Comments By James H.

At what point, if any, did you contact your DM to apprise them of the situation? Other than the first part before you got to the receiver, you weren't advancing a load or going where you'd been dispatched, so by my understanding, PC was appropriate per FMCSA. FMCSA doesn't establish a time limit, only "The time driving under personal conveyance must allow the driver adequate time to obtain the required rest in accordance with minimum off-duty periods under 49 CFR 395.3(a)(1) (property-carrying vehicles) or 395.5(a) (passenger-carrying vehicles) before returning to on-duty driving, and the resting location must be the first such location reasonably available."

If you had called and said, "I'm at the receiver, am out of hours, and can't park here. I'm going into PC to find somewhere to take my 10, but I don't know how long it will take to reach the 'first such location reasonably available," would that have helped?

Local driver since day one. Based on what I've read on this forum, OTR seems far more complex and challenging than what I do. I may not qualify as a Real Driver, but for now I'm glad I chose the easier option. I'd much rather pull doubles and deal with heavy traffic than worry about finding somewhere to park every night before I run out of hours.

* I plan on working at least for another 10 yrs......once my contract is over and I am in good standings with the company, will I have the option of going part-time?

Amazon and FedEx Ground contractors hire part time drivers. The ones I've seen require six or twelve months experience. Several USPS contractors, including Alan Ritchey, EVO, Matheson, and 10 Roads Express have part time driver positions that require either one or two years experience.

When do you start? The craigslist ad mentions several shifts, but their website has only one - 4am.

It varies, based on their needs and my availability. There's a 7:30 am trip I do almost every Sunday since the regular driver has young kids and wants to be home on the weekend, but I've also done afternoon and evening starts that they needed covered on a temporary basis due to vacations, or because they had a vacancy and hadn't yet filled the full-time position.

I don't know how much information the recruiter could give you, but after you're hired you could discuss it with your driver manager and the supervisor of the Nashua facility. Do you want a set schedule week after week, or are you more open to taking on assignments as they come your way?

Some of the company's routes are quite long, and might be managed from a different region. For example, one trip I've done several times is to be the easternmost link on a cross country route from Jersey City to Oakland, and the person who manages that contract is based in Minnesota while my DM is in Virginia. So once you're in their system as casual/PT, you might get calls from all over asking if you'd be interested in helping out.

I've been a part time/casual driver for them since April out of their Kearny NJ yard, and it's been a very positive experience. And as you note, there aren't a lot of part time options out there. Around here it's them, Amazon and FedEx contractors, and some small-time operators you'd be well advised to steer clear of.

The company was formed by a merger of Hoovestal, Eagle Express, Pat Salmon, and maybe some others, which explains the different branding you'll sometimes see on the trailers we pull.

As a part-timer you'll be slip seating in a variety of trucks. At least in my experience, the other drivers leave the trucks acceptably clean. Some of the equipment is on the older side, but that might just be my impression since I prefer a manual transmission, and those are the trucks I usually take. They do keep up on maintenance - certainly better at some other places I've worked.

My driver managers, relay drivers, and the others I've dealt with at the company have been courteous, competent, and professional. The people at the postal facilities have been more of a mixed bag, but no worse than other shippers and receivers I've encountered. I've done mostly USPS contracts, but the occasional freight. The trips I've covered have been a mix of live load/unloads and drop-and-hooks and usually involve meeting a relay driver at a truck stop or company yard. Pay is hourly, based on a 'trip standard' which is typically generous enough that I will complete, and get paid for, an 11.5 hour trip in 10 or 11 hours for example. If there's ever a delay that causes me to go beyond the trip standard, I get paid for the extra time. As far as I know it's a straight hourly rate, with no overtime, but as a part-timer that won't be a concern. There's a $5 weekend differential, and the weekend is defined as from 00:01 am Friday to 23:59 Sunday. Pay varies by location due to prevailing wage rules at USPS. For me it's $36/hour Mon to Thur, and $41/hour Friday to Sunday. That includes about $5 and change in benefit pay, which full-timers can use to offset health and dental insurance, but you'll just get in your paycheck. I get an extra $50 for trips to or through NYC, which I was doing a lot last month, covering a trip out to Long Island. It shows up on my pay stub as Flatpay - NY/CO MTN PAY: $50.00, which suggests you also get extra money for driving across the mountains out west.

Trucks are governed at 68 mph. Forward and inside-facing cameras.

Jake Brake off. ......... The higher the RPMs, the more effective the engine braking will be, just don't get into the over-reving zone (2000 RPMs and above).

Since Jake brakes and engine braking both affect the drives only, why is the latter recommended, while the former is an absolute no-no?

I've found that respectable people are rarely the ones you hear complaining they're being disrespected.

You may want to keep in mind that a majority of people who set out to become drivers wash out in their first year, sometimes their first few months, for various reasons. So before I'd think about uprooting my family, I'd want to get a better idea of whether this work is going to be a good fit long-term. Another reason to stay put for the time being.

Assuming it turns out well and you get a year or more of safe, reliable driving, you'll then have a very marketable skill, so if you do want to relocate for quality of life, so another family member can pursue career opportunities, or any other reason, you'll be in a good position. This is especially true if you work for a large company with a nationwide presence. Every once in a while I check the internal job postings for my employer, and its nice knowing that there are places all over the country where I'd have a job waiting for me.

I enjoy it pretty much 100% of the time. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. I'm fortunate that I'm financially secure and (mostly) retired from a more lucrative career, and at least for now I can continue to get as much consulting work as I want at about 5x the hourly rate I'll ever make as a driver. But I keep on driving just because I enjoy it, and am burned out from what I spent most of my life doing. Since I don't have or want an extravagant lifestyle and no longer need to chase every dollar, I don't.

I remind these people that things can be hard and fun at the same time. Mostly, I just get blank stares. They don't get it.

I think they almost have to be. Easy gets boring very fast.

How much fun do you think an experienced skier will have by sticking to the easiest slopes? The challenge is what makes it interesting. I don't love it when I'm sitting in a door waiting to get loaded, and I'd rather not get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but it's part of the job, and developing the state of mind to handle it, as well as tactics to minimize it, is part of the puzzle that I enjoy solving.

I think purchasing, maintaining, and insuring a truck, and then having it sit idle most of the time, would be an expensive retirement hobby. In order to have any hope of breaking even or better, you need to keep the wheels rolling.

There are part-time casual driving jobs available - I have one - but AFAIK they all require 6 or 12 months' recent experience. Would you be willing to put in that amount of full-time driving before going part-time?