Profile For OC

Independence Day means I'm a year older, my dad use to lie to me when I was really little "those fireworks are all for you". Thinking those fireworks and all those people where gathered together for my birthday was a great feeling.

Keep in mind the level of anxiety driving to orientation in a rental car is nothing compared to what you're going to feel your first month or so solo and you happen to miss a turn in a major city trying to find a shipper/receiver. This situation happened to me in Baltimore, staying calm and trying to find a place to turn around took some real effort.

But did she pay you for the egg rolls??

I’ve never understood the purpose of that stretch... is it simply for looks or is there another reason?

Looks cool with the free added effect of lower mpg and a much larger turning radius.

Checkout McElroy also, stand up no nonsense company that seems to care about drivers.

They are slowly switching to autos, every 2019 nontrainer truck was an auto that I've seen. I wouldn't count on having a choice, new drivers seem to get the 2017 trucks which are all 10 speeds, veteran drivers are getting the autos first.

McElroy fit the best for my needs/wants.

Jody Make a top five priority list and see which company will fit your needs best.

Mine was 1 hometime 2 pay 3 type of freight 4 rider policy 5 size of company

Rob, Best diary on this sight, I always enjoy reading your posts. Thx for all the time and effort you put into this.

That makes perfect sense, thanks so much for the reply Parrothead.

I'm in Elizabeth City NC (northeast corner of the state), im heading to Pleasant Hill NC for orientation. Im guessing Pleasent Hill will be my home terminal aswell. Just retired from the military 2 weeks ago, I'm heading to a 40hr refresher course on the 5th then off to orientation the flowing week. Can hardly wait!!!

Hello All, I'm starting McElroy orientation 12Mar18 and have been looking on their website at the CPM increases and new referral bonuses they just rolled out and noticed this "Current Regional drivers are averaging 60 cpm for all miles due to generous minimum pay loads." Any current McElroy drivers have any information on McElroy minimum pay loads? Thx in advance OC

Pay Scale for Regional and Local Company Drivers (Effective 03/04/2018) Years of Experience Pay Rate per Mile Local Regional 0-6 Months $0.45 $0.49 6 Mon – 1 Yr $0.46 $0.50 1-2 Years $0.47 $0.51 2-3 Years $0.48 $0.52 3+ Years $0.49 $0.53 *Rates above include tarp pay

Current Regional drivers are averaging 60 cpm for all miles due to generous minimum pay load.

There is no top choice overall. What type of freight to you want to haul? Where do you live? How often do you want to get home? Do you chose a company just based on their school or their name....

Bulk tanker sounds very interesting, thx alot for all the great info.

Thx for sharing your experiences and insight thus far on a part of trucking that isn't talked about very much in the diaries category.

Good Morning, What you consider a pro others might consider a con and vice versa so it's really hard to make a black and white list for you.

For me Pros-pays percentage only doing flatbed home more or less every weekend in my area

Checkout their review

https://www.truckingtruth.com/trucking-companies/review/company-1/tmc-transportation

Got any updates Jim?, I'm very interested in TMC for my next endeavor.

Thanks everyone for the helpful information, I'm just worried about being at a disadvantage getting my cdl without going to a school. I fully expect to have to go with a trainer for 30-40k miles.

Scott, I remember something about only being able to have your permit for 6 months at a time and a total of 2 permits in a 2 year period in NC, is that still the case of has that changed?

Hello All, I've been lurking here for about a year and learned a ton of info about the trucking industry. I'd like to thank Brett A for an excellent website, this is by far the best trucking website I've found. A little bit about my background, i'm 19 year active duty military waiting to retire in 11 months. About a year and a half ago I started training with a small company part time (5 trucks) and got my class A CDL FEB 2016 and have been running about 1,000 miles a month just to try and keep from getting super rusty with the basic semi driving skills.

Does anyone have any guidance in regards what steps I should take as my retirement gets closer? When I first started working towards getting my cdl I thought going the non-school route was good a idea and would obviously save me a lot of money and help me get my foot in the door with some company faster, now I'm not so sure. After doing more research I feel like waiting until after I retire and going to a school or signing on to a company and doing a company sponsored school would of been smarter since I'll have 2 years part time experience and no school certificate when its time to make the change. Thanks for any input you guys and girls might have.