Profile For Pete B.

I live out of my truck, I eat out of my truck… I’ve saved a ton doing it this way. My recommendation to you: don’t spend big bucks on truck improvements during your first year of driving. Complete one full year, and if you’re still with us, and plan to be for at least the next several years +, upgrade your mattress, and get a P.O. box at the nearest post office to where you spend the majority of your down time.

My first year I slept on the mattress that came with my truck; at the beginning of my second year, I spent money on a nice mattress, and it’s made a world of difference in my sleep. I also just recently acquired a PO box near an operations center I visit at least once a month, so now I can have important mail sent somewhere where I can access it, and they’ll even receive packages for me and hold them, if I decide to order anything on-line.

Good luck, drive safe, and look forward to sharing the road with you!

The first (and last) time I locked myself out, a driver w/a ‘17 Freightliner Cascadia unlocked my driver-side door w/his key; wouldn’t open the passenger door, or start the truck (I asked him to try, out of curiosity). My truck was a ‘14... Freightliner’s use of blanks saved my butt.

My company truck, Freightliner Cascadia also, has a smaller engine than what you’re talking about; it’s got the DD13. I’ve pulled numerous loads through the Appalachians as well as across the mountains out west, 76000-79000 lbs, with no problems other than having to do it slowly. Do you want to run with the Big Money Truckers and blow up the hills at 45, 50 mph, or just get up and over the mountains? What you’ve got will be fine. I feel that all that extra horsepower will just lead to higher fuel cost. Yeah, it sucks chugging up the hills in 7th, even 6th gear, but eventually I get there.

It's a real beauty. Congratulations, welcome, enjoy your time at home, and be safe, driver!

Congratulations! And great job using the forum to air out your ‘opportunities’ along the way. You had many people engaged in your process and very happy to see you succeed. Well done!

As a tanker driver, I’m a big proponent of learning to drive big trucks first, pulling refeers/dry vans/flatbeds, before going the tanker route. There are just so many scenarios that trainers & instructors cannot prepare you for, that you and the 4-wheeling public will be better off you learning in something other than a tanker. I’ll never stop being amazed that Schneider and Prime (and others I don’t know about) allow brand new drivers to pull their tankers.

If there is little to no signal, it isn't going to help....even 30 times nothing would still be nothing.

In a previous life at a former job, my company held a meeting of district managers. At one of these meetings our Asst. GM asked, "If you have nothing and you double it, what have you got?" And one of the district managers energetically exclaimed, "Two!" It was awesome.

I misinformed you guys, i apologize. Dallas, tx and fort collins, co are the two major areas i would like to frequent. I live in mid michigan. I know schneider has a big customer close to my home and an OC in Dallas but Colorado doesn't look good. My major concern is Dallas.

You would certainly be able to take home time at the Dallas OC; as others have said before me, it's just a matter of communicating to your DBL (driver business leader) your intentions. It's a two-step process: 1) put in for 'time at home;' 2) let your DBL know you want to change your park location to the Dallas OC. There's plenty of freight going to/from Dallas, so it won't be a problem.

It's where you were considering going the IC route that raised the red flags; no one has yet to introduce to this site a successful model of driving as an IC. Read Old School, G-Town, and others' suggestions about the perils of driving as an IC. Add to the already near-insurmountable obstacles placed before you the condition of selecting routes/loads based on location rather than profitability, and you have a recipe for certain failure.

Good luck to you, stay safe out there!

If you pee into a bottle while Rainy's sleeping, and quietly slip it into the trash bag, did it really happen?

I too have my laptop with me; two actually. I don't have a tv, and have several hundred movies and tv series downloaded onto them, which I never watch. But they're there, if I'm so inclined. Rarely use it for trucking; much faster using the smartphone for navigation when needed. It seems luxurious to use the laptop when in an OC and connected to wifi, or using my phone as a hotspot: so much bigger/better than the tiny little phone in comparison. Not a big deal to keep juiced; I have a small 200W inverter I bought that works great, and a larger inverter that came with the truck if necessary. Really it boils down to personal preference. Laptop vs. smartphone vs. tablet.

Steven B., I gotta tell you, that’s a terrible reason to want to enter the IC world, to visit specific cities in mind. Yes, with 2 of the examples cited earlier, Landstar and Schneider, you pick your own loads, so you could theoretically visit friends and family in cities you find loads going into, out of, or through, but not all loads pay the same, and now you’re talking about sacrificing profitability for the joy it gives you to visit unseen cities and catch up with relatives or friends. Not a good business plan.

And, two-day shipping, for free.

Ducky, the short answer is “no,” I haven’t had any issues from leaving a shipper too quickly & not checking behind them. That’s the point. It would be nice to count on them loading us safely and securing the product to our high standards because, they’re professionals, right? Fact is, they’re also human, and thus prone to skipping steps, taking short-cuts, hurrying through their job for [insert reason here]. Some (most) of our shippers don’t allow us on top of our trailers while on their property; they don’t want us falling off and suing them. But since we’re usually loaded through the dome lid on top of the trailer, you better believe I don’t drive very far before stopping the truck and checking the dome lid, making sure it was closed and secured tightly. If I get 100 miles down the road and product has leaked out because the dome lid was loose, who do you think will be held responsible? I guarandamntee you it WON’T be the shipper. So yes, absolutely inspect each load you get, every time! It’ll c.y.a. while protecting your load.

Ok, thanks Rainy.

I can’t explain the difference, but I went home recently after 14 mos. away, and while walking down the sidewalk with my wife, later in the first day back, holding her hand, it felt so comfortable, as if I’d never left.

What did ya’ll do with the old mattress, after buying the new one? Would you put the new one on top of the old one?

Big Jim, I’m going to discourage you further from starting out driving tankers; you really need to learn the principles of driving a big truck before hauling liquids. The surge is no joke. It takes practice to anticipate how the liquid will act while traveling down a mountain, and negotiating curves on the way down. Nighttime driving is twice as precarious because you can’t see the bends in the road as far in advance as you would in the daytime.

You seem to think hauling tankers is more profitable; I don’t know about Prime and their food-grade loads, but on the chemical side, yes, we earn more cpm’s, but the miles are much shorter. The vast majority of loads are under 1000 mi. I am a bit of a hypocrite, I started as a newbie driving tankers, and wouldn’t haul anything else at this point, but I don’t recommend it for new drivers. The learning curve has scared the hell out of me at times.

Daniel, congratulations on finding something that you and your wife are happy with. I have a friend who used to be a suit with Old Dominion; nothing but good things about that company!

To continue the hijacking of this thread, at one of our OC‘s last year a truck caught fire, which spread to four other trucks. I shot a real nice video, as I was close enough to feel the heat, which I then uploaded onto YouTube. Two days later I got a phone call from my driver manager asking me very nicely to please take it down. Which I did without hesitation.

I drive tankers for Schneider, but see plenty of their dry vans at the OCs; I assure you, our equipment is top-notch. The support system is phenomenal. I can’t imagine a better ‘first company’ to work for.

I believe you are under the mistaken impression that the job you take will affect your level of fitness. Maybe I should have led with this point. If you are not in the habit of exercising and maintain a poor diet, flatbedding isn’t going to change that. You aren’t going to get your heart rate up enough often enough tarping loads to make a difference physiologically. With regard to exercising, nearly every Schneider dry van OC (and they’re lots of them) has an exercise room. And you can always walk outside. You need to fix your diet regardless of what company you drive for. 40lbs is no joke. Know what I’ve put in my stomach today? Coffee, apples, and yogurt. I’m about to fix dinner... a salad w/reduced fat Wheat Thins. It’s not that difficult. You can do it. Stick w/Schneider for one year, then re-evaluate your options.