Comments By Benjamin A.

I think a lot of truck drivers don't understand that some people's time is much more valuable than ours. Obviously, you were holding him up.

I haven't been driving very long at all, and sadly things like this don't surprise me at all. Some people really are clueless. I'm glad this is an "almost." Right turn from the left lane in front of a big truck could have been bad. Stay safe.

Okay that does seem logical . can anyone give me a list of the trucking companies that hire out of n.carolina please ? and thank u

One piece of advice that someone gave me. If there is a truck stop near you, go and see which companies have trucks there. Also, if there are places near you with large parking lots, see if any trucks are parked there. Especially on the weekend.

In the town I live in we have a Home Depot that lets big trucks park there for a few days when the drivers go home. On a holiday weekend, I saw 3 trucks from my company parked there. It's one of the reasons I applied there.

If you start by applying with companies that you know come through your area often, you'll have a better chance of finding one that hires in that area.

I'll jump back in the discussion a bit. If you average my 2 checks, I'm bringing home $675 a week. That's after taxes, insurance, repaying for school, and contribution to my hsa and 401k. For my first 2 weeks solo, it's not bad at all. When I deliver this load tomorrow, I'll have 3000 miles for the week with another day left.

There is a big difference between "starter companies." I'm perfectly happy with mine so far. I agree with Guy, though. Work ethic and attitude make a big difference in earning potential. I'm sure experience does as well, so I have nowhere to go but up.

I am truly fortunate. I spent a lot of time researching (2 years) and found the best company for me. Plus, I lucked into a top notch dispatcher. Even here, a lot of drivers want to put in their year and leave. I'm not really that anxious. I don't see much reason to hop somewhere else.

This is about the 10th check that I've received since I started with the company, but most have been training pay. I ran 2487 miles my first week and 2625 the second since I've been solo.

Unfortunately, due to my mistake, one of my loads didn't make it on the check for the first week. That check wasn't much different than my training checks.

It made it on this week's check though. I haven't been this excited in a while. Finally seeing my hard work pay off.

Hi Jonathan,

I started CDL school April 7 and started with my trainer April 30. We had 5 students in our class and one experienced driver than joined during orientation. Out of the 6 of us, only 3 remain now.

Like the others have said, I think a lot of the companies that hire new drivers are the same.

The one piece of advice I can give no matter which company you choose is to listen. While I hear a lot of complaining from drivers that were let go for "nothing", most of it boils down to not listening and following the instructions from the trainer. If you go in with the attitude that you are a student and want to learn, I think just that can carry you a long way.

Good luck with whatever you do.

I understand the equipment checks being flagged. I know they're required by law for certain things. In this situation though, I thought since he was on duty the entire time that he would only have to flag when he changed duty status.

So what you're saying is that each time there is a stop on a route you would need to flag it even if you weren't driving and stayed on duty for the duration? Just curious how that is supposed to be done. We very rarely have loads with more than one stop on them, so I don't have much experience with how to log that.

Im trying to figure out correct way to log on-duty not driving.I spent 8 hours on duty learning a route but never drove.How do you log the stops/activities,etc.,I cannot find any visisual examples.Thanks.

I could be wrong, but I believe you only have to put the location when you changed duty status. You do not have to flag the different locations you were at if you were on thessame duty status the entire time.

Hey, I'm curious who are you working for? Are you pulling a dry van, or reefer, or maybe even a flat-bed?

Sorry. That would have been useful information. I'm pulling a dry van with Millis Transfer. I'm having a great time so far and don't regret the choice at all.

And believe me, I know how much I still have to learn. One of the guys that I went to school with just made a mess up today, which just remindedme how much attention I have to pay to everything that I do.

Thanks for the welcome.

I'll answer the little bit that I can. You do have to keep a spare logbook in case the computer is down.

We keep a card to give law enforcement. It shows them how to get to your logs. Although, the one inspection I had, once he found out we used elogs he didn't bother checking.

On our system, we have to travel 2 miles or go above 25 mph for it to kick us to the drive line.

Hello everyone.

First let me say thank you to the people that run this site and participate in the forums. I spent about 2 years researching before changing careers, and this was the place that helped the most.

I went to a company school in April. In May, I got in the truck with my trainer. I received my CDL at the beginning of June, and got my own truck last Monday.

I probably should have posted to the forums before now, but better late than never. Thanks again for the help you guys gave me over the last couple years, and I look forward to participating here.

Ben