Driving trucks for a living.......

[Furby]

Just went through this thread again................

Any further thoughts on Dry Van vs. Reffer vs. Flatbed?

Gonna be company driver either way, and while I can get regional real easy, I'm thinking I'll do long haul for a bit.
No contracts with any of the companies I'm looking at, so I can walk if I don't like it.

[J_T]

Got a bubby all he pulls is a flatbed. He has a side kit that works good . He don't have to touch any thing like a box some want their things sit at the rear to off load . I even beg him to haul a load of tyes now and then 8)

[isawlogs]

 Furby
  I have a few friends that do the long haul ... and they realy like it , see alot of country , pay is good . So all I can tell ya is go for it . Have fun , I know we will while you will be on the road .  ;D ;)

[Quartlow]

Furby
Check out Estes freight lines. running local you have to touch some freight but its hourly pay. Have two nephews that work out of the west middlelsex pa terminal, ones a driver. hes been there about 3 years and he had 0 experiance when he started and he is now making $.52 per mile and he is home 2 or 3 times a week.

The other one is a mechanic for them

They have a terminal in Grand Rapids
http://www.estes-express.com/cgi-dta/tmn100.mbr/output?random_number=&hash_value=&search_criteria=MI&state_name=Michigan

Grand Rapids - GDR    
7378 Expressway Drive SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49548    
(616) 281-1926    phone
(616) 281-1943  fax

[DouginUtah]

Furby,

My experience has only been pulling refers long haul.

The only negative for refers is the noise when you are trying to sleep. If you are a sound sleeper it shouldn't be a problem. Some of newer trailers (2002+) are really nice and quiet.

Contact me if you have any questions.

-Doug

[Rockn H]

Furby, if you are going to be a company driver, I would suggest pulling a dry van.  Some companies pay o/o by the mile, some pay percentage.  Just about all companies I know of that will hire a driver with no over the road experience are going to pay by the mile, and it should be around .30 to .35/mile.  If you aren't going to get paid more then why work more?  That is pulling tarps or off loading freight.  I've had a lot of freinds go to school and have to suffer through two years before they could get on with a company that would let them have some off time or not leave them setting for three days.  I've been an o/o for a while now and back during the summer I had some work done to my truck and thought ,with the price of fuel , that I would just run one of the company trucks for a while.  Not doing that again for a while. ;D  I'm to used to saying when I'm going home.   Another reason why I couldn't drive for JB or Schneider.  They like for their o/o to take one day off for each week out.  Just like their company drivers.  One company I would advise against would be Covenant.  My bil drove for them until he could get some experience and they constantly kept him out for 7 weeks at a time.  Other than the time off issue JB or Schneider would be some good ones to go for, and JB has of good lease purchase after 6 months.  I have talked to several drivers that have bought trucks through JB and they don't mark them up like some companies.  Also their payments are'nt $2000 a month.  Well, you probably shouldn't worry about buying a truck after six months. ;) 
Back to the question.   Unless you're an o/o I wouldn't mess with anything but a dry van.  Just open the doors and back up to the dock.

[PawNature]

I pulled tanker for 5 years and if I ever went back thats what I would do agin. If you didn;t want to be gone all the time I would check with some of the local companies. When I was pulling tanker most runs were out and back 400-600 miles.  Most any company will work with you if you have schooling.

[Faron]

Furby, I don't know beans about the trucking business, but I noticed during three trips across Illinois  the interstate  was thick with flatbeds pulling new tractors and combines.  I am supposing they were coming out of the Moline IL area.  Seems to me if a guy could get into a deal like that, it might lessen some of the uncertainty with getting loads.  I wondered if they backhauled anything.   That trailer hauling deal sounds pretty good as well.

[sawguy21]

My cousin's husband hauls mobiles from Indiana into Canada but he lives in Windsor so it is a short hop to the factories.  They pay from the factory and back so he is on his own getting to and from work. Not very profitable if you live far away. He had all the work he could handle hauling south after Katrina and Rita but U.S. immigration put a stop to that. No green card :(.
With the oilfield activity here, there is a real shortage of truckers and pilot car drivers. Off highway is tough on drivers and equipment though. Some of the companies are hiring straight out of school and putting green drivers on solo runs to the coast. Not a good thing.

[Mr Mom]

 The only reason i dont go over the road is my kids. Talked to alot of friends that drove over the road and they wished they stayed home. Alot of missed ball games,dancas classes and other family events. My friend that i went to school with lost his dad at the age of 3. Another drunk truckdriver crossed the double yellow line and killed his dad. He says that the only thing that he rembers about his dad is the black peterbilt that he drove.

[pappy]

Friend of mine here has a wheeler w/ log loader... early to bed and early to rise... hauls logs for small and big jobbers, private land owners, etc... VERY busy and home every night!! Wife and three sons...


here he's delivering some pine logs for me  8)


He'll even remove an old building fer ya...

Yup I know it takes money to make money...He was lucky his dad (who did the same 40+ yrs.) got him started right out of high school...

just something to think about...

[Burlkraft]

Furby,
I've been in the truck business for over 30 years. I just kind of semi-retired... :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Pun intended..........only I have been on the really well paying end of the truck business........parts and service. Over the years I have seen many guys come and go. Haulin' freight used to pay real good, but during the 90's it went the other direction. Now I see prices have come around. Lots of guys who do things the right way make out okay. I've seen a lot of guys go down the drain. You know.....New truck, lots of chrome and lights, huge payments, lots of dead headin' and the next thing ya know the repo man is there. Other guys have bought those repo trucks and made a great living. A real good friend of mine had a great gig doin' the wiener haul from Oscar's in Madison to the west coast and then haulin' fruit back to Chicago. It made 2 turns in 2 weeks and had a week off. regular loads and regular checks. Lots of new guys that haul for national companies get stuck runnin' out east. You have to pay your dues to get the better routs.

[Furby]

Thanks everyone!

[UNCLEBUCK]

Here is a pic of the lettuce wagon I did time in . Thought this thread could use a truck pic  :D

[countrysaw]

Hey furby,

Something else you might look into that is big in our area is hauling hot parts for all of the big MFG's (Deere, CNH, Alcoa Alum.,).  One of my friends fathers did it for a while with a company called Sun-Rys i belevie, or i might be wrong.  Had some long routes, (IL to PA, IL to Nebraska etc.) and some short local stuff. Just pretty much a pallet or crate of parts that a line has run out of.  he was making $20 and hour and .25 a mile for fuel and truck maintenece, and was home a whole lot, the only bad part is that you have to run your own truck, just a pickup though, and the work is spotty, run for a week or two and then sit around at home and wait for a load.  ANd they pay for loading and unloading time, and hotels!

[FiremanEd]

Don't do it!!

if you're married,

have kids,

want to be married,

want to have kids, who know who you are,,,

otherwize,,, don't do it.

[lawyer_sawyer]

Hey Furby,
I wish you luck with whatever you decide.  I know some people who do it for a living and one has an absolute ball with it.  he loves driving and he loves being on the road.  He is also a person that doesn't like staying in one place to long so he always changes up his schedule as much as he can.
The other person I know did it like you to make ends meet for some time to either wait out the economy and find a job he wanted or to get some money to go to school whichever came first.  he ended up waiting out and getting a different job but it did give him the experience he needed to get into a factory with a logistics department.  He understood the industry and he could talk the talk.  I am not saying this is typical but what happened for one can happen for another.

Just a few months ago I ran into a guy at a social function and we were talking about jobs and he told me when he graduated he kinda fell into a situation working for car haulers.  he had a 1/2 ton truck and pulled a 3 car trailer for a company that was like an auction group that needed to drop off cars for dealerships that buy from car auctions.  I don't remember if he said what he was paid in $'s but he could pay off his debt and it was flexible enough he could still interview 2 or 3 days a week.

Likewise.  I was just talking to my dad aobut something like this last week and he is on the road a great deal and he sees these little delivery trucks that are from multipled states and they are usually time sensitive parts that need to be somewhere quicker than a tractor trailer combo could get them there so they send a few in a small panel truck and so that is an option.

I wish you luck
please tell us what you decide and maybe we will see you on the road
Lawyer-sawyer

[Mr Mom]

If you go over the road you cant mill any wood. >:( >:( >:(

[Furby]

Haven't milled since April anyways. :

[Paschale]

Hey Furby,

My two cents, FWIW, is that you can always change down the road.  Few things in life are ever permanent, especially a job, and even if you need to do this for a few years, and don't like it, you can start doing something different.  But, if it's a good job, with a good company, and it will keep you going, I say go for it.  If you do, just be sure you stay in touch with us all here!

I did have a friend who drove a truck a couple of summers.  What he liked about it was seeing the country--he saw more than he ever thought he would, just because he was driving a truck.  What he didn't like was the fact that it was for Northern Van Lines, and he was essentially moving people's furniture, and had to load and unload the stuff once he got there.  He also had extra help at every job that was set up by the company, and he ended up at times working with some real losers.  That kind of job I would totally avoid, but if it was the case where you weren't directly involved in loading or unloading, and just driving, I don't think it would be all that bad...for a specific amount of time, that is.

[OneWithWood]

Furby,
You're young and have minimum responsibilities to hold you back.  If ever there was a time to check this out it is now.  You really have nothing to loose and the experience won't hurt you.  I say give it a shot.  If you like it and it works out, great.  If you don't like it or it doesn't pan out you have plenty of time to try something else.
Be sure and take the lap top and camera along so we can ride with ya  ;)
Good luck on whatever you decide. 

[Rockn H]

Now OneWith Wood makes some sense.  One thing I would add is to give it three months at least.  A lot of guys give up after just a week or two and you really need time to adjust to the job before you make any decisions. ;)

It does need more truck pics in here don't it. ;D

[UNCLEBUCK]

Way to go Rockn H , now we need to get Furby some trucker talk even though I never yacked on the cb much . 
Breaker 19, Breaker 19 , how bout ya Furby ya got your ears on , kick it back c"mon ! :D  Now I sound like Roscoe P. Coaltrain on the dukes  :D

[Furby]

 :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Tillaway]

My brother has started to drive since his old job no longer exists.  He started after driving school with Englund out of Salt Lake, where he lives, and quit doing that as soon as he could.  It seems like you get a good money run east then you are stuck there for a couple of weeks getting no miles and lots of drops until they give you a good run back home.  He quit that and drove belly dump around Salt Lake, not real good pay unless you get on a fed hiway project.  Now he delivers rental equipment for a better company that will pay for his move back out here.  Due back this spring I'm told.

Now out here log trucks are in a serious shortage.  O/O's are paid by the hour, around $65, work five days a week 8-12 hours a day usually, and home every night.  Mule trains are in particular demand, less chance of a down turn. 

One company that hauls logs around here just hired a new guy from Wisconsin.  He has been struggling a bit since they just sort of threw him in a truck.  He is having a hard time mastering the interlocks and jake brake and needs a bit of assitance making out of some of the muddier landings.  He is also pretty easy to track since he has cleaned a few ditches so to speak on his way out.   ;D