Profile For Delco Dave

The main reason the companies want a verifiable work history is to make sure the applicant isnt some nut case training to be a terrorist. Being as young as you are, they may look at your past differently then someone older. When you finally apply, ask the company recruiter what paperwork they need to see from your college to prove you were there. The letters of recommendation from your employers wouldn’t hurt either

As far as preparing for a trucking career, there is no better study program then the one provided right here by Trucking Truth

High Road CDL Training Program

• Pre-Trip Inspection Study Guide
• Daniel's Pre-Trip Inspection
• Pre-Trip Inspection Checklist
• Pre-Trip Inspection Practice Questions

• CDL Practice Tests
• High Road Practice Questions
• Android App: CDL Practice Tests

I’m pretty sure the FMCSA requires you to be 21 years old and have a regular drivers license for at least 1 year

Furthermore, if you just started driving, there are a lot of other basic skills you need to get comfortable with as well as driver tendencies and reaction scenarios you need to learn to recognize in a 10-18 foot car, suv or pickup truck before trying to drive a 70 foot tractor trailer. These skills can only be honed by repetition and spending time on the road

Most important thing is learn to drive safely and keep your license clean!!! No tickets or accidents

Sorry I dont have a solution but I feel your frustration. I was going to go through a school for a class B and hopefully drive tri-axle dumps until I found out that no one will hire you without at least 6 months of on road experience with a class A or B here in the Philly area. Similar scenario so I scratched the idea and will be going for company CDL A training

Guess most of those guys either gained the trust of their employer and were promoted and trained from within or were OTR drivers who didnt want a local class A job

Shoot! Don't be surprised at all. Usual response is, "We get big trucks in here all the time." Liars.

I hear ya Packrat!!! I see guys battling into really tight docks with a couple inches to spare all the time. Logic tells ya, send that product in a box truck that will fit in there safely. That would make too much sense.

Its truly amazing the docks some places can come up with. Someone has to look at it and say " yes let's try to cram a truck in there multiple times a day."

I find it surprising that they send combo’s to stores like that. Would make sense to have a small box truck division(reefer and dry) for those stores to minimize the chance of an Incident.

Not a Trucker yet myself but I spent quite a few years working for a union stone masonry company in Philly. Many of our jobs were in center city and all the pavers and pre cut stone came on flatbeds. Rough stone for hand cut hammer work came by tri-axle dumps. Some of those streets were really tight, like few inches on either side of truck tight

The main takeaway is driver beware. The driver is also responsible for a bridge strike no matter how it was measured (or not), or if it is marked (or not).

Thats not cool!!! If an under pass is marked as passable and it also In the truckers atlas as such how would it be your fault! If the city or township changed the height by repaving incorrectly or whatever. How are you supposed to know???

Thank you all for the clarification! Reason I asked is cause a lot of them I see are on roads that trucks use regularly. I figured the over passes were taller then listed to be on the safe side but just wanted to know for sure!

Been wondering about this for awhile so I figured it was time to ask!!!!

If your driving with a standard dry van or reefer trailer and you come upon a 13’6” overpass.... does that mean you are clear to go under it safely? Is that bridge height really 13’7” or 8” meaning 13’6” will fit or is the bridge height actually 13’6” meaning top of your trailer will hit and scrape as you go under?

Just curious because I live in the Philly area and see a lot of overpasses listed at 13’6” As well as many shorter ones which I know could not be driven under

I am also hoping to get hired by Swift and train in Richmond as well. Another moderator here, G Town works for them on the Walmart dedicated division out of Pottsville, PA. He has provided me with a lot of info on Swift and working that account. Since they hold a contract with Walmart, some of the bigger stores allow Swift trucks to be parked on the property in my area. Almost everyone in the northeast has a Walmart relatively close, you could check with your local store to see if they allow parking.

King of the Mid-West Roadways!!!

You wouldn’t happen to know Abe Froeman???? The sausage king of Chicago???

Just a thought as a last resort!!! Have you considered looking at local construction or excavating companies? Maybe driving a Tri-axle dump or hauling their heavy equipment around? They may be more lenient with the accidents. Work for them so your CDL doesnt go stale and try for OTR down the road when the accidents are older

I am currently just a van delivery driver for Amazon. I don't know anything about their trucking contracts. I try to talk to the truck drivers at the warehouse when possible, most of them couldn't be bothered with me and seem pretty miserable.

The few that gave me some time were thankful that I gave them ample room to turn instead of trying to squeeze by like some other van drivers. They were surprised that I understood and knew about off tracking and other general trucking stuff. Funny thing is they all told me to stay away from Swift, saying they’re a terrible company. I paid that no mind, I get all my Swift info from G Town

You can't move the fifth wheel without hooking it.

If it was a drop and hook, you could use your other trailer to move 5th wheel. Also, I wasnt sure if 5th wheel could be moved with a pry bar if necessary

I’m not in the trade yet so there are many things I dont know. I just like the challenge of trying to figure stuff like this out

Plus I just learned a few more things

Yeah, but if you damage the dumpster, ground or the back of your truck should your chain snap and fly back at you. you get to have a nice meeting with safety.

That is precisely why my 1st move was to call dispatch to report situation and ask for advice. I was just thinking about it from a problem solving view.

Before chaining and dragging it, It would also depend on what was in the dumpster to judge the weight. If it had light material and a lot of air space, it wouldn't be heavy enough to cause any damage or break chain. If it was packed full or loaded with heavy materials, I would scratch the whole idea

1st thought... contact my dispatch and let them know the situation, send them pictures, ask their advice and share my next 2 ideas

2nd thought... If I had a sliding 5th wheel, I would slide it all the way to the rear and see if I could hook on an angle. I would definitely have a tool box with me so I would back on an angle as close as possible, get the tape measure out, and see if it could be done without my wheels hitting the landing gear. If 5th wheel was not slidable, would still try angle and measuring

2nd thought... hook a tow chain to dumpster and pull it out of my way

Looking forward to hearing correct answer

Hope your feeling better and back on the road soon. Kick that covid’s a$$!!!

Hang in there Bubbles!! I know how you feel. You are a lot closer to getting started then I am. I decided last fall to make the career move to trucking from owning a small landscaping business. My plan was to sell my business in January and hopefully head to training by March. Well, I got jammed up selling the business and getting all my tax paperwork together to show proof of employment (took longer then expected). Then corona hit and the world shut down so I took a temporary job delivering for Amazon to avoid the dreaded employment gap which I’m still doing and had enough of. Finally went for my physical 2 weeks ago at a CVS minute clinic because PA requires some completed paperwork, payment and a copy of your med card before they will allow you to test for the permit. I passed everything but the 1 eye I had surgery on few years ago. Have an eye doc appt this coming Tuesday to hopefully get that fixed up. To add insult to injury and delay me yet a little longer, tropical storm Isiais caused water damage in my finished basement which I need to get back in order before I head off to training. Its been one thing after another holding me up this whole year. I just keep my head up and know I will eventually get there, better days are ahead.

Kind of surprising with all the technology built into the trucks that someone hasn't come up with a sensor system that tells the driver if they are hooked properly. Especially in the sleepers since theres no back window.

Don't get me wrong, I would still get out and check it visually but it would help prevent dropping the trailer if there was a warning system