Profile For Banks

I've been expecting YRC to go belly up for years. It's at a point, where I'd be surprised if they did go belly up.

You can't go wrong with either one. You want to avoid Central Transport and XPO.

XPOs CSA score is 90/100. They're pretty close to being put out of service.

You've been sitting on your CDL for about 3 months now waiting for the perfect opportunity. If YRC is willing to give you a shot, take them up on it. That perfect opportunity is going to get more difficult to get with no experience and a stale CDL.

I worked with a guy that made a right turn off of the interstate on to a 1 lane local street that's just before the terminal. He said the path was clear except for 1 car far off in the distance.

It takes a while for a truck to pick up speed and this car comes flying up behind him laying into the horn. The guy must've not been in that much of a rush because he followed him into the terminal to complain to management.

He had to write a statement explaining what happened and his statement said I don't know what he's talking about, signature at the bottom.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

"You're buddy from class"

Are you talking about CR England's school? If you are then yes, you're hired as long as you get through training. It's not that complicated.

As for whether or not you'll be liable, what does the contract say?

You need to calm down. You're going to have a stressful career if something this small makes you this angry.

No disappointment here, or any negative feelings for that matter.

You're new and inexperienced. The most important thing for you right now is a company that would be willing to eat your mess ups because they understand you're new, not a company that's willing to take a risk because they're desperate.

I'm not telling you to go OTR. I didn't go OTR, I went straight local and have no regrets. I didn't want to leave my family for weeks at a time and even if I did, wifey wasn't having it. I don't want you to make the same mistake you made and the only thing that changes is the name on the truck.

Did you go to a truck driving school and get a 160 hour certificate? If you did, you may want to consider old dominion. They're hiring in Brooklyn, I think the building is right under the BQE by the Meeker Morgan exit (Humboldt McGuiness if you're coming from the other side) and they're a fantastic company. No guarantees, but worse they can do is say no. There's also New Penn in Maspeth and I think Estes has a building in the Bronx. All decent-good companies and you'll be in good hands.

 I just reallt hope the respect my concerns if I come across some malfunctioning equipment, especially a trailer I would have to drive or tractor

when I come across a bad trailer or equipment? Are they going to pay attention to my concern or force me to push something that’s obviously a hazard.

I wish I could tell you they would, but their reputation says otherwise.

 I train for 2 weeks at 180 a day. I won’t get paid till the third week

Like Bobcat said, more of that 1950s stuff.

I would like to work for fed ex, but all of their terminals are gonna require tolls and most likely a 45 minute or more commute. This would be a steady 30 minutes and it’s M-f.

23 was kinda low and I would have to work some Saturdays

Again, your priorities are off. If you can get to central in Brooklyn without paying tolls, you can get to FedEx in Bethpage without paying tolls.

You hope for a lot of things, but hope doesn't get you far. Taking advice from people that know this industry and paying attention to a company's practices is what gets you to where you want to be.

If somebody told me that I can work M-F exclusively, but I have to load/unload my trailer, argue with dispatch about unsafe equipment and get paper checks, I'd laugh. Give me the Saturdays every week.

You refuse to take solid advice because you have hope and wants. That dump truck company satisfied your wants and you hoped a lot, but look where it landed you. I'd bet that Central will be more of the same.

FedEx freight will. Overtime after 8 hours a day, good equipment and they'll train you well.

As for central, I've never heard anything good about them. The pay rate is low, the equipment is bad, they don't do direct deposit and they short people on hours worked. You load your own trailer to start the day and unload it at the end.

Could be a local issue, but I've heard it from more than one person. LTL people tend to stay in the LTL world, even if not at the same company.

If he left Mountain Rd to go back to NYC he was going downhill. It's a steep incline down. So steep, that there are signs for trucks to test their brakes before exiting at exit 1. Way too step for an inexperienced driver to be taking at over 100k pounds.

If it started smoking 10-12 miles out, it's possible you didn't push in the trailer air brake at all. Like grumpy says, I don't think it's possible to push it partially. It's possible that there was an air leak you didn't notice or that you burned the brakes going down.

It's doable. Our very own Errol did it for a bit and you can read about his experience Here

The issue you may encounter is that these jobs usually require at least a year experience.

I would do some more research. You're basing your plan based on a short conversation you had with a guy you picked up at the airport. Experiences will vary and another person's experience may not be yours.

Yes! Speed limiters, great idea, that nobody cares about. Most trucks are capped at 65 to 70, unless you're prime then it's 45, so what's the point to all of this. Next they're going to focus on every truck having mirrors.

Now there's a pallet shortage. I give up.

A w-4 would make you an employee, but that doesn't mean you're a driver on their insurance. You'd have to be employed as a driver and I'm not sure how all of the works to be honest.

So, what happens when it's time for Medicaid to verify your income and they scrap your insurance? In 6 months you want to ask for more, but you don't know if you still have a job right now. You said maybe get something better in a year like a construction gig, but what happens if the bubble bursts and there are no construction gigs for a year or two.

I get it, 15 minute commute and a brand new truck with an easy day as long as the equipment works the way it's supposed to and you're able to handle the mountains (I'm assuming Pennsylvania). You didn't do too well with it on a nice day, what happens when it's snowing. Mountains in Pennsylvania, it snows all the time from November to April. Can't use the engine brake in the snow, now what?

I really do feel like your priorities are off. You have a family and instead of being concerned with health, dental, life insurance, safety and real training you're concerned about a light day, a quick commute and a new truck.

To each his own. You can lead the horse to water, but that's about it. Good luck and I hope it all goes the way you want it to.

The government has been artificially holding up the markets and the economy for the past 15 months.

And profiting as individual's off of it with their legal insider trading.

Unfortunately, it's all a house of cards. 2008 will look like good times compared to what's coming. The great depression might look like good times compared to what's coming.

Prepare yourselves. Watch the stock market for the first signs of collapse. Once the market goes, everything follows, like 1929 and 2008.

I learned my lesson from seeing what happened to my parents in 08 and seeing people doing jobs they were too old for. I live well below my means and I'm comfortable and I'm prepared.

We're booming?

Think about it. How could that possibly happen after shutting down so much of Western society for over a year?

Crash.

It's absolutely coming and sooner rather than later.

Chevy lots are empty but you drive past Ford or Dodge and their lots are full.

My understanding is that they're show vehicles and not the ones selling. I could be wrong though.

I've been looking to buy my first house, it's crazy right now people are paying 15-20k over asking price without batting a eye. Houses that where 180k 2 years ago are going for 210k+. I've made 4 offers only to be significantly outbid, so I may end up waiting a year and seeing what happens.

Investors are moving into real estate to avoid the taxes on capital gains. They're moving the money from A to B to keep as much as they can. That's why there are so many cash buys. There isn't as much money in apartment buildings any more either due to people fleeing those densely populated areas.

The car market is pretty much the same way, especially for pickups and SUVs.

I don't even want anything that fancy. I'd be fine with any 3 year old sedan, but the asking prices are ridiculous.

Did you have 2 separate incidents or just this one? We're you trained by Pam or did you go in with a CDL?

I don't have any information on this process at Pam and I don't think we have any Pam drivers here.

Just go in there and be honest. This is why and how I ended up here, this is what I did wrong and this is what I learned from it. This is why it won't happen again and then let the chips fall where they may. Accept responsibility for what happened and don't pass the buck. A lot of times people go in there and say why something wasn't their fault and that rarely ends well.

The important thing is to understand what I said above and actually apply it to your driving future and not just use it as lip service.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Not trucker related, but I'm pretty mad and need to vent.

I have a 2015 Nissan Altima, fully paid for with 125k miles on it. I feel the transmission starting to slip and I'm more surprised that it took this long given their history, so I decide it's time to trade her in and get something new to me.

I don't buy new cars unless their old body rollovers nobody wants that I can get for a good deal like I did with this Altima. I go to check out some used cars online and they're asking for 20K for a 10 year old car that wasn't with 20K 10 years ago.

Google says there's a chip shortage so now they can't make cars. How long is this shortage going to last? Everytime I turn around there's a new shortage of some everyday product that drives up prices and causes hysteria. When will it end?

I’ll look into that. It seems all of the FedEx jobs are out in New Jersey. I wouldn’t mind working for them. But this opportunity is as local as it gets. Aside from no benefits and such. I know I’m getting low balled with the pay, but I’ll take it.

FedEx is hiring driver apprentices in Bethpage in Nassau County. You can apply Here Getting lowballed should be the least of your worries.

I am scared to reveal myself. You guys get me nervous with all the dac/ dot talk. I want to keep my license clean and safe as possible. I’m from NYC though. Jusy trying to make it happen.

Unless something has changed, DOT doesn't monitor this site and if they do there isn't much information for them to pinpoint who you are and come after you.

We are on Medicaid now

At 30 an hour? Are you getting paid cash? If so, hate to break it up you but this probably doesn't count as experience for a job requiring experience. There's no paper trail. Are you covered by your employers vehicle insurance? Did they request access to your Clearinghouse? If the answers are no, none of this counts as experience. You're just driving a truck and putting yourself in a bad spot if something bad happens.

I have just looked and found an Driver Apprentice position available in my local area. Qualifications include: must have a CDL-A... or.... the CLP.

You get hired as a driver apprentice and you're put into a queue. You work the dock until it's your turn to get trained. You are trained by a former driver that is now a driver development instructor. It's not on the job training and FedEx will not send you to a CDL school. They can send you to another location to get trained if you're ok with it, but I don't think it's likely because right now they're short drivers and I'm sure all driver development locations are tied up with students.

The training has changed, from what I've heard but when I did it it was 1 week learning to back, 1 week driving on public roads, 1 week learning doubles and 1 week out with a city driver on a route. If you have a CDL you do the same exact program as someone with a permit. The only difference is that a person with a permit has to take a state road test. That test will be scheduled and paid for by FedEx and it will take place at a DMV facility with a DMV examiner. FedEx has nothing to do with your examine, other than what's mentioned above and providing the truck.

Fed ex won’t take me on this early especially if I’m not coming from an accredited school

Not true. You can apply to be a driver apprentice and they'll take you. They won't hire you as a City Driver or a Road Driver, but they'll hire you as a driver apprentice. I worked with a bunch of people that aren't through the program that got their CDL through company sponsored training and by borrowing a truck from a buddy. FedEx hired them as apprentices and put them through their program.

You had a trailer fire and you swapped out tires and kept driving?

If your brakes went up in flames and it was so bad that the fire department had to put it out, why would you even consider driving it?

Did you put the truck in manual to lock it in a lower gear to help with the engine brakes and service brakes? What would you do if it was raining heavily or snowing and the engine brake isn't an option? You put yourself in a pickle here, but I'm guessing you'll be ok. I don't think a company that puts someone in the driver seat of 100k+ lb load on day two is the type of company that reports to Hireright.

You were lucky that you were able to stop and that you didn't kill yourself or someone else with that kind of weight and going down a mountain.

I went local out the gate because I wanted to be home every night. I went to FedEx Freight and did my training and first year and a half there. It's worth looking into. Top rate at FedEx is 30+ an hour (depending on location) with time and a half after 8 hours and you get the benefits too. Long term, for you and your family, that's the move to make. I don't know where you're located, but see if the center closest to you is hiring for Driver Apprentice. Since you have less than a year experience you won't qualify to be hired as a city driver or a road driver.

am told is a recession/pandemic/unlimited employee proof business. 

Who told you that? It's not entirely true. Jump on indeed and you'll see all the bonuses being thrown at people because they can't find anyone either.

The truth is that this business is more cut throat than any other, including construction. Businesses want companies with experience and that can get their Freight from point A to point B in the condition it was shipped, when it's supposed to there and on time. Sometimes, on time means just that (not early). You'd be surprised how often someone is sitting outside of a building for a day because they're early.

Dispatch services are going to want a cut. Between insurance, employees, maintenance and truck payments you'll have very little left over for yourself let alone a third party dispatcher. Brokers usually want someone with experience because their trusting you with their reputation. Would you hire a plumber on a construction job that just went out and bought some pipes and tools?

Like construction, the bidding here goes down. The best price for the most services. Most trucking companies operate in single digit profit margins.

I wish you luck, but I think you're jumping into this just because you want to own a business and somebody (or the internet) gave you bad information. I think you should do some more research before getting yourself in debt.

I'd go straight company. More CPM isn't necessarily more when you factor in health/dental, 401k match, bonuses and potential pay increases.

Also, I don't want the guy worried about P/L breathing down my neck worried about every little thing that happens out there.

I don't have diabetes, but I gained a lot of weight driving. What's helped me is cutting out snacks and drinking water, tea and black coffee. The soft drinks and juices is what catches you. Look at the label of a juice and see how many grams of sugar and carbs it has. It's unreal.

I wish you the best, keep us posted.