Posted: 5 years, 7 months ago
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Anyone pay for CDL to get local/regional job?
Yes I did exactly that. Paid 6k and made promises to myself and my wife that I wouldn't do OTR. It's not the easiest thing to do, and depending on your area jobs be limited for local work. There's plenty of companies that do primarily local stuff though. LTL companies like OD, XPO, YRC. There's food and beverage like Sysco, Pepsi, National distributors. You just need to prepare yourself though. Local driving presents challenges that a lot of OTR guys don't get a lot of, and not having any experience makes things that much harder. It can certainly be done but it's not easy.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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Haha, I'm there now. I though it was a decent enough place. I'll definitely be back when I'm up this way again.
Dysarts in Bangor, ME used to be really nice. Before the kids took over. Now it's gone to hell
Oh it's decent, but it really used to be so much nicer. And unfortunately you don't get much in the way of options up that way.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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No el we don't have a lot of those kinds of stores. None of the ones I've been to are that way but I've also not been to all of them yet. The worst ones tend to be IGA stores. Or stores with scissor lifts such too. Either way I wouldn't recommend coming here though. This company is a mess right now. Lots of changes coming in the next few months.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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It's no secret that I'm a local driver. I went local straight out of school. Is that the recommended way of doing things? No. But it's what was the best option for me and my family. I enjoy being local and wouldn't change anything. Well maybe one thing but that's a different story for a different day. No this topic is for those that are thinking about local whether they are new or currently OTR. I wanna share what kind of things you can expect when you get to be home every night. Now of course not all jobs are created equal. However a lot of local jobs are delivery based, so this is a situation will be fairly common for most.
Here's the scenario. I work for a grocery store chain in northern New England. Most of you that have been up here know that streets and businesses up here aren't exactly truck friendly. So my load tonight has two stops. I depart from South Portland Maine and head north to Bangor for stop one. Then east to Bar Harbor. 358 mile round trip. It's a good load. But it comes with a catch. Bar Harbor. This tiny little village is a huge tourist trap. Add to that the fact the main route into town is torn up for construction I have to go the long way around. So the Bangor store is straight forward so I'll skip ahead to the fun one.
This first picture is the bridge I have to negotiate because of detours. It's 12' on the sides so I must go up the middle. I was stopped waiting for traffic to clear.
This next picture is just showing that even at night the narrow streets and pedestrians are always an obstacle. BTW I was stopped for all these photos.
The next shot is before I entered the store. Narrow entrance which I can't take much wider because of cars parked on the street. Normally we come in the other way and you can see that telephone pole on the corner. Which if you can't go wide enough turning in youll certainly hit.
The next series of pictures is after ive turned into the store and the maneuvering I have to do to get backed into the dock. Mind you this is I'm a day cab 48' box. If I don't go wide enough I AM going to hit.
Then before I leave I have to actually move the trailer left before I can exit because the turn it too tight and I'll clip the building. This store is one of the ones our guys hate especially during the summer tourist months. However it doesn't get much easier in many other locations we deliver to.
Local driving has taught me a lot in a short amount of time. Some of it has been the hard way. And I can say that I feel pretty good about being able to put a trailer in any spot now as long as it will fit. But that comes with a major downside. The risk factor. It's a risky proposition putting trailers in some of the spots we do. It can certainly cost you If you screw up. Local isn't for everyone. Most of you may be happy OTR your entire careers. However to those thinking about it. Be prepared. Being home every night comes with a lot of baggage.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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You must be up here in New England. Racing car hauler's are beautiful. The insides are just as impressive as the outside
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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Don't forget your landing gear
This is why I have an order. Gear, pin, connections. I start from the back and work forward. Looks like you got lucky.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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This is funny because our eld tablets in our trucks have the forward camera. Like most tablets do. Well all of the senior drivers have put electrical tape over the cameras in their assigned trucks because they think the company is spying on them. It's like dude if they were really using the camera they would've immediately told you to remove the tape.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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Fade to Black- Metallica
It's not love- Dokken
Cleanin out my closet- Eminem
Indestructible- Disturbed
Wrong side of Heaven- FFDP
Trucker song: While I was away- Pat Green
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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Dysarts in Bangor, ME used to be really nice. Before the kids took over. Now it's gone to hell
Posted: 5 years, 7 months ago
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A fun little exercise for the rookies.
This was actually my first thought. Coming from a local driver P&D standpoint, a lot of my backing came from off the street. It's hard to tell how wide the street is or if there's normally parking on the side. But that's how I would attack it.
Oops was it not our turn yet