Comments By Shilo M.

Hi Shilo,

I agree with Mountain Girl. It sounds like LTL (Less than Load/Line haul) would be up your alley. All I know about it is what I've read on this site. 6 String Rhythm is the resident expert in LTL on this site from what I've read so far. (I just nominated him official LTL expert.) You should check out his thread LTL Trucking - My linehaul job for an in-depth look at what it's like. It's a great read!

If you don't have a lot of time, because it's a long thread, check out the LTL Trucking Company List he put together and see if any of those companies have a terminal in your area. If so, hop on the companies website and see if they offer paid training so you don't have to fork out money upfront. You could also just Google LTL companies + your general location to see if any pop up. I had to do that to find one near where I live. The one closest to me is a smaller company that doesn't offer training and requires 1 year of OTR experience. Hope this helps!

LTL sounds ok, but no adventure. Not really going anywhere really, unless you're talkin' regional. The only experience I had with LTL was when I drove a forklift for FedEx. Seemed like a lot of p!*$ed off city drivers. A perfect job would be a couple of overnights a week, and a week long trip once a month :)

The OP sounded like he is afraid of some things which is natural for someone coming into this industry. I was afraid of all of those things too. Like mountains. That **** is scary, right? It is, but not nearly in the way you envision it. I was scared to death of mountains 6 weeks ago. Once you learn to to downshift up them and roll back down, it's really a lot of fun. Well at least for me it is. I begged my trainer over the past couple weeks to let me do Fancy Gap and Cajun Pass in the times we were there. I got to do both and it was so fun. I should caution anyone reading this by saying I may be a lunatic.

This is definitely a dangerous industry but the danger is hyped up too much. The danger is other drivers, not weather or grades. If you can be good at this, it is fun.

Rolling down a mountain would never sound like fun, esp with 40k in the trunk! I'm from Ohio, we don't have mountains; hardly even big hills! I have recurring nightmare of having to stop mid way up a mountain, and somehow rolling backward uncontrollably----->yyyyyyyuuuuuuuhhhhhh!

Hi Shilo,

I agree with Mountain Girl. It sounds like LTL (Less than Load/Line haul) would be up your alley. All I know about it is what I've read on this site. 6 String Rhythm is the resident expert in LTL on this site from what I've read so far. (I just nominated him official LTL expert.) You should check out his thread LTL Trucking - My linehaul job for an in-depth look at what it's like. It's a great read!

If you don't have a lot of time, because it's a long thread, check out the LTL Trucking Company List he put together and see if any of those companies have a terminal in your area. If so, hop on the companies website and see if they offer paid training so you don't have to fork out money upfront. You could also just Google LTL companies + your general location to see if any pop up. I had to do that to find one near where I live. The one closest to me is a smaller company that doesn't offer training and requires 1 year of OTR experience. Hope this helps!

Yes, that helps very much...Just what i need; I'll definitely be checking that link out! Thanks again

Are those jobs typically open to new drivers? I talked to a recruiter about stuff like that, but, after all, they're salesmen... Thanks

-Shilo

YES! Yes. Fed/Ex, UPS Freight, Yellow, Reddaway, Saia, yes. There's work for new CDLs. Also look into the training programs that some of these companies offer. Some of them pay for CDL training if you also work on the dock for a while. It's worth looking in to.

-mountain girl

Good to know, I have a Saia operation 5 minutes from me. I hear they are good to work for. I guess they're all about the same, there will be pros and cons, and certain people difficult to work with no matter where you go...

Thank you both, is a few day out job considered OTR? Is that even a common run time at all?

Pretty much, yeah. Just be careful about hearing "a few days out" from a recruiter. That kind of promise might turn out to be a bit longer in real life than what the recruiter tells you. I'm not saying recruiters are dishonest. They just don't always get what the job is like in the real world. Even my recruiter, who works in the same office as all the rest of us, has a slight disconnect from the actual rigors of the job. It just turns out that way.

Stick around and keep asking questions as you go through this process. Everyone on here will tell you the truth about the real world out here.

-mountain girl

Thank you!

Yes.

Look for local LTL, P & D, linehaul. You don't have to go over the road. It's hard work either way; but it's good work.

-mountain girl

Are those jobs typically open to new drivers? I talked to a recruiter about stuff like that, but, after all, they're salesmen... Thanks

Not being the most knowledgeable guy here.. I would say you would be looking for local or LTL deliveries. From your description it doesn't sound like OTR is what you are looking for... 3 weeks out 2 or 3 days home.

Thank you both, is a few day out job considered OTR? Is that even a common run time at all?

I'll try to keep this short. I'm close to 42. I've previously been self employed for about 15 years in home renovation. Lost that when Osama got elected, drove forklift for FedEx for 2 years, quit because it never went full time. Currently employed as a Para (teaching assistant) in an inner city school working with emotionally disabled kids. I do like my job, just isn't for me for reasons unnecessary to go into. I'm now looking into getting my CDL training through Trainco here in Northwest Ohio. I'm going to spend nearly $4,500 total doing this ($ I really don't have). I hear a lot of good about trucking, and some bad. Real quick, I have a wife, a 19 year old daughter, a 10 year old son, and 3 year old daughter. We're a close knit family, and I'm not worried about my family falling apart if I'm gone for a couple of weeks, but, like I said, we're close and I don't want that lifestyle for us. I wouldn't mind being gone for 2 or 3 days then come home for a couple. Even leave for week, no problem. I just don't want to raise my family from a cell phone. Of course I'd like to 8 or 10 then go home, but I hear that is rare. So I figure if I'm gonna be gone for 12 or 14hrs, I might as well be gone for a couple of days. Not to mention I wouldn't mind seeing some of the countryside. Of course, that romance side of trucking: seeing those beautiful sunrises, all the sites, cool truck stops (if I can back in :) ), and of course, eating 3 meals a day at the Iron Skillet buffet! Or is it BS? Is all that lost to tight schedules, and less than human dispatchers? Do the Oakridge Boys still play on the radio when you're driving an 18 wheeler?

Then there's pay, what would I expect to make for a typical job. I have a flawless MVR. I hear of guys calculating their hours/pay and figuring they only make about $13 bucks an hour (UGH). I have FedEx and UPS, as well as many others near me, but not sure if the first two would consider me, being new? Or who would be worth working for, for that matter.

Whew!, Then there's the part that you have to drive the truck! Backing, snow, ice, low bridges, fog, bad directions, lay overs, mountains and hills (worse yet, having to take off on a hill!!!) to name a few. Are these all the same concerns you all had, too? Are they an everyday challenge, or just a lot I'm just over-reacting to?

I'm tryin' to throw it out there and see if anyone with some varied experience can throw anything honest (the good and bad) my way. I have a sort of neat picture in my head of what it would be, and trying to stay realistic at the same time! I just want to make sure of some things before I spend any $. Thanks in advance yall!

P.S. Not trying to be a jerk, but I know a lot of people like to paint the picture that they work the hardest and suffer the most, heck, I'm guilty of it, too! But please, if there IS good, pleeease tell me!

I started training with Schneider National last week, so far so good. They seem to be a very professional group of people and very safety oriented. My second week of training was delayed due to a lack of trainers per number of students we had, so I am at home until Saturday when a trainer opens up. But they are paying for my time at home and that is okay with me. I am doing my training at their West Memphis Ar. location. The trainers there really work with the students to teach them safe driving and doing things the Schneider way. I think I am going to like this company a lot.

Just a quick question: What made you want to go with them? Just wondering because they are on my list of prehire companies. I'm considering going to Trainco to get my CDL training, just not sure if I wanna risk being OTR for weeks. Anyone ever heard of driving for a few days then being off for a couple, or something similar? Thanks

Thank you all for the helpful advise that I will take :) Quick question about driver training...are there driver training/mentor programs if I want to work for a company that I would say drive for 500 miles and come home, or is it only for OTR drivers? Dumb question, what exactly are the minimum requirements (drive/away time) to be considered an OTR driver? Thanks!