East Coast / West Coast

Hi guys and gals, I am about to get in to trucking and I’m super excited!! I have a question. I was ask if I want east coast or west coast lane. Trying to get a better idea of which way to go. I live in south Mississippi and I really need help. Can you guys or gals help me with the pros/ cons

The real question is; what are you looking for? I.e. how often do you wanna get Home? Are you planning on doing refer, flatbed, dry van or something else? Are you okay with heavy traffic or do you want longer runs with open roads? How comfortable are you with driving through snow and mountains and both? How does the person asking define East and West? East coast in the south is much different than mid-Atlantic/North. Likewise with West coast.

When I started with Schneider, I didn’t want to do New England, NY or West Coast. In a year and a half, I’d done all three and without incident.

Give the moderators here more to go with and you’ll likely get better answers.

Haven’t done much mountain or driving. Think I’m starting out on reefer then gonna try to move to tankers

Would like to get home aleast every 3 weeks. Steve L thinking about going with Schneider. Got any advice on them?

Really, OTR will get you to both. And, depending on the company, OTR can get you home every 3 weeks. Regional usually isn't everything on the east oast, but rather something like, for example, New England, or the Carolinas. There are some companies that only run on either side, but they usually only hire from that side. So, if wanting to stay on one side and avoiding the other, you will most likely end up east. Especially because that's where you spend your home time.

Would like to get home aleast every 3 weeks. Steve L thinking about going with Schneider. Got any advice on them?

With refer, you should be able to get lots of miles. I've never done refer (except when I was loaned out to a Walmart DC short term), but I understand lots of that freight goes coast to coast. I also know there's a major port in Mississippi that brings in a lot of produce. I've hauled paper loads into there, but that's it.

With refer, you shouldn't have any problem getting home every three weeks either. I know May Trucking has a terminal in Pensacola and they expect you to stay out three weeks. There are some really good Moderators on here that are refer experts.

As for Schneider, I can't say anything but good about them. I worked out of the Lebanon, TN (near Nashville) Operating Center and I live in Pensacola (Central Time like you). Everything they promised, was what I experienced. Super safety conscious and just a great team (in Lebanon) to work with. One of the things I really liked was that I could go all over the country, visit family and friends without giving up home time and freight. That's because SNI has operating centers all over the country. So I'd run hard, tell them when and where I wanted to stop and then I'd work to run out of hours close to that destination so that I'd do a 34hour restart while visiting.

I hope this helps.

You should be able to get home every three weeks with most of the major companies. However, chances are the more often you go home the more they will keep you close to there.

Thanks everyone for the advice. One more question should I go ahead and get my Twic card?

Thanks everyone for the advice. One more question should I go ahead and get my Twic card?

If you want. Get your hazmat and other endorsements.