a truck driving school to learn how to drive a truck. I then wanted to go to work for an OTR company driving all 48 states and Canada.
2) UNFORTUNATELY, I cannot pass a DOT physical. No reputable school or trucking company will take me on as a student or driver, and RIGHTFULLY so.
3) I have never married, never had any children, and live in an apartment that I can be away from for extended periods of time. I live 1500 miles away from the closest family member and relative. SADLY & UNFORTUNATELY, both of my parents are deceased. I no longer have have parental eldercare responsibilities.
4) If I could have been able to pass a DOT physical, I would really be going all out to drive the nation's highways, along with the possibility of driving Canada's highways. I would have even VOLUNTEERED to go to every God forsaken place in both the U.S.A. and Canada. TRUTHFULLY, I would be somewhat apprehensive about driving in snow & ice, although, I realize that it's part of the job.
5) With all the suggestions that @Whatagal has received in this particular forum, it momentarily, (and then some), got my adrenaline pumping, then I had to come back down to reality.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Depends how many hours ur able to work. 100 hours a week thats well over 1k a week with time n a half. Nobody wants to work that much but to say u cant make a living on minimum wage is not true. Ive done it

 

Most likely aint gonna find a started company with a manual transmission. All them big companies moved to autos. Ur gonna have to find a smaller company but the problem ur gonna run into there is no recent experience. I can understand wanting to only drive a stick. Im the same way but unfortunatly they are going extinct

 

@Whatagal
1) Which of the listed companies did you have to rule out? Was it all due the companies having automatic transmissions?
2) While it is understandable that you do not want the restriction of having only an automatic transmission on your CDL, it might be necessary to let up on this desire.
3) What is very important is that you get on with a trucking company that can both train you, and also let you retire out of. If that trucking company only uses automatic transmissions, well that is probably what it will end up being. Truck drivers driving automatic transmissions seem to be earning a decent living.
4) As you mentioned in your 1st. post, you are 56 years old. You have 13 to 14 more good years of working life ahead of you, to build good retirement benefits, Social Security, all else that may be offered to you. Make good use of this time.

Good luck to you! God bless you and your entire family!

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!