Profile For Suicide Jockey

Came in on my day off to help run some loads as folks were panic buying fuel before the storm.

We grounded the whole fleet as the storm made it's way through the area.

Fleet resumed operations this morning. All the sleet and snow melted away today.

As usual after a NC ice storm there are plenty of cars in the ditch. Otherwise all back to normal.

Agree very much with this. In my area as well there are quite a few older fuel haulers. They just take their time and do it right. Age and fitness are far less relevant than your head being in the right place. Mistakes happen in a moment of stray thought, and are very expensive, very dangerous, or both. Accidentally hook your hose up to the wrong compartment, and u may drop thousands of gallons of gas into a diesel tank or vice versa. If you catch the error you'll shut that store down for the day until their tanks can be pumped out, which is an expensive and time consuming task. If you don't catch it you may cause tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the customers engines who purchased that fuel.

The physicality of the job isn't a major issue. Complacency is the biggest challenge.

Mental requirements are more important in this job. There’s a lot of fuel haulers around here in their seventies and even a couple in their eighties, so obviously the physical part of the job is not overly onerous. Having the mindset that allows you to do the job for forty years with no incidents is the hard part.

Probably haven’t lifted anything over twenty pound in this job. We do do a lot of standing around in the weather while delivering.

I'm based out of Selma, and load out of there primarily. Also load out of Fayetteville, Apex, and occasionally Chesapeake VA.

I'll occasionally run a load out west near Charlotte, bit it's rare, and I'm not carded at any terminals out that way.

With a 2-3 year time frame, I'd recommend sticking with one company. Earnings in trucking are very performance based. The better you are at your job, the more you make. Drivers tend to not earn much their first year because they are still "learning the ropes". They make more their second year not because they receive a pay increase, but because they are better at their job. That tends to repeat itself each time you change companies. When you go somewhere new you now have to "learn the ropes" at your new employer.

I was at Prime for a bit over 3 years. Each year I made more than the previous year. At no time did I receive a pay raise of any kind.

When I left Prime and got into fuel tankers I did pretty well my first year. My 2nd year I made an additional 16k more. And my third year I made 10k more than my second year. My pay system was the same, I just got better at my job.

Stick with one company and strive to be the best driver possible. Keep your expenses low and put all that money in the bank. You'll have a nice amount saved up when your ready to leave.

I may have misread something. But typically if a company pays for your CDL training, it is typically with a contract to work with them for at least a year. My assumption is that if Amazon pays for your CDL training, you would be driving for Amazon for at least a year after. Just like if you go though Wilsons CDL program, you will be working for them for at least a year.

I am not familiar with Amazons "Career choice" program, so I could absolutely be wrong. But I don't see how they would pay your CDL training without expecting a year of driving for them in return.

All that aside, It's good that you are pursuing company sponsored training, over paying out of pocket to a CDL school. Let a company invest in you, and they will be more interested in your success.

I don't have specific experience with Wilson, but I went through Primes CDL training program and then was a Lease Operator with Prime for 3 years. Since Wilson hauls freight for Prime, I'll assume experiences may be similar. I had a very positive experience with Prime and did bring home a net income in the ballpark of 85k. 100k+ net may have likely been possible as a constant driver trainer in a good market. That being said I would not be comfortable recommending any new driver to get themselves into a lease or a lease purchase. The risks are to great and you are to inexperienced to fully grasp what you are getting into. The companies will sell you on the benefits of being a L/O, because it is more beneficial to them. As a L/O you assume the costs of fuel, maintenance, taxes, medical benefits, and the financial risks associated with driver errors.

It is more risky and more expensive to the company to bring you on as a employee, than it is to pay you a percentage of load and allow you to assume all the risk as a private contractor.

Also I have seen accounts from other motivated Prime drivers on this forum that earned a similar income as company drivers.

I have heard that the current freight market is in a rough place, so those income numbers may be more difficult to hit. The freight market may also be why companies are nudging you towards a lease, as it reduces their costs and risks.

I'm a bit out of the loop, as I left Prime about 3.5 years ago. But I would highly recommend a company driver position based on my experience.

I am now a company driver for a local company hauling fuel, earning more than I ever did as a L/O with Prime.

Years ago I saw a flatbed with their load leaning like that in Amarillo. I hung way back as he got off the highway and headed towards a truck stop. As he tried to make the turn, he rolled over in the middle of the intersection.

When I was OTR at Prime my employers main terminal and my dispatcher / fleet manager were located in Missouri. I live in North Carolina. Living 1000+ miles away was not an issue at all. It was actually the norm. You just need a locate a truck stop or some other location to park the truck when you go home.

Different story if your pursuing a local or regional position. You're going to want to live more locally in those circumstances.

As previously mentioned, every company is different.

My company also has 4 cameras. 1 Driver facing, 1 Front facing, and 1 looking down each side. The cameras are always recording, but no one is sitting there watching you drive. The one exception being they do weekly camera functionality checks on every truck. If you happen to be doing something you shouldn't be at the moment they check your camera, well that's tough luck. If you generate a "critical event" like a hard brake or a sharp turn it will send a 40 second video clip to the safety department for review. It will do the same if you blow a stop sign, red light, or a railroad crossing (we're all hazmat).

I've talked to drivers at other companies who have started using more AI monitoring on their drivers. Cameras track their eye movements and chirp warnings if their eyes stray for to long. If they don't correct their eye movement it will generate a video for safety to review. They also get a score generated by the AI system, every time the driver requires correction by the AI they accumulate points. Higher points are bad...

There seem to be an increasing number of companies that are banning phone usage while the truck is moving. Doesn't matter if you use a legal hands free device, you must be stopped to use the phone.

Smoking is already prohibited near the truck since we haul fuel.

I got my CDL through Prime with the intent to leave after a year. I stayed for a bit over 3.5 years, and only left because my family was begging me to find a local job.

I enjoyed driving at prime way more than I ever expected.

I firmly believe company sponsored CDL programs are the way to go.