Tips for a smaller, older guy, that is a new going into flatbed?

That's correct. I have seen in other posts about people having concern about folks getting cut loose with little to no experience early on, so that's why I included that information on purpose so people that are experienced would see the dilemma and point out the more important things to focus and learn ASAP.

I also understand the dilemma about utilizing youtube videos, and every yahoo and his brother wants to make videos. I have already have come across plenty that some of those folks have no business making videos at all. The best are complete rookies making videos about what to do thinking their enlightenment is suddenly gospel. I think this is where a history of being self-taught, having an education, being older, and using some discernment comes in handy.

I have had to teach myself a lot of skills over the years by utilizing youtube. What I found out is that if you watch as much as you can, then kind of an ebb and flow of what is correct versus not will start to stand out over time, and you can pick off the valuable information if you are semi-intelligent enough or have enough practical experience doing that.

I have already seen videos where folks are fighting over putting a twist in a strap, versus throwing the hook over the load or not, etc... I also utilize the comments a lot by seeing what the arguments are for or against, and then try to make an educated decision about what is correct or not. If I don't know, I will just come to a place like this and post about it and see what type of feedback comes from it. I am also matching up information against what the feds published books like Cargo securement says, as well as watching videos where DOT officers are actually explaining the laws clearly and going through securement stuff, equipment ratings, manufacturer information, etc... I think as time is going on, I can pick out the more important stuff that I need to be aware of and build on that.

I have concerns myself about getting sent out into the wild too soon, not being trained enough as you might see at other professional jobs or carriers, and why I am researching and educating myself as much as possible now so at least I have some general direction, ideas, and see how other folks think before I get out there.

By the same token, the job I was supposed to start tomorrow suddenly got postponed for two weeks with no heads up and I am not sure how reliable it is anymore. I was more going into Flatbed because the job and company seemed like a really good opportunity, but now I am not so sure. I am going to start looking for another job now so I don't possibly run into this problem again in two weeks, and I doubt I will be looking for a flatbed job while searching in general.

I am not sure what to do about the scenario now as I don't feel like I can trust anything. There was this big crazy rush to get all my paperwork done, drug tests, meet people, etc...and spent a lot of my own personal time getting ramped up for what was supposed to be starting today initially, then got pushed till tomorrow, then got pushed out another two weeks.

The only way I found out is because I had not heard from them until 6:30 tonight about what time I was supposed to start tomorrow, so I reached out to them asking what was up, and that's how I found out about another 2 weeks from now when I spent all my time getting ready for tomorrow. Obviously, I am very disappointed and troubled by what went down but didn't let on to that when I spoke with the boss because I was trying to be flexible for them. I am big on communication and transparency and told them that during the interview and think this could have been handled much better.

He did tell me that he doesn't want to lose me and still wants me to work for him, but I honestly don't know what to think about it anymore. So I think it's just best that I start looking for something else just in the event he does something in another 2 weeks to prolong it or change his mind altogether. I have never seen that done before with any other job and I am trying to be flexible about it in my mind, but it was extremely disappointing and I am not sure how to process it all. I think I want the job too much because of certain perks or things that hit my own checklist and maybe not thinking clearly. My experience is anything too good to be true, is always too good to be true. Been trying to remind myself that for the past week waiting to start today in the event something weird did happen.

I also have concerns if he flakes out in another two weeks, I will start to get to rusty coming out of CDL school and not have driven for a few weeks, and then having to wait even longer looking for another new job. This is one of my biggest fears. Things just started to come together for me at the end of CDL school and sitting around and not continuing to build on that experience and skills is concerning to me. I was hoping to be driving again by today or tomorrow, and now we are talking about another few weeks.

The rest of the info you supplied I appreciate. Thanks for taking the time out to write it all down.

 

I can't honestly answer that or speculate. I have a funny feeling the guy does have a pretty good business head, owns or partnered with a few companies out of the same location in different verticles, and I think he can hold his own, although that's purely speculative. His equipment, shop, technology, etc... is all fairly new and doesn't look like he is hurting in the financial arena or backing.

Yup. I do worry about communication now with him. It seemed like from the limited information I had, it was all foreseeable and could of definitely been handled better. Especially waiting till I contacted him so late the night before I was supposed to start. I was waiting all day to hear from him, spent the day getting ready, and even took time off from my own business/job the two days before so I could get ready, study more, etc... which was lost time and income to me. Luckily I am self-employed and can go back to doing what I was doing at any time without a problem and continue making money. But it still didn't sit well with me. Especially for how much we spent in the interview talking about honesty, transparency, reliability, etc... They were extremely grateful for my candid and honest approach about things, so it really surprised me coming out of the gate for this to happen. I am a big stickler about looking at people's actions to know what is true versus what they say. I preach this a lot so I need to adhere to it as well. I am really bumming about it because I really wanted to work with and for them. Still do, but then I would be a hypocrite against my own advice as to looking at people's actions to know what is true. If I had not called him late in the evening, I have no idea when he would have communicated this to me and that's really troubling to me. I also honestly don't know why neither him or the other driver just didn't take me with them on either of their hauls that they are so busy with for the next two weeks, but my guess is to save costs in training time. I am guessing they would rather train me local versus OTR so it keeps costs down. But there is a good chance I would of been flexible on pay and could of worked something out with them to gain the experience and trade off a little pay or something. I don't know for sure but I think I would have.

Or what if I get out on the road and need to count on him in an emergency situation? Will he be reliable, accountable, dependable, and honest about any and all situations? That's even a bigger fear for me now.

Agreed. Although I have a lot of fear around this. I have Complex PTSD and have a lot of concerns about being locked up in a cab in a team situation for training OTR for so many weeks with someone, especially since I can't vet the person's personality, morals, etc... prior to getting into the situation. It's one of the main reason I am going into this field is so I can be alone a lot and eventually get into owner/operator and only work for myself. Most of the jobs that I would have to apply for I have heard a lot of horror stories about trainers with companies like Swift, CR England, Pride, etc... and there are only so many companies that bring on new drivers and they definitely exploit the situation for financial gain. I am also not sure if I can afford to take such a pay cut from my current employment due to the overhead of my current monthly bills. This job I was hoping on it wasn't a factor for what they were willing to start me at, but I have heard of those other companies where people are only bringing home $500-800 a week. I can't survive on that.

I was also hoping maybe I can get hired local for a while first, then move into OTR when I have more experience this way my training time with someone won't be so long and the C-PTSD can handle it more.

I already have Tanker and Triples/Doubles endorsement. I just got approved by TSA for Hazmat endorsement, currently studying for the test, and have an appointment in 2 weeks with DMV to take my test for that.

Also have an appointment to get fingerprinted for a TWIC card. Since I have already been approved by TSA for hazmat then TWIC shouldn't be a problem. Then I can do maritime stuff too.

This way I don't have any restrictions anywhere or with anything since I have a Class A already with no restrictions. I tested in a manual transmission. My hope was to get into owner/operator and not limited myself as to what freight and/or jobs I can get anywhere.

Funny, I have been watching so many videos the past week+ on Flatbed, I think I still want to do it versus dry van. Not exactly sure why, but I think I do since I am getting familiar with it. I initially got my CDL because I thought I would like to do Hotshot. But now that I have been driving the semi's for school and testing, I would rather be in a rig than a pickup. Especially since it has a cab and more flexibility/comfort out on the road. I also think if I do Flatbed now for a while, I can move into any other vertical more easily after having that experience, but that's an assumption.

Thanks for all the advice and input.

 

Extremely valid point and convinced me with it. Thanks. And thanks for the rest of the input. I am glad I posted this thread and gaining some reassurance from it.

 

OK...ya'll talked me into it.