Comments By Bill R.

That sounds pretty crummy, wage wise. I would look into Knight. They are a great beginner company and pay much better.

I am at Veriha. They are also totally awesome, I completely recommend them, but they only run in the upper midwest. I mostly run Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. But, they have gotten me home EVERY weekend so far.

Pretty much all of your questions are already answered here. Check out the High Road Training program to get started. Then do searches here. All those questions are answered.

Also, about going local, totally depends on the company, but you probably will have to "put in your time" before getting a local gig.

I see KLLM out on the road most every day. They run quite a bit in the upper midwest (Michigan, Wisconsin, IL, IN). Equipment looks decent, but hard to tell going by at 64 MPH.

The best advice I have is what I do when I am on the road. LEAN WAY OUT THE WINDOW.

Being petite has a different difficulty. There are physical aspects that are tougher for you.

1.) Securing loads will be a bit more difficult. It won't be an inhibitor, but it is a little more difficult.

2.) The physical part of the job (not driving) will be more difficult, in and out of the truck will be harder. Also not a prohibition, just realize it will be harder.

Just some thoughts.

Bill

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

Well, Dan, the problem is, SOME people do require the government to tell them when they are tired. I've been running pretty good miles and still conforming to the hours.

E-logs will become required in the future and I can't say it's a bad thing. I don't want to be I the road with a guy on his 15th hour of his second log book.

Where to in Bay City? I lived there for 10 years. I may be able to help with some road info, if ya need it. And glad it is working out for you, so far!

It was SC Johnson. Done with that one. Auto parts now.

So, after 48 hours at home, off to Bay City. Smooth. Made delivery on time. Now, load to drop yard in Romeoville, IL. Drop and hook, back to Michigan (Oxford this time).

So, now I want to give my impression after two weeks:

I really like this company. Seriously, they do take care of drivers. The only thing is average to poor expensive insurance. I have their oldest (non-training or non-local) truck (2012).

About trucking for newbies:

It seems that 11 hours max drive time is going to leave you free a lot. Nope. You get REALLY exhausted in the beginning. Wiped out at the end of each day. But I can see that in about two weeks, it is going to be so much easier. After I get used to it, I won't be wiped out every day.

Right now it's pretty stressful, but better and easier every day. I do love it though.

So, I call my DM, "Tim, Brian says it's not his load."

"Did you verify the Bill of Lading (BOL)?"

Sheepishly, "Never looked at the BOL."

"You got the wrong trailer. Go back and get the right one this time."

So, my first load was a fiasco. But, I got the right load, made that delivery and one more that day. My DM said he was glad it was only 59 miles not 559. He said it happens lots but never twice to the same guy.

So, Tim was ok with it.

Then, I had to haul to Milwaukee, then suburban Chicago (Melrose Park), then Centralia, IL to get a load for Bay City, MI.

After getting the southern IL load, 48 hours at home.

That all went great.

Well, finally decided to start with Veriha Trucking, Marinette, WI. After about 18 months of researching companies (during which working a different job), I had it narrowed down to two (Veriha and Knight).

The pro for Knight was a good starter company, solid, established, travel all 48. But, home 3of 4 weekends. That tipped it to Veriha (home every weekend).

So, travelled by the car they rented to the Best Western for a week of orientation. Since I had experience (farm driving only), I was their first (me and another guy) in a program called "Super Student".

This meant that our orientation was an additional day but we would not be going out for weeks with a trainer.

So, after the first day of orientation (paperwork and the usual "Rah-Rah" company stuff, they had us 2 Super Students back around the yard, into docks, road tests, etc for three days (Tuesday-Thursday).

Friday I got my truck. A 2012 Yellow Frieghtliner with a Fuller 10 speed. Good running truck, only 199,882 miles. I'm feeling pretty stoked. Get my first load. Easy. Boxes of wood pulp from Menominee, MI to Green Bay, WI.

Easy. 60 miles. Wham bam easy. Go to shipper, get trailer. Drive to Green Bay. Arrive at shipper, 30 minutes to spare. Beautiful. Pop into the office. Brian in the office, "This isn't our load."

Continue in next post...