yep... i have my choice in between Werner, TMC, or Valley trucking companies. i will be going to school at Roadmaster driver school to get my CDL. i want to drive for Werner, because it's a Boxtruck, and i won't have to worry about all the hassle with Flattops (AKA flatbed trailers). it's a 3 week course. being regional keeps me home more frequently. if i make 35K a year being regional, i will be thoroughly happy. i hope all goes well with this school, cause i have nothing left.

 

Good luck. Tough job, but some people can do it. Hope it works out for you.

 

I'll give you my take on it. I drove for Maverick (The 2nd largest flatbed company in the US, next to TMC) for five years. If i was to ever go back to driving trucks again, i wouldn't pull anything BUT a flatbed. I don't know much about Valley, but Werner is an ok company, just don't believe the **** they tell you. Unfortunately, its pretty much that way with any trucking company. They tell you what you wanna hear and make it sound really good... aka, "we'll give you good home time, steady miles, etc." Maverick did the same thing to me. You get one or the other, decent home time or good miles, and sometimes neither. Very rarely do you get both. Its just the nature of the business. If you wanna pull a flatbed, TMC is a pretty decent company to pull for, nice equipment, etc. Maverick overall was a good company as well, nice new equipment. Im not at all trying to burst your bubble man, cuz i went n got my CDL for the same reason, no work anywhere else, but it wasn't at ALL what i expected, and ultimately i got burned out on it relatively quickly. Hence my choice now to go to Commercial Dive School. I wish you all the best in your venture though. Keep us posted on how everything goes and what you decided to pull and where you pull for.

 

Good Luck with it man. I want to buy my own truck and maybe start a little trucking business of my own one day. My uncle introduced me to the world of trucking. With the job I do now in the Air Force we get to drive flat bed trailers with Sterling trucks. I can get a waiver to get my CDL which I should be doing pretty soon. All I will have to do is take a written test and I'll have them.

 

im also going for my truck licence to drive tractor trailer. GL with job

 

Hey man , I know times are tough but please listen to this. The recruiters for trucking companies are like recruiters for the military, they tell you what you want to hear. Marshall was right about pulling flats vs. "refers" or dry boxes.
99% of flatbed loads are no touch frieght ( meaning you don't have to unload) except for untarpping and rolling them up. Werner will haul anything that will fit in the box, ever open the doors on 53 feet of God only knows what or have to make 35 stops to unload a trailer?

1) Everybody pays book miles nowadays and not "hub miles" Don't play that 17 cent a mile ****! Fact, if the wheels aint turning you aint makin' money.
2) Find out who does the unloading or loading and how much does that pay. Will they pay for a "lumper"?
3) Lay over time and waiting to unload time? Most will pay you after a certain amount of hours, if not **** on em'
4) PAPERWORK???? Big issure. LOGBOOKS
5) Breakdowns, How long do I wait before I get paid?
6) Tolls, who pays them and how long before I get my money back?
7) Ask as many questions as possible and get awnsers in writing.

Good Luck!!!!

 

Yep. He's right. At Maverick, after a year i was makin .40 a mile, BUT!!! The miles you acutally run vs. the miles you actually get paid are a good bit different. And he's also right bout them wheels turning. Sometimes it would take several hours to actually GET load/unloaded, which means you're not getting paid. Then sometimes depending on the area you were in, I may wait anywhere from a few minutes to 2 or 3 days for a load. Breakdown, you had to be broke down for 24 hours before you started getting paid. Now they had Prepass and Pikepass and they paid for it, but that doesn't cover Florida cuz they have stupid sunpass. Just be careful ya'll. They're gonna make it all sound good, but rarely is it. Thats why i quit driving. Too much bullshit. And they don't care if you like how they do things or not. Their attitude about it is... if you don't like it, quit. We'll find someone else to put in that truck tomorrow.

 

my dad was a driver for 14 years, i know all about it. i also was in the active army for 4 years, i can deal with bullshit.


as long as i am getting paid regularly, and get home every so often to go to my national guard meetings, i am happy.

 

You do know that if you go to a college or university, that there are a lot of options for active military and veterans, right? You can most likely get your school paid for and if not completely paid for, then close to it.

You do have more options than just driving a truck. You just have to look into things and do your research.

 

I know I thought about driving a truck when I was little kid just hoping to make some money and get out of the crap town I lived in...

But since I am older now I just couldnt ever see myself driving a truck, I am not much for driving at night with the lights bothering me and long hauls. Now my wife, her father had drove truck for many years when she was growing up and she would go with him on some long hauls at times too. Remember its not all safe out there either, so there are some dangers of the road to think about...her father had died in a truck accident, he was hauling chemicals and his truck ended up jack knifing and the chemicals exploded and he was burnt and could only identify him by his dental records too. She cant watch anything that has explosions since then and she was 13 when that happened.

So be careful whoever you drive for out there, I know driving a car everyday I see such stupid acts, so its gotta be worse for a truck driver too.

- I love that show ICE Truckers when they show that on TV, that would be some scary stuff there!

 

Good luck man! keep us posted on how it goes!

 

i have heard that a local driver can make decent money, but if you want to make good money you havta drive like out of town even out of state. which is a trade off cause you wont see your family alot(kids, wife whoever you got). If you dont have kids or a wifey, i say drive as far as they'll send you. make the money while you can

 

Local drivers can make decent money but, at least around here anyways, you have to have at LEAST 2-3 year OTR to get a decent local job.

 

lol it sounds like y'all want me to not drive.


i tried college math.. i failed miserably. i mean MISERABLY.

i'm not smart enough for that 4 year college stuff.

 

Not everyone is, and let me tell you I've met and know some college grads that really are stupid *****, and i have also met at least one chick that was a freaking genius and had a GED and no college whatsoever.

 

i'm a hands on learner... once i do something 2 or 3 times with guidance, i can pick it up easy. math is mainly a book learner skill, especially the upper echelons of Algebra and precalculus. i have no problem with basic and average algebra, but when it gets above that, i fall flat on my face. it's like a mustang with no top end in the 1/4 mile. i would rather do something and learn it in a half hour than take half a year to learn one thing i would forget after i graduated...if i passed the course.


i hate math, and math is a requierment in college. i avoid math whenever possible. wherever possible. i also take pride in my driving, and i am a careful driver with a perfect record. i am the perfect canditate for truck driving. i also have the best teacher possible, my dad. (after Roadmaster drivers school of course.)

i already have school debt, i don't want to incur more. so that is another motivation of mine. that, and i am flat broke. truck driving is the fastest way to a good paying career. i know what i am doing.

 

I am much like you Leo, I am not a wizkid of mathematics thats for sure...but let me dig my hands into something and give me a few min. to figure something out I can make it look amazing, kinda why I have always done well with server/computer tech support type positions that I have now.

I wish you much luck man, I do.