Comments By Jason E.

Oh, and you are assigned a truck, so it's yours. Even the sklip-seat deal I am in I drive the same truck, unless it's in the shop, then I get a loaner.

After it is done at the shop, do you get "your" truck back? I'll be keeping it spotless if it's essentially my truck. Fingers crossed they put me in anything other than a freightliner. Nothing but issues with those trucks and then company when I was working at Peterbilt of Las Vegas. What is "sklip-seat"? I'm assuming you meant skip/slip.

Best, Jason E.

Hey Jason, I just had to respond to this tonight because I'm sitting in my favorite little Sports Bar (The Gipper) in Milford Connecticut enjoying one of the best bowls of French Onion soup, (while watching the Broncos put one on the Chargers) that you'll find anywhere in the country. I enjoy cooking in my truck, but I also have little favorite eating spots all across the country. It's funny how the whole country gets to be as familiar to you as your own backyard once you've been out here doing this for a while. Four days ago I was down in San Benito TX (the southern tip of Texas on the border of Mexico) enjoying a delicious boiled shrimp dinner at a place I like to go to when in that area. Tonight I'm at "The Gipper"

My point in sharing this is that you don't have to settle for truck stop food all the time. Many of them are strategically positioned so you just about have to eat there if you are planning on eating out, but once you get to know your way around the country you can develop your own little places that you like to stay at so that you can eat well.

I use a crock pot in my truck - it works well for me and the style of cooking I enjoy. I'll throw the ingredients together in the morning for a nice soup or a Jambalaya, or maybe even some smothered pork chops and let it simmer and fill my truck with it's wonderful aroma as I'm turning the miles of scenery into money. I'm considering getting a small electric skillet so that I can cook a quick meal at the end of the day when I feel like it, or maybe even for cooking some eggs and bacon in the morning.

You may want to wait until you get in a truck before investing money into electric appliances just so that you will be aware of what type of power source you've got available to you. I've seen quite a few people out here using a small Coleman cook stove, and some folks with a "hot plate" for a cooker. My wife will sometimes save portions of meals that she has prepared at home for me in the freezer. I recently had some really good purple hull peas with deer sausage cooked in with them that she had prepared and saved for me to take with me on the road.

You can save yourself a lot of money by carefully planning and preparing your own meals, and you can also eat more healthy that way also.

All excellent ideas! I'm not sure if I could deal, or would want, the crockpot making my truck smell like my next meal all day. I think I'd prefer the truck to smell like, well..truck, or air freshener. I like the other ideas though. How do you go about doing your dishes? Of course you can use plastics for the eating and what not, but what about the crock pot, skillet, etc?

Hey All, As I go into school, I'm already looking forward to the day I have my own truck. However, I don't like the health risks I'm taking on if I eat fast/gas station food for every meal, every day, although I do love greasy junk. Are there any truckers out there that can tell me what equipment or methods you use to eat semi-normal until you get some home time? I was thinking instead of a Microwave I may get a toaster oven, since anything microwaved can be put in a toaster oven, but not vice versa. Also, I thought about getting a little camping stove of some sort that is big enough to cook a decent meal but small enough to be stored out of my way. Appreciate any and all input!

Best, Jason E.

Thanks everyone for the input! I despise the idea of team driving, and feel like it'd be a long 8 weeks. I think I'll be better off doing regular hauls, and consider Prime Flatbed after I have enough experience that I can skip the trainer stage (anyone know how long that is?).

I been in Primes flatbed division for almost 6 months as a company driver and am loving it. The pet policy is $1000, but they can take it out of your check in $50 or $100 payments a week. The lightweight refrigerated company drivers actually make more per mile. Don't lease, company drivers do well at Prime.

Thanks for jumping in! What about strength? You gotta be able to bench 150 to strap stuff down securely, or are those tie downs on flatbeds mechanically leveraged so anybody could get em tight?

-Jason E.

Hey All, I just got off the phone with a recruiter from Prime Trucking. They said everything looks good and I should have my pre-hire in a couple days. So, school doesn't start for me for another two-weeks and I've got a pre-hire with Werner, Prime, and Swift. I'm considering them in that order as well. I was looking for thoughts on Prime here. I've read a lot about them. The recruiter says if I did refrigerated, I'd eventually have to lease to make money (uhm, what?). If I went flatbed, which she suggested is best for where I live, I'd be team-drive training for approximately 8 weeks, at $500 week for the first 5 weeks, and $700 week every week after that. At this point, I'd go out on my own in my own truck, and company drivers get 40 cents per mile, and an additional $50 every time I have to tarp something.

Werner seemed like the best company, but looking at the numbers here, it seems I may be better off with Prime. I'm not sure their pet policy, that's a big one for me. My concern is that flat beds usually have straps, and I imagine it taking ALOT of strength to strap down some of these loads I see on flatbeds, and a lot of strength is one thing I don't have. Would this be an issue? I've been thinking about leasing (outside of the company) 6-9 months down the road to have my own truck and run my own policies, without being strapped down to a company. I'd appreciate any input here, as my gut tells me Werner but .40 per mile looks pretty good as well.

Regards, Jason E.

Hey All, Some of you may remember I was worried about passing my physical, because of my wrist. Well, yesterday I passed! I've also been informed that all of my moving violations have been removed from my driving record by my attorney, and to top it all off, I received three pre-hire letters today before even starting school!

Anyways, my reason for posting is because I am heavily leaning towards Werner. I don't want to be with a trainer for 6 weeks, because of medical/privacy issue, but I'm gonna suck it up and I guess my trainer is gonna have to deal with it. I really like that they have a rider and pet policy, so I can bring my dog with me, and the pay seems pretty good starting out, as well as the tuition reimbursement (boy do I need it). I have no obligations to be home, so I can literally run 24/7 and not give a damn. I was wondering if anybody had thoughts on their trucks or what they stick the new guys in? If I'm gonna be OTR long periods I don't want to be put in some POS that has more mechanical problems than a lot lizard has STDs. From what I understand, after orientation you get to take your truck home to get all settled in, and you also get to take it home on your days off (you are literally, ASSIGNED, this truck, as if it were your own)? YouTube seems to be filled with nothing but negative comments about every company, no matter who you drive for, so I won't be getting any useful feedback there.

Thanks All, Jason E.

For what it's worth, the Werner Recruiter was the only one who actually called me back, and I didn't have to chase around.

Hey All, Some of you may remember I was worried about passing my physical, because of my wrist. Well, yesterday I passed! I've also been informed that all of my moving violations have been removed from my driving record by my attorney, and to top it all off, I received three pre-hire letters today before even starting school!

Anyways, my reason for posting is because I am heavily leaning towards Werner. I don't want to be with a trainer for 6 weeks, because of medical/privacy issue, but I'm gonna suck it up and I guess my trainer is gonna have to deal with it. I really like that they have a rider and pet policy, so I can bring my dog with me, and the pay seems pretty good starting out, as well as the tuition reimbursement (boy do I need it). I have no obligations to be home, so I can literally run 24/7 and not give a damn. I was wondering if anybody had thoughts on their trucks or what they stick the new guys in? If I'm gonna be OTR long periods I don't want to be put in some POS that has more mechanical problems than a lot lizard has STDs. From what I understand, after orientation you get to take your truck home to get all settled in, and you also get to take it home on your days off (you are literally, ASSIGNED, this truck, as if it were your own)? YouTube seems to be filled with nothing but negative comments about every company, no matter who you drive for, so I won't be getting any useful feedback there.

Thanks All, Jason E.

I was expecting to hear from truck drivers from all different backgrounds, not solely from truck drivers that fit the publics perception.

Jason,

You have no idea about who I am, where I come from and what it took for me to get here. I asked that to see what your response would be, and, you took the bait.

The folks on this site, including me, do not give a damn about some closed minded stupid documentary that tries to label drivers as "redneck", "southern", "white trash", or any other label.

You posted with a bias and wanted a respone that would dispute it. So, I have to ask you a question. Are you a truck driver?

I'm not sure what you're getting at, or what your problem is.

Thank you for the replies! It confirms my thinking that this documentary doesn't document s***, except what's convenient.