Starting out for rookies

It was for me, so, IMO, yes.

Define "decent" (paying job).
Also, it's generally considered that Big truck truck drivin' isn't just a job, -----
it's a lifestyle.

 

You will get to drive for 20 or 30 miles a day. The rest of your day is spent checking in beer and putting it up. I know from experience as a salesman not a driver. I spent a couple of days a week working with my drivers.

 

Hey,

Welcome to the world of big truck driving. I would humbly suggest that you do the following in making you decision to embark into OTR driving.

1. Live in a closet in your house for 7 complete 24 hour periods. When you have to go the restroom, leave your closet and walk to the convenience store down the street. Use baby wipes to clean yourself with.

2. Sleep about 6 hours in 24 and do it in equal, around the clock shifts starting at midnight the first night, then 6 am, 12 noon and so on until you have slept all the way around a 24 hour clock.

You may think I am kidding, well not really. You will find that this approximates the life you will have living and working inside your own truck. Truck driving is not a site seeing adventure like one might experience in an automobile. It is a job AND a life style unlike any other.

 

NEWBY-

What to do from here? I have NOT gone to a school. I studied the handbook and passed all 7 of my written tests in one sitting (includes tanker & double/triples.) Therefore; I HAVE my permit. I need a truck for my driving test. Got a couple friends who MAY be able to help. One of whom has let me get some road time in on his 18 speed Freightliner (which is for sale to anyone outside the Lamar County, Texas area.) They each said they'd check around. (One wants to keep his truck away from a DOT inspection if possible and the other delivers new rigs for a manufacturer.)

If those friends can't find a truck for me to use for the test, any recommendations on what to do to complete my license?

Then where to start looking for work? Naturally I am talking to my friends about possibilities. But they also recommend I talk to other truckers seeings how there is more to the profession than just their opinion.

Thanks for the input!

 

I'd also bring a small copy of the Pocket Guide to Truck Stops...

In the wintertime (or if you're pulling an old trailer), you should find on old film canister somewhere, and fill it with different gauges of wire, say, up to a foot long...often your pigtail will get corroded or stop working at the most inopportune time. When that happens, get out the canister, fashion together some wire and stick 'er in the pigtail to get things working. The shop'll love you for it.

tire depth gauge, good atlas, ORGANIZED NOTEBOOK for your paperwork.

Also, get a little notebook just for one purpose: to write down explicit directions, rules, phone numbers for particular drop locations. Say you've got a rough drop somewhere in Chicago, then you don't revisit it for a year. You've forgotten that it's a narrow alley, or you have to back up for a 1/4 mile, or whatever it is...pull out your notebook, check the details, and you're set. Other drivers will bless the hell out of you if you share your nuggets, as well.

This may sound kind of weird, but keep a record of your CB contacts....handles, truck, hometown...can make some good friendships that way. Helps keep loneliness at bay.

 

I personally would love to get a local driving job. I've been looking around and haven't had much luck, mostly because I'm so young (21). Hopefully I'll have more luck in a few months. Any suggestions on where to look? I've already checked all the brewries, local plants and factories, fedex and ups. OTR isn't bad, but a local job would be the jackpot

 

i havent even started yet, but from what I know from being a freight broker is that CR england is nothing but a bunch of con artiest

 

oh what they dont tell you........ my husband has been driving for over 15 years. there have been times i havent seen him for 2 months. he almost missed our wedding after giving the dispatcher 6 weeks notice. he got home just the day before. its not just what you gotta do to earn your wings, sometimes it can be a matter of an evil dispatcher, finances, weather or anything else. life is what happens when you make plans

 

recriuters are notorious liars.

 

my otr training with usa was only 2.5 weeks it sucked but ya just have to bite your lip and pass the days afterwards i was given my first truck a 2011 to boot good luck