Worst job/truck you started in when you got your cdl?

Started with KLLM about 21 years ago. Spring-ride, set back axle Freightliner cab overs! Rode like a pogo stick! And they were all cut back to 62 mph! Oh, and they slip-seated back then, too! I live in Dallas and never got south of I-80 for about 4 mos. I got $0.18/mil with a $300/week guaranteed minimum. I got the guaranteed minimum 10 weeks in a row! That was enough! I went to CFI after that and lasted 4 years there. Ah, the good ole days!

 

Worst truck: 1990 Mack superliner triaxle dump truck, I had to have DOT shut down because I couldn't get the owner to fix it. EVER. Worst company: Same guy I drove the Mack for. Honestly I loved the work, when the paychecks cashed, I made 900-1400 a week.

Here is something I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, schooling or not, your going OTR with a trainer. I started out with as local company putting semi's in wendys drive throughs, the experience was great, but Werner didn't care. I got stuffed into a pretty decent Classic, with one of those crotchety old wont roll down the window, smokes like a coal train pricks. I showered almost never because Id get yelled at for stopping while he slept, I slept every few days because the guy scared me as a driver. You know the type, rides the clutch till he's out in the middle of the intersection on a red light yelling at other drivers trying to maneuver around him, whispers into the CB our favorite irritating phrases. I didn't see home for 4 months because of this jerk, and werner didn't care. I HATED this man. Your NOT stuck with this kind of B.S. either. The company is investing time and money into you, if you don't like whats going on, say so.

My best advice, find a smallish company, or at least someone with a decent reputation for not being "puppy mill" and do what the CDL BOOK tells you. If your leaving the yard with a verifiable POS truck that's gonna get tickets, then you deserved the tickets. Its YOUR job to follow through with making SURE the truck is SAFE.

My BEST job: Werner Enterprises pulling dedicated for General Mills. I had good lanes, good money, good miles, good home time, a nice KW W900 and the best dispatcher I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I left only because as a too young and immature dumb ### I thought being an owner operator (lease purchase) was "better."

Just use your head, do your job, and follow the rules and you'll go far. Get your experience in, then you can be picky, and really find the good companies, and bad ### trucks.

 

That was what I started in . 318 Detroit with a 13 speed and it was long before CDL's were thought of . No p/s , airride , a/c , cruise control , and I never heard other drivers whining about not being able to stop for a nap or an hour at the buffet . Later drove a Freightliner C/O .
Made one trip in a loaner Ford C/O from Lily Truck Leasing that had those airbags on the cab corners . It had a hydraulic clutch that quit working in ME and I drove it back to MA with no clutch , throwing it in neutral at toll gates then shutting it off and putting it in gear and hitting the starter to get going again .
I was driving for Land Transport . They had a bunch of Mack cabovers leased from Lily . The Macks would jump out of gear every time you hit a bump . I had to hold it in gear all the way through cross Bronx .

 

My first assigned OTR truck was a 1976 White Road Commander(Road Commode).Company pulled 3 out of the weeds to make 1 good one,even though they weren`t 5 years old.
6V92 Detroit 275 hp,6 speed trans-only took a few minutes to realize why the tarp strap was hooked in the sleeper,had to wrap around the shifter to hold it in high gear although it wasn`t going to stay in high unless you were going downhill.Poor heat,air starter good for 3 bursts,air wipers,manual steering and no jakes.If you hit a hard bump the wiring harnesses would come unplugged from the fuse panel and you would lose the lights.Biggest customer was Mortons frozen potpies that were floor loaded,driver unload.For all of this I was paid .16 per mile loaded,.08 empty.Eventually raised to .20 loaded and empty and $60 for lumping.

 

My worst truck was a 1969 A frame GMC with no muffler, no AC and only one window rolled down. I was working for a construction supply company in 1985 and this was their top of the line road tractor at the time. I was making 7 bucks an hour and not once hit 300 in a week. I sure don't miss the good old days of trucking. Amazing how nostalgia makes it seem better than it was.

 

Wills Trucking hauling trash, Clinton, New Jersey terminal. Only because the pay was really low. It was just to bide time for me because I was moving to TN in a few months.

Wasn't when I started though. I'm not afraid to walk away from any job I don't like and have never regretted it.

 

01 Volvo road tractor. Not sure of the model. Cummins ISX with a 10 speed.

Mine only had 890,000 when I got it. And it was by far the cream of the crop. It could be shifted with out too much trouble ( one drivers truck could not be shifted with out grinding, bad linkage or something)

Drove it all winter and sometimes it had heat.

I loved hitting every snow storm in the Midwest last year in it. Just because the drives where maybe 30% and all.

I did have my supervisor tell me not too chain since it wasn't that bad out more then once.

I drove Over Size.

 

I wouldn't say my first driving job was a bad one, they just gave me a run down, beat up, about to kick the can Freightliner. Uncertain what year it was, but it had close to 1 million miles on the OD and the truck looked it, too. The morning I began loading up my first truck, it had decided to piss power steering fluid all over the ground. Had to stop what I was doing, pop the hood and check all the fluids till I found the one. Ran back inside to talk my DM. She shook her head and told me I was taking that truck to Memphis to swap for a new one. Well, shop guys got it, DM pulled it off and found me a new team truck. It was an International with 25,000 miles on the clock! Talk about being super stoked! Got to keep it for a few months before someone realized I was running solo and they gave me a newer Volvo with about 25,000 miles on it. Still, pretty happy about getting mostly new trucks for my first ride.

 

Worst job : JB Hunt 1992
Worst truck : 1986 International 9670 cabover . 300 cummins . 7 speed . Spring ride. No jake. Bad seat. Rough ride.