When it comes to applying what are your MUST HAVES???

i could care less about a hiring bonus. sometimes (to me) it's because a company cannot get drivers.

then good equipment, good shop

time off is a moot point for me, i only like and will seek dedicated jobs, so there is ample time off

holiday pay, personal time pay, and vacations.

weekly pay, not bi-weekly

good medical benefits

maybe a 402k plan.

maybe profit sharing, but this is dead last to me.

 

Ungoverned. Capable of 85 in places where it's legal to do it.

No cameras.

no micromanaging. Give me a date to be somewhere in the USA with that load provided I can do it legally. Then leave me alone. I will call you if something comes up or delivered.

Save the lectures, they only consume orientation resources best spent on finding me a truck and trailer with a load.

Provide me with everything you know about a load or situation. I cannot and will not make errors based on no information at all. I am not just a Drivah. I assert that I am the agent of the company, just like the dispatcher and officer is. I can make your break down go smooth or I can really make it grotesquely expensive. It's all in the information you share with me.

I don;t give a #### about bonus or pay provided the pay is salary and is a nice number. Everything else is all about running loads. lets go. Were late.

 

Hourly pay w/ ot

No cameras

1st or 2nd shift with no more than one overnight a week.

Medical is the only benefit i require but if you don’t have retirement and paid holidays and vacation I’m going to ask for at least 27 an hour to cover my own.

That’s about it. Benefits are cool but lack of benefits won’t stop me if the pay is right.

 

Paper logs, and a solid truck able to do 80mph, manual, inter lock diff. Weekly pay.

 

Full APU package or no no-idle policy.

Freight base and lanes that work with my driving style and home time needs.

Also, as a 48 OTR driver, I've gotten spoiled on company provided full package satellite tv/dvr package (I run 3,000-3,700 mpw and there's still plenty of down time to enjoy the convenience and variety, no matter where I'm parked)

 

1. Money. I know me experience, I know my record, I know my worth.

2. A strong as hell truck. Trying to pull big loads with a puny truck means lots of time in the shop. You cant be a beancounter and expect to do well with OSOW. Midroof or flat top only.

3. Challenging loads.

4. No handholding. You have a tracker on your truck. Thats all you need. No cattleprods, no driver cams, no "driver assist" from the truck at all. Get me that next load, i will handle everything else.

 

Large car with more than enough power. Preferably a 18 speed but a 13 will work too.
No cameras.
Trailer must have a shiny hiny
And enough chicken lights to be seen from space.

 

If I were in the market for a new job, these would likely be the things I'd look for (also read: demand).

1. Honest pay - Don't hide your rates behind "sign-on bonuses" and other junk. Tell me what I'm going to make up front and let me decide if this is the job for me. I want at the very least industry average for the work I'll be doing, but it would be great if it were better than average.

2. Ungoverned - I'm with @x1Heavy on this one. I hate going to Ontario and would prefer never run there if possible. If the equipment is ungoverned, then I'll be able to get the load to where it's going on-time more often than not.

3. Strong truck - I'm with @TripleSix this one. I want a 15 litre motor or better with a minimum of 500-550 hp and 1850 ft.lbs of torque. It also better have a 13-speed or better and the proper rear-ends for the regions I'll be running. A hood is preferred. Older the better. Ideal would be 2000-2004 CAT in the Peterbilt 379 EXHD.

4. Preventative maintenance program - Unless you are going to let me do things like greasing and basic maintenance, I want the truck serviced at least on a weekly or bi-weekly basis by competent staff. If I find something wrong with the truck, you are going to hear about it, and if it could put me OOS, the truck isn't rolling till it's fixed.

5. Hands-off dispatch - I hate micromanagement. I don't need a dispatcher asking me on a regular basis where I am (especially if the truck has GPS). I'll keep the customer up-to-date on arrival times and make sure they are prepared to have me before I arrive.

6. No boxes - Unless I somehow ruin my driving record and become desperate, I'm never pulling a box. I pull a skateboard or a hopper/tank and would be more than willing to do liquids if the price is right. I could be convinced to do oversize/overweight and TDG would require some very strong convincing. I don't want boring loads either, I like a good challenge, but do want fair compensation for it.

 

Amen on the strong trucks.

Lord knows FFE bought me a winter set of tires every October for bobtail for the asking. That can ruin anyone unused to such platinum spoon taste on a beer budget.

I know some of you will laugh and smile condescendingly when I look far back enough to remember fondly my 425 kitty with a rockwell 9. You say eh.. bah... I can run you down loaded uphill. Sure in today's truck you can. But in them days... Here kitty kitty kitty.... follow me? Engines are not the neutered computer crap that they have become today in those days. You could literally go back to 1985 walking down a line of idling trucks at Jessup Md and hear this detriot, kitty cat that and a cummins over there. Not just hear them but also listening to how the engines are feeling... this one is cold.. warming up. This one has been idling all night. Stand back for the blast of blue when he gets on it to go...and that one is overhot running too hard on 95 for dinnah. Look at that turbo dripping and the radiator cap weeping. You can smell it.

Walk down a row of today's trucks... it takes a heart out of a man. I almost need to just stick with truck shows where there is nothing but big pipe and old iron.... to be happy.