Comments By Anne A. (and sometimes Tom)

Always check the truck to trailer connection before moving the vehicle. Every single time.

Indeed; sabotage or not, it's the driver's 'fail' for not checking.

He may have bobbed home and got in a hurry to pick up the trailer, also. Neither are an excuse.

R.I.P., mom & teen son. Wonder if the boy that survived was another son, or her son's BFF ?!?

Such a sad, sad tragedy/travesty, either way. That driver isn't going to be driving for awhile; mentally AND legally, I'd bet.

More / different details, here: Mother & Son Die in LaPorte County Crash; Reporter shares updates.

As shared on CDLlife: Mother and Son Killed by T/T; With the Facebook Post from the P.D..

Prayers and condolences to those involved; preventable tragedy.

~ Anne ~

Hey, Donna;

Great to see you around, and WOW, NICE !

Kudos from us (ME) as well, fellow female!!

Much better than the full blue, too ~!!! Congrats, gal . . .

Best wishes with her, stay safe;

~ Anne (and Tom!) ~

If it helps I am located in Philadelphia, PA but I do not mind traveling or possibly moving to another state for employment. Thanks again for the responses, I will take a look at every company that was mentioned.

Hay, Twosides11 !!!

I've got a few great (mostly) Ohio companies, of course:

Boyd Bros. of Ohio; Hires from PA; has training. Good company!

Ohio Transport; Has a terminal in PA; they mostly hire in the 5 state area; run 48.

Transport National; Elite/Specialty Hauls; Youngstown, Ohio; 10 mins from PA.

Keim TSA (rare!) Flatbed Training Co., many locations.

Bennett Motor Express; Various Flatbed Categories; Gov't/Specialty.

R.K. Campf Transport; East Coast Flatbed; some curtainside/conestogas.

Logan Trucking; Flatbed; percentage pay plus accessorial pay.

ATS/Anderson Trucking Systems; Flatbed & Van, great lanes; hiring OH and PA.

HMD TruckingMostly Flat; some Dry Van. Great reputation.

Montgomery Transportation/MT; Flatbed; Friend drives for them & loves it.

Hope that's enough, for the moment; good sir! I'm wondering (as well) why you feel the 'grass is greener' syndrome coming on, but you know me; I'll help how I can!!

Best always, man~

~ Anne (and sometimes Tom!) ~

For over twenty years I have been a civil servant. This career has taking a heavy toll on my heart and mind as I deal with human tragedy and crisis day in and day out. For this reason I want to take a leap into something completely different. This has brought me to this forum. Presently I make $64k a year and need to sustain this number to make my budget work. Between the want ads, recruiters and advertisements this number seems achievable (and then some) in the truck driving industry. What I need to know is, is this realistic or just recruitment hype? What can I truly expect to earn starting out?

Hey, Marc L. ~ Welcome to Trucking Truth and thank you for your service as well, sir! Military or EMT, all huge contributions to society.

As has been said above (and more to come, I'm sure!) we're glad you found this place. It's the best, especially for folks that WANT to learn, and aspire to succeed in this profession, factually and sincerely.

I highly suggest the following; to look into/read, as you consider/contemplate trucking:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

As far as meeting and/or exceeding your current pay; you've seen the comments above; all spot on. My other half has been driving for almost 20 years, and he's now (finally) local, exceeding that figure; yet also, experience (well maintained, might I add) often is considered in one's starting .cpm (cents per mile.) I noticed you left out your location in your profile; yet if you'd add at least your state, it may actually be a huge basis for comparison. For example, in states such as mine (Ohio) and perhaps Kentucky and some others, $64K is upper middle wages. In New York, Florida, Cali, and others, it's not quite even mid wages (not including the non earners, in either scenario; only the employed.) I'm no statistician, but I've lived in NY, FL, and settled in Ohio. Mean, median, and mode are so disparate.

As far as where/how to start, and make the money you need: we don't 'ask' for age here on Trucking Truth; yet we sure have a great group of all sizes. Keep in mind, age has nothing to do with 'discrimination' at all, just ability; yet take Old School for example. I'm not sure of his age; a tad older than Tom and I, yet he throws tarps like a 25 year old! His time management shows it, ergo his earnings. G'Town is another 'grown up' like us'ns .. having driven for Swift 9 years, pulled doubles for PFG, and now is off road hauling (Heavy Haul/ Construction equipment/Ground Movers) like a youngster; his maturity coupled with experience landed him in the upper figures.

On the other hand; take Rob T.; early/mid 30's and started out slinging milk, bread, and eggs (food delivery) and is still somewhat in that same arena; more driving and less unloading/less backaches, he's moved up of course. Another great former serviceman .. PapaPig started with Werner, doing the Dollar General accounts (which we DON'T recommend for newbies)!! There's a few of his videos on YouTube, even showing him scurrying and hauling butt, & the physicality!! I'm guessing he's in the 40's range; he moves faster than many 20 somethings.

Then, there's Bobcat Bob, Banks, Delco Dave, and many others . . . who've jumped into the LTL world; as many (most) have 'Dock to Driver' programs, which speaks for itself. You can certainly look up their diaries; LTL pays quite well. (Sadly, we aren't near any hub where we life; ergo: Location!) I'm pretty sure those LTL'ers are a mix of ages.

Prime.....so many great products!! Daniel B., who designed the pretrip for this site, started there at 22 (?) and even trained; went on to tanks (fuel) and is now in the LTL world, doing awesome, with ODFL (Old Dominion) where Bobcat Bob is. Kearsey has been with Prime for many years; she's got a channel, too: Truckin' Along w/Kearsey! She's a trainer there, and a mod here, and she's got your #s beat, I believe. Turtle started at Prime flatbed, moved on to WMPF (WalMart) and probably nets 'six figs.' Rob D. (Chief Brody) left the barrister life, and went to Prime; first flatbed and now tanks with them! Pretty sure his numbers went up, too.

Case in Point: Please don't misunderstand me; you're as young as you feel/can be/are/choose to be, in a sense. Many at 30 would be fine starting out with 'labor intensive' driving positions, to enter the industry. (Again, Rob T. and PapaPig come to mind. One's 30'ish, other 40'ish.) Yes, it does pay better. LTL, as well; considering most pay benefits, with no copay; some are even union. Once again....Location, of course...is a factor. Age, as you see (or feel) fit.

TL;DR, in closing, trucking is one industry that 'appreciates' maturity in a new/potential driver/trainee, unlike other careers. Least discriminatory way I can say it, honestly! Experience raises the pay scale, as well.

Wishing you the best, see you here soon;

~ Anne & Tom ~

Laid my old man down last week , 96 year old military man, got new rig finally, dedicated as the Robert E, fair winds dad

Jakester;

Thanks for sharing, good sir. Wow, what a long and wonderful/marvelous life; may he rest (or drive on golden roads!) in peace..... and may you & the rest of your family, stay blessed. Remember his lessons; I'm betting they were priceless.

The final mile . . . . must be the best of the best, scenery and all inclusive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hugs and cares, wishes and prayers ~ to you & yours;

~ Anne (& Tom) ~

I have had a couple of bad experiences in the quest to get my CDL and was wondering if anyone could offer advice. I was supposed to begin training with one company and at the last minute they said that I had a moving violation from 2018 that was set to drop off in a month and then I could reapply. I waited a month and reapplied and they then told me that they would not be able to move forward at this time. So, I applied at another company. I was set to leave for training on Saturday October 8 and begin training on the 10th. They sent me my bus ticket along with several emails welcoming me to the {company name} family. I spoke with a woman from the company yesterday to go over what to expect from training and I was ready to go. This morning, I received a call saying that they were no longer going to be able to offer me a position in training because of the moving violation from 2018. I asked him why, when we had spoken at the beginning of this whole process, and he knew at that time of my driving record, he had said that since it was more than 3 years ago, it wouldn't be a problem, but all of a sudden, it is now a problem. All he said was "That's what they told me". This is leaving a really bad taste in my mouth, and I am wary to apply elsewhere because I really don't want to get my hopes up again, only to have them totally dashed right and I am getting ready to start training. Does anyone have a similar experience and/or advice on why this keeps happening?

HEY, O/P !!

So, what's up ?!?!? Did you learn anything? Have you been 'rehomed?' Hired anywhere/elsewhere?

Again, many great replies above, albeit much humor & much ado, about you . . . the only one missing!!

Care to update us? Just saying, your last sentence was a question; you got answers. Did you heed them? Care to share (more) so we/they can help accordingly? Notice, you sure DID get answers, above!

Heck; maybe you're no longer in need of the assistance of this great group of folks; perhaps you can share your secrets HERE, then...how to overcome whatever you DID overcome! It's all about sharing, caring, and helping others here...

Best to you, man. Stop back; it'd be nice!

~ Anne ~

I passed my CDLP tests! I was almost dissapointed it was so easy. I guess I wanted all my hard work to feel like it counted for something.

The only thing I felt unprepared for was DOT medical card thing. I was planning on waiting until training starts (Monday!) to get the physical done by their doctor instead of trying to figure my own thing out. This resulted in my having to sign a 'self certification' form at the DMV that limited what I was allowed to do. The lady had to explain it to me as I was totally lost. If I had accidentally checked the wrong box (intrastate vs interstate) I wouldn't have been allowed to drive outside of Kansas! She said when I got my medical card and came back for the driving test to get me CDL I could request to update the form and choose the option that required having a card. I still don't really understand what I signed or what I picked. If this is a standard thing in every state - and if it's normal to need your exam to be done before going for you CDLP - that would be a nice thing for newbies to know! I told Casey - my recruiter - the same thing.

So next step is Wellsville KS for training at the Keim school. The minimal training pay (and lack of paid transportation to and from) will hopefully be quickly made up for once I start driving. Looks like new drivers here would average 70k. Between that and the individualized attention of a small company - I'm quite happy so far. My ONLY complaint is that small company size can equal slower communication as people are busy and wearing multiple hats. I'll report back after a few days of training to let y'all know what that's like.

Man, sure hope you just 'forgot us' . . . and didn't bail !!!

Flatbed is a tough start, I'm sure. So much to know, beyond the rules of the road and the truck & driving, in and of itself.

Hope you made it, or are!

~ Anne ~

There was one thing I wanted to add about the personality issues. I'm not best friends with any of the people, but now that I've been there a while, I talk to them like equals rather than a noob. Idk if this makes sense, but for a new person, I would recommend learning the lingo and "acting the part' more than I did.

I was clueless and showed it. This doesn't mean be afraid to ask questions, but talk to the people as your coworkers and fellow drivers, rather than just a noob. ****, look up some stuff to say to them that makes you look like you know the part. Eg... "Man I was checking in at ___ and the clerk had me wait 20 min, can you believe it?"

Hey, man!

You left this diary ''high & dry!" LoL, it happens. Just wondering!

So,

Is this still your same place, doing this ?!?!? Shifting Video... ?

Either way; be safe!

~ Anne ~

Hello! I'm port2ky, my first name is Cam and this is my story. I'll start with a little bit about myself then move into the now. I am 25 years old, married, and we're expecting our first born in November. Originally from Portland, Oregon and moved to Southeast Kentucky about a year ago, I never expected to be where I am now in terms of career path.

In Portland, I spent 4 years in the Cash-in-Transit(CIT) industry. A majority of my time in that industry was as a Driver/Messenger however I moved up the ranks into a Supervisory position and eventually went to work inside the Vault for the remainder of my time there. My original plan was to stay in this line of work upon completion of my move to Southeast Kentucky, however my branch did not allow that to happen.

Unemployed and living in a place I had only visited a few times before, I had no idea where I would end up. After months of applying and being denied employment, I was running out of options. I ended up going to the local Community College for CDL School under sponsorship by my current employer.

I gained my Class A, no restrictions, a few weeks ago and am looking forward to see what the future holds for this industry! I will try to update this thread as much as I can with my experiences. So far, I have been in training for 2 weeks and was supposed to head out tomorrow evening however my trainers truck broke down so it's up in the air whether or not we will go out this week.

Thank y'all so much for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy my journey and transition from Cash to Asphalt.

It's been awhile, good sir; (me again!)

How are things, then ?!?!? Did you succeed with your forward plans? Hope so . . .

Best wishes; stop back and update!!

~ Anne ~

Congratulations Bill! +33k miles in a quarter is very good for a new driver. You’ve worked hard and earned it, plus the extra bonuses.

I’m a little jealous wanting to get back out on the road!

Any news on your stuff, Dennis? I've missed a bit with technical issues (of all kinds) in the lasts 10 days; yet I looked, and couldn't find, re: yourself!

Hope all is moving forward, and may your plans and wishes be fulfilled, good sir.

Always,

~ Anne ~