what are the different types of trucking?

OK, you mentioned SE. So if I work for Winn-Dixie (inside the store), I can apply to be a driver, and will they train me for free to get my CDL A? What's the catch? I know it's usually work for the company for 1 year for a salary of 32K-35K (or so) or pay up the CDL A training fee.

 

Also, if you like working around others...and working in a more 'sophisticated' enviornment...as well as 'gender equal'...enviornment...

Than you might want to consider 'Charter'...

Charter is to OTD what GTP auto racing is to NASCAR...



A tad bit more on the sophisticated side...nough said....

 

There is oilfield trucking then there is the rest

 

He's right you know...if out right revenue is what you want...oil field drivers make...$$$$$$...

If it weren't so, I wouldn't say...

 

Bottom line...there's more to driving than Swift, Werner, JB Hunt, Knight ect ect...

Specialize your passion if you can...and do research...apply to corporations, who have drivers, rather than just driving companies...

I wish I had had someone to tell me these things in the beginning so I could have avoided the career land mines...



Please don't take the information shared with you for granted...

 

In other words...instead of applying for lower end...mileage pay companies...who want you to live boxed up for weeks at a time...

Why not apply directly to the bottom line corporations...like Exxon Oil...

http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/careers_dev.aspx

Not the best link...but hopefully you get the jist of what I'm trying to say...

Open and expand your minds...so many people don't...

think like a college student just getting out of college...but again...most don't...

Most are older than I, and therefore think they know way more...and that I should just keep my trap shut...oh well...

note:
Many people pay for this type of career advice...but because I don't play the banjo...I'm dismissed...oh well..



But I do sort of play the guitar...well..sort of, but not really...just not that good...

 

I can remember cruising around in a large 18-wheel semi-truck...tired and exhausted, both emotionally and physically...after being out, and away for weeks at a time...in strange towns and cities...

I remember seeing little trucks like this, and so envying them, the drivers of such contraptions, envying the ease at which they could turn and operate, and the fact that they would be at home at the end of the day, and never have to go over a scale, never have to keep a stupid log book, and still earn, make what I did while being over the road...

Well finally, today, I got to drive one of these little things, and it was a blast...it's like driving a pick-up truck...but you still need a class B...why?...I do not know...I've driven Cadilacs bigger than this thing...but it was fun...

The best part is being able to manuever just like a car, pull in anywhere, eat anywhere.

I regular job...M-F...good hourly wage, off on the weekends...and no stupid dispatch...just pre-assigned pick ups...

Yes, there is some labour involved...but so what...cause at the end of the day...I can go home, relax, and do whatever...have a life...and still earn as much or more as I could or was OTR....

Am I boasting?...no, not really...cause my life is so full of pitfalls, who knows what will happen in a week...but I'm just saying...while it lasts...I'll enjoy it...

I know the secret to getting these types of jobs...there not for everyone though...

Many still enjoy, yearn, for the open road, and a big truck...to get away from it all...

But by todays standards, you never really get away anymore...not even in a 18 wheeler...your tracked everywhere you go, told where to fuel, a computer tells you what route to take...so otr driving today is more like being in a remote control car...



It's like all decision making has been taken away from the driver...and all you do is pay the fines, and miss out on family life...

But all that being said...it's still a desired lifestyle by some or many...

But for me...it's no longer desirable...i want to be home every evening to persue other things...opportunities...relationships....
So if that means driving one of these...and earning from $400-$700 a week...5 days a week plus over time...off on weekends...than fine, so be it...where's the keys...

 

Ultimatly...for some...I still belief fulfillment in life will only come from working for yourself...your own business...but until that time can be realized...you gotta do something that pays the bills, and allows you to earn enough to work towards those other dreams or goals...which could be going back to school, even night school, or pilot lessons, or saving up enough to start your own trucking company or cab company or if you have a family...just being able to bring home the bacon, while spending quality time with them, going to your sons little league baseball games, being able to catch a your local sports team game...being able to go to the movies, to go bowling, while having a few beers with your buddies...

Being able to come home and work on your hot rod car...

Just having a normal scheduale that other professionals have...
To me that's reason to celebrate...

Trucking can definatly be like a bad marriage...I know it sure caused me to miss out on a lot...

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr.../68681-trucking-can-be-like-bad-marriage.html

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeG-hNXXy6I[/ame]

 

I used to always put 65,000 lbs, 32.5 tons of potatoes in the box, back in the day. You learn to drive careful with top weight and stopping distance.

 

There is local, regional and OTR. Local is usually backbreaking delivery work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. Often you unload dozens of times a day or you are a salesman. Regional is lots of loading and unloading time, fewer miles than OTR and not as hard as local but will wear on you and push your HOS limits. OTR is out 3 - 5 weeks with 3 - 4 days home, less manual labor and more miles.