Comments By Christopher J.

I am a 40 year old male who is thinking about leaving my job as a Finance Manager to start a new career in truck driving. I have had it with Corporate America and want to try something new. I am fully aware that this will be a life altering change for me, my wife and two children. I have been doing a lot of research and have nearly selected a private training program. If I ultimately decide this is a career for me I would probably try to land a regional or local gig first. OTR is something I would consider, but only after my children have grown up and leave the nest (4-5 years). There is an orientation session before classes start in September. Any advice on what questions I should ask at the orientation and what are some other things I should be consider along the way? I am cautiously optimistic this might be the right opportunity for me since there is such a need for good truckers. Thanks in advance!

you pretty much have to start OTR out of school but after about 3 months you can get a local job easy all these companies saying they want 1-2 yrs verifiable tractor trailer is a bunch a BS

1 year, 4 months. I hated the company I started at, but around here they preach "Stick it out at your first company for a year", so I took that to heart. But I'm stubborn and didn't want to leave until I was sure I tried everything I could to make things work. So, I talked things over with my fleet manager and he asked me to give him some time to turn things around for me. I figured 4 months with little improvement was enough.

Really glad I took the advice because it did seem like it took a year to really start feeling comfortable doing the job and at least 90% of the jobs I saw listed required 1 year of experience.

good for you you deserve it and should have no problem with a year and a half OTR GL

This is going to sound like a joke question, but there is some seriousness behind it...

Are city drivers still considered real truck drivers? I know this site is geared to new drivers and new drivers almost always start off OTR, but I'm getting ready to come off the road and start a city job because my 7 year old is a daddy's girl through and through and she's been begging me to come home ever since I started. But I'm afraid driving a day cab and going home every night I'm not going to feel like a real truck driver anymore. (Although with 20 to 30 stops a day I should get really good at backing! Haha.)

Trucking is weird. Just when you think you don't like the 14 hour days and being away from home and not sleeping in your own bed, you get out of the truck a few days and can't wait to get back in it. Several nights since I left my job I've wanted to climb back in my bunk and sleep at a truck stop.

I think I'm really going to miss being over the road, so if the government doesn't manage to regulate everyone out of trucking, I imagine I'll go back out when my daughter gets older.

Curious how long did you do OTR ? I see your a rookie solo driver

Agree with you Randy and from my experience it was usually the Instructors they expect you to get it the first time LOL I played Hockey for 18 yrs would love to get one of them on skates for a week and expect them to play just like me NO way practice practice practice and some patience fellas

I agree with Old School and after your done with school and your 4 weeks with a trainer you got about 10 months to hang in there and learn learn learn you can go solo or team up with somebody from school after that year is up and you keep your nose clean you can write your own ticket meaning like go local for food distributing yeah you have to load and unload but starting pay here in Arizona is $65,000 4 days on 3 off wont mention there names but theres about 4 here good luck

I would bet The Trucking Truth is better it goes over everything

Christopher...the DOT does not allow anyone in the top bunk when the truck is moving...period. I hope you spoke to someone about that situation....it is dangerous.

10 -4

I'll be rolling out tomorrow on my first solo flatbed load for Prime. It's a 2015 with only 14000 miles. The truck is ready I loaded all my flatbed gear in it and am just waiting for my fridge to get installed tomorrow. I already have a load going to Iowa sitting the yard.

Good Luck Dude just take it easy and be safe

Hey all! I'm getting ready to update our trucking company reviews and information section. I want to make it a million times easier to compare companies and find the company that's right for you. We're going to add a whole bunch of new companies and a lot more information on each one. Here's the basic list I have right now of everything I'm going to find out about these companies. Is there anything you'd like to know about trucking companies when you're doing your research that isn't listed here?

And listen - don't be shy! Speak up! You guys are the ones doing the research. My goal is to make sure you find all of the information you need to make a great decision right here at TruckingTruth. If you have to go anywhere else to find the info you need then I'm missing something. That's not good. So let's prevent that from happening.

What should I add to this list?

Number of tractors

Number of trailers

Average Age Of Equipment

Brands of tractors

Transmission Type

Copmany yearly revenues

Company total miles driven

Minimum Qualifications

Average Age Of Equipment

Transmission Type

Speed Of Trucks

APU / Idle Policy?

Electronic / Paper Logs?

Hiring Area

Operating Area

Company Training Duration

Forced To Team After Training?

Types Of Freight

Salary

- average weekly solo - average weekly team - pay during training - starting pay - pay after 6 months - pay after 1 year

Benefits

Tuition Reimbursement?

Hometime Policy

Rider And Pet Policy?

Team Opportunities?

Canada Border Crossing Policy

Forced Dispatch To New York City?

Haul Hazardous Materials?

% Drop And Hook?

Forced Dispatch?

Local / Regional / Dedicated Opportunities?

the average time it takes to do OTR before you have a good shot at getting a local gig I know most Companies want one to two yrs of OTR but I have been offered a couple of local jobs just with a month OTR I would say 6 months at the least if you could do more research on that it would be greatly appreciated

Christopher.....I would gladly go back on the road and team....just so I could sleep while the truck is rockin' down the road....I have never known a time in my life that I could get a full night's sleep...until I started teaming with TSB...He had to pry me outta that bunk to drive my turn...I guess its a combination of the rumble of the truck, the vibration off the road...its just perfect for me.....I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't enjoy it..cuz for me its a free massage, and mood music !!!!!

I hear ya but see my mentor had me trying to sleep in the TOP bunk the first 3 weeks till I finally said something like ah I am not getting much sleep cuz when you drive and you make me try and sleep in the top bunk i,m catching about 2 feet of air every mile you run and if you want to get anymore 10 hr days out of me I am going to your bunk end of story did not mention that he was a germ freak and I was 10x cleaner than he was so what i did was took his pillows thru them on the top bunk got my pillow and laid my sleeping bag over his seemed to be curtains for blankets and got at least 6 hours of sleep everyday for the last week dont get me wrong learned plenty from him and I am grateful but still peeved on the sleeping situation and I just found out that our company does not allow anyone to be in the top bunk while the truck is moving