Profile For Old School

I need to know, "Is this typical for the industry or am I working for the wrong company?

Hey Michael G, welcome to our forum!

You pose a great question. Actually mixing in short haul loads with longer ones is a very typical practice in the trucking business, and it has nothing to do with "working for the wrong company." Short haul loads are more profitable for the company, and in some cases (depending on your pay structure) the driver also.

Your driver manager has goals that have been placed on him by his managers. One of those goals is to make sure he has certain amounts of revenue per truck that he is managing. One way of increasing those revenues is to mix in short hauls with long hauls.

You mentioned meeting with your assistant terminal manager, but you said nothing about having a professional conversation with your driver manager. Most driver managers will take offense if you just go right over them and report your problems to their manager without at least working on it with them first.

How's that relationship with your driver manager? I've got a hunch you've been making it a little difficult. That's the best way I know to have your miles go down to an unacceptable level. Drivers who typically don't work hard at developing that most important relationship with their driver manager often have this adversarial attitude that makes them think they need to beat their manager into submission. They are also typically consistently convinced they are with the "wrong company." Many of them spend their entire career searching for the "right company," never realizing the problem is staring at them in the mirror every day.

We all get a mixed bag of loads, but a professional puts in just as much effort on all of them. You said...

I can't make a living this way.

Length of load really has nothing to do with making a living. Total miles you turn per week is where the money comes from. There are a lot of professional drivers making a killing off of 250 - 300 mile loads. You do two of those in a day and you are killing it! The rub comes in when you have to prove your capable of pulling that off.

I have a feeling your driver manager is trying to help you get to that point, but you aren't digging deep enough to make that happen. In a situation like yours, I always wish we could hear the driver manager's side of the story.

What time of the day are you starting work? A smart driver running these types of loads will usually start around two or three in the morning. That way he can get unloaded first thing in the morning, and be ready for the next load which he will deliver the same day, and typically be able to pick up another one around four o'clock that afternoon. You can make some killer money running like that, but you have got to show your driver manager that you can do it consistently.

Here's an article that might help you lay hold of the proper mindset a professional driver needs to embrace if he's going to Make Some Money In Trucking.

You had something else going on that day.

sensors were outta whack.

Now, that's good Chip Bagg. You have to be careful what you say in a place like this. Thousands of new drivers could take your earlier statement and falsely be thinking they can't let that DEF needle get below the halfway point or they're messing up their truck. Nobody's getting on to ya, we just like to keep it real in here. It is Trucking Truth after all.

I never let def go under half a tank in my truck and never had a issue. The day I let it get kinda low suffered a loss of power and bunch of other stuff with it went outta whack.

While the DEF systems in these modern day trucks can be problematic (especially on high mileage trucks), running your DEF tank below the half way mark has no I'll effect on the system. You had something else going on that day. I'm just pointing this out to keep some seemingly misleading information from becoming "factual" to other rookies reading this.

Now, had you been driving with that tank really low, as in empty, that could have caused some issues.

Tcd is far less work than flatbed. I may not be the best example but my first week in TCD I did 2618 miles which is more Than I was getting in flatbed.

Glen, just a word of caution here concerning Kevin L's comments. He's a rookie, just like he admitted. He's obviously struggling to turn the miles. I seldom have any problems turning 3,000 miles or more per week driving a flat bed. We all struggle at this in the beginning, but there's no reason why you can't turn the miles as a flat bed driver. There's a learning curve to be sure, but some folks are cut out for flat bed, while others are better at running a reefer.

Here's a link to the great story that G-Town referred to...

Persian Conversian's Flatbed Rollover Accident.

Bolt, it's trackable in your logs. You simply stop somewhere, put yourself "on duty" with the notation of "load check." It's the same way you would show your "fuel stop." That's the whole purpose of "logs." We log what we're doing, and law enforcement uses those logs to verify that we've been good boys and girls.

Jay, I'm just curious... Did you use our High Road CDL Training Program for your studying? It is the most effective way to prepare for those tests.

Hey Chalmer, all rookies put all their focus in on what the company is really like. It's no wonder either, because usually they've read a bunch of trash talk on the internet about trucking companies. Relax, success in trucking has absolutely everything to do with you. That's the problem - few people realize that, and when they start struggling they blame the company. Consequently, ALL the major trucking companies have an unbelievably high turnover rate, but it's because this job requires some very special people to enjoy success at it.

So, the first and foremost thing is to focus on whether you can fill those shoes of the American truck driver. If you can, you'll be an asset to the economy and living large at the same time. If you can't, and many fall in this category, you'll be posting a bunch of negative trash talk on the internet about how bad the trucking companies are. Check out the this article on Four Traps That New Drivers Fall Into. Hopefully it will help you have a better understanding of how to make a good start at this.

If you'll hang around in here and join in our conversations, you'll learn a great deal from people who went through all the common struggles of surviving and succeeding at this rewarding career. Also, I highly recommend you look into the following links.

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Welcome to the Bronx!

Yeah, 95 is just crazy in that area. I avoid it when possible. The traffic is moving so slowly through there, the beggars are standing on the white stripes between the lanes panhandling the motorists. Nobody moves fast enough to hurt them, so they can just wander right up to your vehicle while you're trying to navigate your way through.

Those New Yorkers have a lot of trouble reading a tape measure! You'll be fine. Ten thousand other trucks will go right through there with you. I've been that route a lot, but I prefer the Tappan Zee. It's less traffic, stress, and potholes!

New York has some funny ways of measuring their bridge clearances.

Are you staying on I-95 as you pass through the Bronx?

I constantly try and move appointments up if possible.

I love this statement Big T!

I hear drivers say, "Now I'm a runner, but I just can't get my dispatcher to give me the miles." If more people understood how and why moving their appointments up will increase their income, we would have a lot more truckers making good money.

Your killing it Big T, and I am proud to see it.

I agree with Turtle - there's no reason you'll be slowing down in the winter.

I've heard some people complain of this, but if you can prove to be a good solid driver, they'll find work for you to do.

I'm on a dedicated flat bed account and sometimes the plant I'm pulling from shuts down for maintenance or something. Some of the drivers will just enjoy a week or two off, but if a person wants to work our planners will just find us work on the spot market so we can keep the wheels turning.

With the economy like it is there's going to be very little slow down in trucking for the next few years.

Robert, you've moved on to CFI, and as long as they're not concerned about your meds then you are good to go. I merely advised Wendy to have that letter ready to go just in case they hit a snag like you did at Maverick. That way they are proactive and ahead of the game.

Here's the deal though, if you continue to encounter trouble with this issue, you may need your physician to change your medication to something more widely accepted in the industry. A lot of people have to do this to get their foot in the door of the trucking career.

Wendy, Congratulations on all the progress and the decisions made! I'm assuming that he will be driving a flat bed if he's going with Cypress, is that right?

I recommend you go ahead and have a letter written from the prescribing doctor stating that the medication your husband is taking will not interfere with him driving a commercial vehicle. It will be something his new employer would like to have on file.

Best of luck to you guys, and stay in touch. I can assure you there will be a few issues here and there, and we all know how to help you see the way through them.

Scherod, I started my trucking career at Western Express, in their flat bed fleet. I had a great experience, and built a good solid foundation for my trucking career there, but there's a caveat that I want to emphasize to you. Trucking can be a really cool experience and career. It is a lifestyle, much more than a job. You need to be "all in" if you really want to make it work. That commitment goes for both the lifestyle your engaging in and the company you're going to work for.

It just takes time to figure this whole trucking career thing out. Many people quit so early in their careers because they can't grasp an understanding of how it all works. They are accustomed to a regular type job with standard hours and hourly wages. None of that applies in trucking, and then on top of that you are pretty much on your own to figure it all out. You work long hard hours by yourself. There's no one nearby to ask questions of. There's nobody to hold your hand and help you out. It takes a determined individual who is capable of independent thinking to jump in here and make a successful run at it.

I had some issues getting hired myself, and Western Express gave me a shot. I can assure you it's a great place to work, but you will have to purposely avoid the naysayers. We call them Terminal Rats. There are going to be a lot of people there who have taken the attitude that they are going to endure whatever lousy treatment this company will give them just until they have a few months experience, then they are going to get a "real" trucking job. They are absolute idiots who will never make it at any trucking company. Avoid them, and shun their advice - it's poison.

This whole trucking career is "performance based." That simply means the folks who can make things happen out here get rewarded well for their extra effort. If you want to be treated like an idiot, you conduct yourself like one. If you want to be a successful professional driver, you perform like one. It really is that simple, yet success at this eludes most of the people who attempt it.

I had a trainer there who fit my description of an idiot. He even advised me to move on from the company after I had three months experience. He felt stuck there because he had some pretty bad things on his DAC report. If you end up with a trainer who is well below valuable, just learn what you can and figure out the rest once you're solo. Your whole experience there will depend on your approach to the job. In trucking we generally get what we deserve. That's the definition of a job that is "performance based."

Best of luck, and please stay in touch with us. You're going to have some issues (everyone does), and we will be more than happy to help you get through them. Oh, by the way, I worked at Western Express for sixteen months. I would have been more than happy to stay there much longer, but I received an offer that was just too promising to pass up. I'm still working that new job now, four years later.

Man that was some great advice Heavy C!

I'm so glad you jumped in on this one. Your experience adds a lot of weight to what you and others are saying. The diversity of experience in here is really helpful in a conversation like this one.

Great to hear from you Wick!

Congratulations on that one year anniversary! That's a big deal as far as I'm concerned - it's something a lot of rookie drivers never accomplish.

Nice job!

Hey, it's time to update your status to "Experienced Driver." You're in the big leagues now.

Alex, why are you wasting months trying to put a square peg in a round hole? Are you still scheming a way to skirt around CDL weight limit laws?