Profile For Old School

Brett’s truck?

Haha! Not even close!

I'll have a think on it after I have a big cup of Joe... got myself tired a-roamin' and bummin' around...

Probably a big man, weighs about 210

C'mon now you new folks! These guys are throwing clues all over the place!

Tommy Tutone???

For a good time call 8675-309

Haha! Good guess, but no prize for you!

Wrong make of truck, though

I've just been waiting for someone to say that! I knew somebody would say it.

It's simple - he just hooks to the proper trailer!

At about 5 mpg in that rig, I hope he's not traveling far!

Notice the truck number on his rig. Do any of our newbies know the significance of that number?

Josh, I have zero experience with Crete. I do have years of working on a dedicated account though. So, I'm just going to say there are some huge perks to being on a dedicated account. You'll gain understanding of how it works the longer you stick with it. You're also going to be developing a strong relationship with a particular dispatcher - that alone is really valuable, especially if you are proving to be worth your keep.

I literally have "extra" money, that I didn't consider to be mine, thrown at me every week. It's my dispatchers way of rewarding me for being so helpful to him. These dispatchers on these dedicated accounts have considerable leeway to negotiate extra pay from the customer. If you get on a dedicated account, make a point to learn how it works. I promise you can make some really great money at this when you understand the inner workings.

You can literally learn to manage your appointments so you time it right to be consistently dispatched the best loads. Some of the other drivers here have complained that I'm getting all "the good stuff." They are kind of right. They just haven't figured out how to make sure they are available when those best loads are going to need to be pulled. There's more to this than knowing how to drive these monsters. Learn how and when the loads develop on these dedicated accounts and you can set yourself up to be riding high.

Once again the "tyranny of urgency" causes us to let fear and misinformation lead us into bad decision making. It's a lesson that we never seem to comprehend. Untold damage is being done to people's lives, liberty, and fortunes. It's ridiculously sad.

Josh, are you new to trucking, or are you an experienced driver?

I'm curious how you became interested in trucking. I'm not sure it's going to work for you like you're thinking. I'm not being judgemental or critical with the following thoughts. I love this career and have a long history of helping others get started in it. I am immediately concerned when a persons initial focus is on home time. That's a big red flag to me. This career takes a lot of commitment and very few of us take more than four days off during each month.

You've been very open with us concerning your struggles with depression. That's good - it shows you know your limitations. Do you take medication for depression? Oftentimes they can be disqualifies.

I'm also concerned you don't really understand about how local trucking jobs typically work. The hours are long. You made this statement...

I plan to do this for 6 months to a year then get a local gig making about $1,000 - $1,100 per week and being home daily (I've looked and seen that there are jobs available that require as little as 3 months and pay at least that much). I really enjoy driving and I don't want a desk job staring at a computer talking on the phone all day (what I currently do).

Most newcomers to this see "home daily" and think, "Yeah, that's what I want!" They think this is just like most other jobs, but it's really not. Most local drivers work 12 - 14 hour days. They barely have enough time to eat and sleep while home and then they are back at it the next day. Most of them are unloading also. Very few local trucking jobs just involve driving. There's interaction with customers, and lots of physical work.

I just think we need to have more dialogue with you to help you understand what you're getting into. It may save you from getting burned out on something you'll never enjoy. Do you like being rushed? Do you enjoy being physically involved? Are you good at organizing paperwork for complex multiple stops daily? There's a lot to local delivery driving, and most people don't last real long at it.

Rob, how does it feel to be pulled off the bench and put into the game? We're all excited to see you moving from the thought process into those first real challenges. Go get 'em!

Mike, your best off avoiding the "chatter." It's basically meaningless. If you were an O/O you could be worried about what's on the load boards, but your not. You're getting paid for hauling "sailboat fuel" and that's really great!

Just do your job right and your company is going to do whatever they can to keep you busy. It doesn't benefit them at all sending you home. Keep turning the miles and they will have your back.

I'm still just as swamped as ever!

Cypress is an excellent choice. They run a great operation. I've reccomend them for years to people living in Florida. Go for it!

I know some of you are wondering if you should try to get into trucking at this point in time. Others may be concerned about their jobs. What's taking place in the country is crazy in my opinion. But, I want you to know that trucking will survive this madness.

The wrecking ball that has been unleashed on our economic system is destroying lives, families, legacies, and businesses. It's very sad to witness the incalculable destruction. Trucking will take some hits. We're going to see some smaller companies close up. We will also probably be surprised by a couple of the big companies suffering, and reducing their operations, or being absorbed into another large company. Cash reserves are going to prove that old adage about "cash being king."

Those things are normal adjustments during trying times. We will see them happen in the next few months. That does not indicate that trucking is a poor career choice at this juncture. Trucking jobs are available now, and still will be as the dust settles and things fall into realignment.

We are already witnessing supply chains being busted up, and that just compounds the negative effects on various suppliers. Closing restaurants is a great example of this. Food delivery is suffering and so are the vendors in that supply chain. They were specifically geared to supply restaurants, and their packaging is having to be completely re-tooled for grocery store distribution. What a mess!

There's a lot of volatility in the supply chains now. Prices are going to fluctuate wildly. If things stay on lockdown there will be too much truck capacity in comparison to demand and that's going to put tremendous downward pressure on freight rates. That always results in people selling trucks, and that results in the valuations of trucking assets decreasing. None of that is good for the industry.

The truth is that we are in a violent storm. We are also a necessity in times like these. This is not a time to be fearful. It's a time to show your resolve. It's a time to be a Top Tier Driver.

If you need or want a trucking job, I encourage you to be brave and jump into the fray. You will be rewarded.

If you're already employed as a driver I encourage you to be a top performer. Lead by example. Don't cower at what others fear. Lean into your profession with vigor and determination. Be effective. Be proficient. Be productive. Those are the drivers who stand the test of time. They also will survive this unforeseen test of our system of capitalism. Free markets demand efficiencies, and there's no better time to prove you're worth keeping on the payroll.

Keep trucking my brothers and sisters. Your time to shine has come upon you. Face it with determination and boldness. You will slay this dragon!

You need to look at Roehl. They pay during training, and they have special fleets with very generous hometime options.

Here's a link to get you started Looking Into Roehl.

We're in the midst of a troubling time in our nation, and some of our recent conversations have been a little sober. I've noticed the popularity of our diaries section for newcomers and I thought I'd revive some older threads where I chronicled taking my daughters with me on the road. I never know if the newer folks in here have come across these, but they might provide a pleasnt read and a little relief for some of you. I tried to pack them with interesting information that shows what life on the road can be like.

I have three daughters, and each of them enjoyed their travels with their "Old Man." They are each married now and have their own little babies. I just thought some of you might enjoy reading these adventures from days past.

First Adventure (Esther rides with me)

Second Adventure (Flatbedding with Sarah)

Third Adventure (Entertaining Abigail)

Hows flatbed freight Old School?

So far mine is keeping me very busy...

That's my gross pay on my last paycheck. If I were to extrapolate my numbers from this first quarter, I'd be on pace this year to make almost 100,000 dollars. Will that hold up through the rest of this year? I wish I had a crystal ball that could show me the results of this Great Mitigation Experiment we're walking through. If I did, I'd give you a more definitive answer.

My opinion is that flatbed freight will probably slow up somewhat. The attrition rate caused by the lack of commerce affects everything. It breaks up our supply chains and causes unexpected havoc in places we can't always anticipate. When manufacturing slows, the movement of raw materials slows, markets soften, and demand decreases.

The economy will recover, but the timing of that can only be guessed at right now.

I can't for the life of me understand why we aren't opening our economy back up. What we're doing is completely unsustainable. Our whole monetary system is based on the free market. There's nothing "free" about what we're doing right now.

Our President is taking the lead from his advisors. Those same advisors know that there's no cure for a virus. Sure, it's a bad one, but probably not anywhere near as bad as they make it out to be. We don't have any kind of accurate numbers, due to limited testing, to bear out their claims.

Meanwhile I'm feeling like the government is over-reaching into our civil liberties in an unprecedented way. The American public and businesses are creative enough to deal with this. We don't need to be sent to our room and grounded like an eight year old child who has blatantly disobeyed it's parents. It's preposterous!

I said at the beginning I sense one of the greatest financial opportunities in my lifetime developing in this. I still see that and am acting accordingly. If a dumb blue collar truck driver can see that, then whoever is behind this certainly has a huge financial incentive in what they're doing. I don't know where we are heading with all this, but somebody holding the strings in this puppet show stands to gain either some real power, or money, and probably both.

I have a lot of respect for the results President Trump has achieved, but I was just dumbfounded when he mentioned adding another 2 trillion dollars to the next stimulus bill for infrastructure. The problem for me was the reason he gave... "Let's do this now while the interest rates are zero." C'mon man!

We know those rates are artificially manipulated right now. The Federal Reserve has been teaching us to play with Monopoly money for so long that two trillion actually sounds reasonable to us. But wait a minute! What investor is going to finance this by purchasing long term treasury bills at zero interest? NOBODY! So, what's going to happen? Those interest rates have got to go up substantially in order to finance that two trillion dollars. Duh! Again, I'm just a plain talking ignorant truck driver who understands that.

They are going to have to realize we are not a herd of stupid sheep. We will not be driven off the edge of a cliff! I suspect we will have to roar like a Lion to be heard, but I also know we are capable of that.

I did have a call from someone that just smacked of looking to take advantage of a brand new driver

I'm curious about that call. Can you elaborate on the details? I'm not really interested in the company's name, but the details of why you thought they were "looking to take advantage of a brand new driver."

Have you heard of such a thing as ‘disqualification due to lack of employment’ that I mentioned about my license itself ??

Frank, this is a standard practice in the trucking industry. Many employers won't touch you if you don't work for three months. You're a newly licensed driver. You're more a risk than anything at this point. That's no indictment of your abilities or your potential, but it's a reality in this business. Rookies are costly. It's generally six months before an employer even starts to make money with a new driver. You've got a license, but no experience.

Typically the insurance companies dictate which drivers can be employed. Anyone with little to no recent experience is considered "high risk." I had one company turn me down for being out of school too long before getting my first driving job. It's a reality.

Jairo, welcome to our forum!

I'm sorry we're a bit late in responding to your question, but most of us have been kind of busy lately. There's always a need for truck drivers. Don't even worry about that. What you have to focus on is whether you can make a go of it as a driver.

I've been doing this long enough to know how this works. A lot of people think they will get into trucking because it pays good. Then they discover they aren't making near what they heard they could, they miss their families and their old lifestyle, and they just get frustrated with the whole industry. Trucking is a huge Commitment. That's where you've got to focus. Nobody makes a good run at this without total commitment to it. Don't worry about demand. Successful truck drivers create their own demand.

I've listened to drivers on the same account as I, who share the same dispatcher, complain vehemently about the lack of loads, or their low miles. I walk away scratching my head. I do what I can to help them understand how to create their own opportunities, but they have convinced themselves it's the company's responsibility to keep them busy. The trucking industry rewards productive people. It's really that simple. Be productive and easy to work with and you'll be greasing your own path to success at this.

I'm on a break right now so I had time to respond to you. I've got 2,500 miles dispatched to me while I'm sitting here resting. I've actually got three consecutive loads booked and set up for me. I've been extremely busy because this company wants me on board - they've placed a value on me based on my levels of productivity. That's the strategy - always produce good numbers and you'll find yourself in big demand.