Comments By Chief

Forget texting ,Facebook or all those other things. Simply pick up the phone and call. Way better than those other things.

I'll agree to disagree. With FaceTime I actually get to see my wife instead of just hear her voice. And we don't talk an exorbitant amount of time so it doesn't use much data at all. And texting is good for those situations where you may not be able or be in a position to talk on the phone.

I also use Verizon and have good signal strength virtually everywhere. Facetime, Facebook and cell phone are my primary communication tools with the family.

I have the Rand McNally 520. It gives me a hazmat violation warning as soon as I get off exit 3 I-20 for the Flying J at Shreveport. (There is no hazmat restriction there).

Yea that's pretty normal in every state. You can take the haz mat test and pass it but it will not be add until you get the actual CDL license. I would suggest if you have the time do it now before going to a company.

In some states (i.e. Florida) you can't even take the hazmat test until you have the CDL first.

From what I can gather you are going to a school in a state other than NC, getting your CDL there and then going back to NC and transferring your license back to NC. A word of caution about the hazmat endorsement. It USUALLY is the one endorsement that is NOT transferrable from state to state. Make sure you check with NC DMV to see if they accept the hazmat endorsement from another state before you go through the trouble and expense of getting it someplace other than NC.

Even though the background for each is conducted through the same agency it is two separate processes. The hazmat endorsement is done through your driver licensing office. You need to check with them for the exact procedure for your state since it can be different from state to state. The basic steps though, are to pass the written test, have your fingerprints taken and they send off for the background check. When it comes back good you will be notified to come in and get your new license or in some states it will be mailed to you.

TWIC is done usually at a port of entry. Find the government TWIC web page and you will get all the answers to your questions plus be able to find the nearest TWIC office and also preregister.

My advice would be to get your hazmat endorsement first that way you can get the discounted price on the TWIC. It does not always work going the other way.

I had actually researched JB and considered going to them. They offered .48 cpm which is really good. The only problem is where I live. The position was strictly dry van OTR, out 12 weeks, in one week and $800 for the week I was home. No way my wife would be cool with that.

On another note, JB Hunt is by far the LARGEST intermodal carrier in the United States and a good portion of freight is starting to move that way. Every other company is now realizing this but they are way behind JB when it comes to intermodal.

IMO, getting on with JB Hunt is an excellent career move if you can find a position that fits you and your goals.

I a week of paid time off every 3 months!? I'd take that in a heartbeat

I should qualify my comment, I'm not married and don't care about home time, in my last driving job I stayed on the road for months at a time, swinging by the house every blue moon just long enough to empty my overflowing mailbox. and check that the place was still there. I'm in a good position as far as frieght lanes also (i used to live 4 miles and now I am 1 mile off of I-80 in western PA and spent my first 7 years running from here to NY, NJ, MA, CT, NH, VT, ME, VA, MD, and Ohio so I'm not afraid of east coast loads)so 4 weeks paid time off a year sounds too good to be true:)

Yeah, I had to actually ask her two more times to make sure I was hearing AND understanding correctly. With the kids out of the house, if I wasn't married I would be all over that deal in a heartbeat.

I had actually researched JB and considered going to them. They offered .48 cpm which is really good. The only problem is where I live. The position was strictly dry van OTR, out 12 weeks, in one week and $800 for the week I was home. No way my wife would be cool with that.

On another note, JB Hunt is by far the LARGEST intermodal carrier in the United States and a good portion of freight is starting to move that way. Every other company is now realizing this but they are way behind JB when it comes to intermodal.

IMO, getting on with JB Hunt is an excellent career move if you can find a position that fits you and your goals.

Thanks for the info.

You can mount stuff to your windshield but it must be outside the driver's sight line to the road, signs, and signals, outside the area swept by the windshield wipers, and technically, items should be no lower than 6 inches below the upper edge of the windshield but I see stuff mounted on the sides and bottom all the time.

My cell phone holder is mounted top left corner, prepass is top dead center, and GPS is bottom dead center (dead area between the wipers).