Starting out appreciate advice

Welcome to Trucker Life if you can pay for it your self i would going on with a company that pays they got you by the you know what.
Like other driver said you pay you can have a choice . Paying also you might get a little more per mile Happen in my case 15 yrs ago when i was company driver. My aunt did it with prime and felt trap never came home also . Good luck in our life

 

Well here is how I was trained.

"Get in the truck, the keys are in it ... let's get going."

That was it.

Not much was said for the first few times being drivers seat other than don't take my ****** mirrors off, don't hit that idiot, back up straight stupid.

After 11,000 miles on the road, I lost most of my apprehension and all the time I've drove truck, I have gotten one ticket, never had a preventable and when I returned, I had no issues with passing the road test.

Looney?

Maybe but a lot of drivers learned that way and back then they were actually better drivers.

 

This was a 2nd career for me. When I started in as a driver, the company's that would hire me had a training protocol that all new drivers had to go through. My Dad was a lifetime teamster and an elite driver for Risberg trucking. Me? I'm an elite Roofer on a 2nd career. Times have changed.

 

1.) Lawrence Transpoertation
Good home time, flatbed, willing to take on a newbie. But I didn't know what truck driving was about so I ended up quiting bc of my lack of knowledge in how the business worked.
2.) DM Bowman
Had a 1100/wk pay guarantee provided you have hazmat, twic card and doubles. And also there is like 13 things you have to do every week in order to get the guarantee. I didn't have the hazmat or twic endorsements at the time so I got left to sit from Tuesday to Friday.
3.) Harris Trucking
Sounded good, went through a day of orientation and at the end they said insurance for me and my wife was going be 273/wk. I left at that point.
4) Goin Trucking
O/O with 2 KW's, with good home time and money. Who's gonna pass that up? It was good till the owner ran out of money.
5) Crosby
We'll give you .45/mi and you might drive 15 hours a week. The rest will be spent at shippers, receivers or waiting on us to find something within 30 miles of your current location.
6.) JB Hunt DCS
Has been a blast sense I started.

 

Other then the right lane.

 

get the cdl yourself and go work at an ltl company abf fed ex saia dayton freight ups yrc r and l they pay the most in trucking some will hire fresh out of school depending on their needs

 

I heard they raised the age limit to 40

 

If i had a wife and kids i wouldn't drive a truck OTR at least. I'm around your age i'm 39 but i'm lucky i don't have a wife and kids lol

 

Everyone in trucking is different. There is not a mold where they stamp truckers out. There use to be one but it got broken so many times they gave up.

I paid for school. $2,500. I paid for it in cash up front. Academically, I was by far the top of the class. Driving skill, I was good at driving down the road. I could stay between the lines. I could not back or turn but as long as I went straight I was a trucking God.

The school was visited by recruiters but no one was interested in me. I have one of those backgrounds that makes people believe I am full of male cow droppings. So I had to hustle to find a job. Part of that problem was that I believed what the school was telling me about the demand for truck drivers and the amount of money we would make. I had unrealistic goals.

First job I could find was a local job pulling singles for roofers. Loading and unloading with a moffit. Moffits are crazy. Lasted a week and then moved on. Pay was only $16 per hour and the company went under. I actually side swiped a bridge on my road test with them.

I then went to work for a company that delivered auto parts between their warehouse in Kansas City and Houston. This job played to my strengths. I35 to I45. No backing. Lasted 3 years until a snow storm in Denver got me. Should have avoided the Denver run and stuck to Houston. I also had run up a tally on trees planted around the parking lot. Still couldn't turn left or right. Backing was putting it in gear and praying a lot.

I went to Design in Dallas. Lasted two weeks. This was my first time to actually have to log. I backed into a dock and my time ran out while I was in the dock. I asked if I could sleep there. They said yes but called and complained to the boss. Out the door I went. The good thing was that the last load I pulled was under the tower of the Americas in San Antonio, TX. A man in a golf cart had me follow him. He lead me around a lot of tight turns and then pointed me to an impossible dock. I told him No way. He said watch me. He made motions with his hands and next thing I know I am dead square in the dock.

I went to ACT in Liberty after that. I live in Liberty and it was a local job. Lots of backing and lots of the caves in Kansas City. I learned to drive in those caves. Pay was too little and I like over the road.

Went to Transport America for 3 days. Trainer kicked me out of the truck in some God forsaken town in Indiana. I do not recommend Transport America.

Next one I remember, and I am sure I am missing a few was K and B out of South Sioux City, NE. I still wake up with night mares. One of the worst companies to work for in my estimation. Micro Managed and using the Qual Comm to ask you to do illegal stuff. Someone has a thread on here tell you what a great company they are but I believe the guy is smoking something.

The final company was Hirschbach Motor Lines. East Dubuque, IL. This was the last company to fire me. Fired me for turning up the truck to 68 miles per hour. However, they taught me the business of trucking. My advice is to go there before you strike out on your own and soak up the knowledge. Then get your own truck and authority and do what they do.

After I got my authority and purchased my truck, I learned that a lot of brokers (dirty cheating SOBs) will not deal with you your first year. So, I went to Pam's power only and then to USA power only. That let me make a good living (at USA Truck, Pam is too cheap) while the calendar slowly fell away. The USA people will, after awhile, allow you to use their trailer to find your own loads, if they don't have anything for you to do. So some weekends, you are a true owner operator.

As a true owner operator, the light goes off. My truck gets the best fuel mileage at 63 miles per hour. Toll roads are nice but expensive. Fuel is cheapest in Missouri and South Carolina.
And the biggest thing is that no one is paying the price that Flying J, Pilot, Love's, TA, Petro, and all the others put on their signs. I personally believe an anti trust suit would win if filed.

Now to what company I would recommend you go to? It depends on you. I believe that Pam Drivers are the best trained but they work for 28 cents a mile the first year. No way I would have done that. But the truth is had I done it I would have saved lots of time on the unemployment line. Your first two years are all about surviving the learning process.


Having said that, I have been in this for 12 years now. It seems longer. I don't hit things. I do not joke around with the employees of other companies. I carry myself as a professional and I am slowly building up business. I gross between 800 and 2000 a day. Mainly about 1200. I drive 63 and I never fuel in PA. If I am in the NE, I do a lot of short runs. I have my own customers now but still use brokers to fill in. Different people at different brokers give you different rates so I have my favorites. I do not haul cheap. I keep great looking records.

Good luck and remember stay safe.