thinking of giving trucking/flatbedding a try...

Not sure that a 2 week school will fly with a lot of companies. Many want 160 hours. Beings you are from the South I would look at mcelroy. I will send you a link with their addy.

 

First off sorry to hear about losing your things to Katrina, 2nd...Glad to hear that you are willing to work hard to get your life together and not still waiting for the government to give you a new life like so many others Katrina victims out there. I would have to say flat bed trucking is a good choice, for one its good money and for 2 you keep your health by staying active with tarping/securing loads. If I was you I would give it a try a lot of bad experiences that these people speak of may be legit or simply imagined because they couldn't cut it. From what I have read (not experienced) TMC has a good school/program that focuses on safety and most importantly; properly securing the loads. I heard a lot of grime about the 1st company I worked for, lots of it was true, but I delt with the BS and came out on top, Keep your ears open and your mouth shut, learn as much as you can and I think you will do fine, if you don't stay with the company; then atleast you get experience out of it and will know more of what you are looking for. Good luck.

 

experience, experience, experience is what I have to say. One of our larger companies up here Carlile, you can get with them and start out in a straight truck before moving on to the tractor trailer; they want you to learn how to read the road to do trucking up here...I was just talking to the human resources guy a few weeks ago and he was saying, lots of the OTR guys that have driven for 10 years down in the lower 48 can't cut it on the roads up here because they only know how to watch the guys rear bumper in front of them opposed to being all alone in the middle of no where and being able to adapt to road conditions and terrain. If you don't mind labor, there are lots of good jobs on the oilfields, thats where I work right now, 3 weeks on 3 weeks off and I bring in 60k/yr and thats entry level. not bad for only working 26 weeks a year. Its driving and pumping a special type of cement. The winter temps get down around -80 farenheit, and the summer temps I have seen up 75 degrees which is good for the northern tip of Alaska, which ever company highers you for the oilfields pays your way up to the slope and back during each hitch, its about an 1 hour 40 minute flight from anchorage to Deadhorse airport. Wasilla is where I live, our population is on the rise and in given time we will be larger then Anchorage. I would love to live in homer, their cost of living is kinda high for me, but its a beautiful area and you gotta love the Halibut fishing down there. If you would like any other information just let me know, I will help out as much as possible. Also most of the trucking companies pay by the hour up here, Carlile starts out at $16.00/hr and if you work on the oilfields, keep in mind DOT regulations don't apply, so you will have long days...the shortest day for all companies up there is 12 hours.

 

BMISS
If you have a good driving record and are willing to do your job the right way TMC would hire you. I have worked for them for 4 yrs now and I must say I have made alot of money. The biggest thing you have to know is that they expect you to do your job right the first time. I know they have a few dedicated operations in your area if you would rather be home more than run OTR. The best thing I can say is give them a call. I run the linehaul division and have been in all 48 states ( " my choice" ) you can make as much money as you want as long as you do it by there rules. They dont screw around with log's or drivers that want to run over there hours. If you have time go to a truck stop and talk to some of the driver as recuters like to strech the truth.