Too funny.

[puros_bran]

I'm a BR549 now, or whatever they call charitable organizations. Lol


Don't do it.

http://goo.gl/qjGMN#.TswRNcAfqdc.mailto

 

[mark]

Well if you're behind me right now, open the fridge and get me another beer,,,, :drunken:

 

[puros_bran]

It's for the children. Now pay up sucker... Err I mean concerned citizen.

 

[Frost]

I would give you my money, but then I wouldnt be able to afford coffEe and without it there is no way i would be able to function well enough in the mornings to process the insurance claims that result from you falling asleep at the wheel. A catch 22 of sorts.

 

[sstodvictory]

I'll trade you coffee money for information. Seriously, I've retired from my previous career. One option I'm considering is getting a class A CDL and giving OTR truck driving a whirl. If I don't like it, my situation is such that I won't have to stay in it.

For $4 each:

1. Using the sleeping berth in hot/cold climes, how is the cabin cooled or heated when you're not rolling? Will most companies let you idle the engine during sleeping? Or is there an aux power source for that, or do have to just suffer through sleeping in heat or cold?

2. Meals. If you want to eat well, do you have to spend the dough for truck stop meals? Is it practical to stop at grocery stores for food and still meet your schedules? Can you eat on the roll - carrots, fruit, sandwiches and other finger food, or is that verbotten?

3. Tire chains. In winter snowy areas, do you have to put them on and take them off a lot, or do most truckers use them at all?

4. Not getting lost. Can you use a GPS? If so are the GPS maps accurate enough to rely on or are you better off with printed maps?

5. Driving the truck home. If you have good, legal and safe off-street parking at home (as I do), will most companies let you take your truck home during home time?

6. Will most companies let you smoke a pipe in the cabin - while driving?

7. Is it practical to jump in and out of it, ie. drive 9 months, quit and goof off for 3 months, then get another job for 9 months, etc, or would that pattern make a person unemployable?


Add anything else you think is worth knowing and you'll get a bonus $4.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[puros_bran]

Bro that was 100% joke. Don't you dare put a dime in it.

As for your questions. I'll try to hit them all.

Trucking is work. It's meat grinding work that will chew you up and spit you out.
Few companies give a damn about you. The State works overtime to steal your wages. The trucks tops are total crooks. Honestly most guys don't last a year.

If you want to eat healthy and/or cheap your going to end up buying a plug in 12v cooler and eating cold, buying a converter/microwave, or doing like I do and cooking on your motor. Nobody wants you on their parking lot, it's not impossible to shop on the road but it is difficult. Get them before you leave.

As for smoking in the truck, most companies don't care what you do in the truck, just get from point a to point b when they tell you via the shortest practical route. Smoking isn't an issue that even hits the radar.


Now for the crap shoot. For almost two decades I've idled my truck for heating and cooling. With fuel hovering at $4 a gallon and feel good idiots putting more and more anti-idle laws in alot of the companies are moving to APU's. If the company you hire in with doesn't have them you need to really be careful planning your day. Trust me sitting in 13 deg with no heat sucks as bad as 80 with no air.

Some companies allow you to take the truck home, some don't.


Some companies have programs where you run 2 weeks and are off two weeks, or allow you to be a seasonal driver. I know this sounds bad but if ya want three months off and they won't let you quit. Find some place that will. There's a million companies out here, find one that will work with you.


I don't know about GPS. the truck stops sell them that are designed with truck routes, low clearance, etc taken into account. I've never worked anywhere that didn't have directions to most of their customers. I've always just used a rand McNally, really don't even use it much anymore. You will eventually learn the roads like a mechanic knows a car or a doctor knows a human body.



I think that answered all of them. If not just fire away.

 

[puros_bran]

Oh yeah tire chains. If you live/run our west you'll use them a couple times a year or shut down until the road is safe.

My advise: shut it down, I'd rather be alive delivering a 'late' load as opposed to scattering a load over a hillside and getting hurt or killed.



One last thing, trucking isn't a job it's a lifestyle.
If it for you great, if it's not move on and don't feel bad about it.

 

[puros_bran]

Ok. A little more.

Find a company that will train you. Your not getting a job unless they train you or you go to a driving school.
After serving your year, you'll need it to get the better job, go into something specialized. Tanking, car hauling, oversize, animal transport, something besides a standard dry box.
Avoid Reefer companies unless they specialize in cadavers (gross but it pays good) or flowers. You want no part of a grocery warehouse. Just trust me on that one.

 

[mark]

For what it's worth,,,if you're heading for a driving school you might want to ask around and check their reputation before signing on,,,the one I went to was like an assembly line,,,where's your money, here's the book, a couple hours road time and adios...

 

[puros_bran]

Amen

That's why I suggested letting the company train him.
They give slightly more of a shot that a driving school because it's their lawsuit your creating. Or I meant to suggest that. Don't know if I did.

 

[Vito]

:lol!:

Got a chuckle outa that one, pb.

Say, if you're behind me right now, fetch me that J. Upshall P Billiard off the rack, and a jar o' Raven's Wing outa the cellar, will ya? :mrgreen:

:joker:

 

[sstodvictory]

Many thanks for all the advice.

Don't know if I'll try it yet, but my curiosity keeps tugging on me. For driving schools it would be either a freight company that trains their own drivers, or else the community college down the road from me that offers a 1-month CDL-A course with 3 weeks of that around the truck or driving, 4 students per class. That option offers more comfort during school because its local.

I presume in my first job I'd be initially teamed with a company trainer/driver?

Later,

Steve

 

[puros_bran]

For anywhere from two weeks to three months. It just depends on where you wind up.

Here's an idea. If you are within an hour of a truck stop. (A real one like a mom n pop, Petro, TA, Flying J ) you could ride down in the evening, sir at the bar with a coffee, and just listen. When you catch someone talking about their company ask a few vague question about their truck or dispatcher etc. Once you get one going they'll all start. Then sit back and learn about dispatchers, scale houses, and shippers/receivers. Lol