Comments By Jolie R.

From one cancer survivor to another, I am so glad to hear you are back on the road again....wait, isn't that a song????

When you see the fuel pumps are all torn out, craters for pot holes in the dirt lot, and signs on the door that say "restrooms are for customers only."

Oh yes, and you have to pay to park there.

Hey Wilson, how have you been? Haven't seen you post in a while and was wondering about you!

Oh I've been running hard lately. I had my 17yr old nephew from France come to visit this summer. I took him out in the truck with me for about 3 weeks. He loved it! Now I am running hard again. Oh yeah, I recently went over my 1 year solo anniversary. Now I am an experienced rookie!

Glad to hear you are doing well!

When you see the fuel pumps are all torn out, craters for pot holes in the dirt lot, and signs on the door that say "restrooms are for customers only."

Oh yes, and you have to pay to park there.

Hey Wilson, how have you been? Haven't seen you post in a while and was wondering about you!

Some companies will make you do a physical assessment to measure your ability to push, pull, and lift certain amounts of weight. They measure your pulse after each assessment to make sure it isn't above a certain level...90% of your maximum heart rate I believe. The exercises are designed to simulate work we do daily whether hooking and unhooking trailers to securing a load. I am 5ft tall and passed my company's assessment but not without some worries. I had to lift 50lbs in a crate and put it on a shelf sitting 48 inches off of the floor...that is fairly high for someone my height and you cannot use the handhold on the crate. I could lift the weight (barely) but my pulse was too high on the the first try. That got me even more upset which naturally made it higher. Thankfully I managed to calm down with the help of the test administrator and passed on the second try. If this sounds like it might be a concern for you, ask prospective companies if they use the Work Well assessment for their physicals. What may be your biggest issue is bring able to push 100 psi. Women do not have the upper body strength men do generally and you have little weight behind you to help. Hope this is helpful and best of luck to you!

I had T-Mobile for 2 years before I began driving and was very happy with them but ended up switching to Verizon last November when I went solo. A few weeks ago I switched back to T-Mobile because I figured I'd be OK with the coverage since I stay in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky most of the time. Well, I had it for 3 days and went back to Verizon because I missed and dropped too many calls.

I think if you are in a fairly large city T-Mobile is great, but I drive from large city to large city with a lot of corn and soybean fields in between....coverage stinks there....I love the customer service I receive from T-MOBILE but they still have work to do on coverage IMHO.

I drive a local account that is more like linehaul than truly local, such as a city driver would drive. Like Errol, I drive anywhere from 8 to 11 hours a day and if is largely the same routes going from one Coca Cola DC to another and back again. I am paid a flat rate per day plus .25¢/mile. Some days I get pretty good miles (300+) and some days I don't. Schedule is M-F with weekend work available but optional (for the time being at least). The upsides? I make a lot more than I did otr, I get to sleep in my own bed at night, and I don't have to walk in to the truck stop in the middle of the night to use the toilet if need be. The downside? Some days I only have a 10 hour break before having to be back at work and that 10 hours includes my commute which some days is easier than others in the afternoon. That being said, I enjoy the account and building relationships with the personnel at the various DC's. It wouldn't be for everyone that is for sure but suits me just fine!

You might try Gordon/Heartland. I have a friend that drove local for several years and then went to work for Gordon on a regional dedicated account. Heartland bought about 60% of Gordon not too long ago so no ide if things are different now but its worth a shot.

Sounds great Max ( well except the unload part, lol)! Having the option to run local for extra cash is a huge bonus in my mind. I am on a local account (more like linehaul really) and have the option to work weekends if I want. Some I do and some I don't but it is nice to have the option! Congrats!!!

Who do you think will be making money when the slow season begins?

Dumb question for you. .. When is typically the "slow season" or does that depend on whether dry van, flat bedder or reefers, etc and does that tend to be a regional thing?

I know last year after the new year the dedicated dry van account I was on slowed down considerably......of course the fact I was hauling Nabisco products and everyone goes on a diet about that time could have something to do with it!!!

I think reefer drivers stay busier year round but don't know that for a fact, just observation from my friends who drive reefer. I spoke with one of my friends who drove on the account I currently drive on with a different company ( before the company I drive for took it over) and was told it never slows down. That being said, I'm not taking any chances. Maybe a reefer driver or 2 will jump in here and let you know what their experience is.

I would suggest to all new drivers to be prudent with your money when you have a good week. It is tempting to splurge on eating out or buying something new for the truck, but when you have a slow week you will wish you had the cash. I worked in 100% commissioned sales for many years and saw the same thing happen there....have a good week, go blow all their money, then cannot pay the bills...trucking is no different because your pay will vary from week to week. Seems like common sense but some folks just don't get it. Btw, there are no stupid questions!!! :-)

Patrick, I run on a local dedicated fleet where I get paid a flat rate plus miles. When I started I was told the expectation was to run 2 loads per day. Well, as things go when a new account is started with a company there has been BIG learning curve for everyone from my company, to the shipper, to the drivers. Some days it is possible and some days not. However, and this is a biggie, some drivers have figured out they can actually make more money if they get detention pay than if they take a short run, so they play the odds of trying to sit more than 2 hours. Personally, I hate sitting and frankly I'm not much of a gambler so I start my day as early as possible (today began at 02:00), so I am sure I will get at least 1 decent run in. Some days I come back to the yard and there is a preloaded trailer and I can get shorter run in and some days I only get the one. I probably make less money than I could if I tried the detention game. Upper management is starting to get on drivers who are sitting a lot because they are not generating revenue for the company but taking home pretty decent money for sitting. Who do you think will be making money when the slow season begins? Not the folks content to sit I'm pretty sure. The long and the short of it is, companies need wheels to turn to afford to pay any of us so I can see why there is an expectation beyond just arriving on time to a consignee.