Comments By NaeNaeInNC

I am chiming in to agree with everyone else.

One thing nobody touches on, is that the mental aspect is what typically makes new drivers walk away.

The best piece of advice I was ever given, was by an old driver.

"Your first 6 months, you know just enough to get yourself up S*** Creek without a paddle. Your second 6 months, you will know enough to point your boat down river. At one year, you will spend the rest of your days saying 'huh, learned something new today."

It is quite often not talked about that the first year is brutal on you mentally. You are getting used to the solitude. Your body is trying to adjust to the schedule. Your brain is arguing about your abilities. There were days I cried. A lot. Days I wanted to chuck it all and turn the truck in. It's NORMAL to be uncomfortable. It's NORMAL to doubt yourself.

I came in much like Kearsey, 40ish years old, my kid moved out of the house, and I had a ton of debt. I knew that I would do everything in my power to make the one year mark, no matter how I felt about it. I was NOT going to have to pay the Class fee.

Coming in, I had a one year goal, a three year goal, and a five year goal. At almost year 3, I have already met those goals. Get busy setting those goals.

One reasonable to achieve short term.

One a reach, but achievable.

One a leap, possible but difficult

Good luck.

They have specific APUs designed for RV uses

Yes, Lease Ops have the ability to customize, it just has to go through the approval process. Remember, there are also O/O trucks leased onto Prime as Power Only units too.

There are legit reasons to use the city codes for routing, as I have used it for specific needed stops for personal business. I did not lose my fuel bonus, nor cost myself more than a dollar.

I'd burn way more than a dollar and a fuel bonus if my dogs needed their vet appointments!

Keep your nose inside your own truck. It is not your problem to look out for the O/Os bottom line. The others have covered legit reasons "why."

Truck stops are not quiet. Ever. I drag a "noisy reefer" which is actually quite often quieter than those idling trucks, and always quieter than those backing beeps. This isn't a quiet industry, and expecting others to cater to your wants is rediculous.

If you must have it, in the app

My Prime Home > Menu > Information > Documents and it's a .pdf in there.

It is possible to get hired with a manslaughter conviction. I tangentially know someone who drove for Navajo/Digby with a record like that.

This forum leans heavily on a few key factors, that have not been specifically separated out and emphasized in this thread.

1. Company Paid/Sponsored Training. This is especially important with a dented past. They are investing their money into you. They run pretty superficial background checks before you even arrive for orientation, where a deep dive is done. This step would weed you out of companies that your past doesn't fit their policies. Once you are through their training, you are most likely hired. (Again, very select circumstances could alter this.) Going to a school itself may work for some, in very specific circumstances. Yours is not one that I would roll the dice on. What happens when you get your CDL, but nobody will hire you? Right away, the clock starts ticking, and quickly you are in the "stale CDL" category, which is actually worse than "no CDL."

2. It doesn't matter whose name is on the door. Your success or failure in this industry is more often in your actions and predictability than the company itself. Obviously going to a larger financially stable company comes with way less risks.

3. Longevity. Plan on sticking with your first company for a year, at minimum. It takes that long to get your feet solidly under you, and a reasonable grasp of the job, and adjusting to the lifestyle.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a billion other nuanced things, but the bottom line is, don't waste your money on a school with little hope of a job on the other side.

Honestly, i do what Kearsey does quite often. I'll dink around for two hours walking my dogs or Uber somewhere interesting. Then I'll take a complete ten. It just breaks up the monotony knowing you have some time to be a total screw-off. Just make sure that you have that 8 hours uninterrupted SB.

I actually got sucked into listening to live trial coverage, with the Depp VS Heard trial. Emily D Baker is a former prosecutor, and breaks down everything as it happens. She is quite often outpacing legacy media with concurrent viewers during live trials. The SC VS Murdoch trial. The Rust shooting trial of NM VS Gutierrez. The Bankruptcy and theft shenanigans of Tom Girardi and his ex wife Erica Jayne. She is hilarious, and there is something about her tone that I can listen to her all day and not feel bored or wiped out.

Audible is my life saver, with over 120 books in the last three years. From thrillers to biographies, trashy romance, to history, it brings it's own level of entertainment. I have to be careful about who the reader is, or they could get on my nerves. Heck, I listened to the Terminal List by Jack Carr and it's subsequent books, read by Ray Porter a total of 5 times all the way through.

Also, remember the advice given to newbies, about sticking it out for the first year at your starter company? There is a reason for that, beyond the job hopping. It's to allow time for the drastic lifestyle changes inherently attached to OTR driving to shake out, and find your groove.

I personally think you may be fighting the "what was" vs "what is" scenario. Give lots of things a try, and adopt what works best for you, and drop what you think you dislike.

Really, it's no skin off our nose if you don't follow tried and true ways into this career. The thing that ticks us off is putting a driver on the road that is a danger to us, and every other person on the road

You have been given honest answers about the realistic challenges even getting into this industry. Trying to get around drug testing is a sure way to kill your career even before you get behind the wheel.

Do it the right way, or don't do it at all.

Took the words right out of my brain.

Don't do it. You are about to be up a creek without a paddle, and neither of you truly understand WHY.

He's struggling financially just starting out. He started on with someone who cheated him out of a lot of money and then repairs that took forever on the truck and he was out of work for two months.

Hi. Sorry to tell you this, but he doesnt have enough knowledge in this industry. Rather than being out of work, he could have rented a Penske truck to keep working. He started on with someone who cheated him... why? When i hear this it is usually about having speeding tickets or accidents which prevent him from going to a good company.. or just lack of knowledge. Now is absolutely the worst time in history to be an owner operator.

Needless to say his credit took a giant hit. The semi is financed with a ridiculous payment (2,300/mo) and the trailer is leased through Mac (1,800/mo).

That payment is actually cheap which means it is an older truck, probably without a warranty or from a company like Lone Mountain that seems to be hit or miss with my friends. A brand new Prime truck goes for about $5,000 per month lease now. Or purchase it with a $14,000 downpayment. But would have full warranty and no trailer payment.

The lease is coming to an end and he is going to purchase a trailer. Lender had the idea to put truck and trailer into one payment and he would be saving about $3,000 monthly.

The lender is concerned about getting a commission., not about protecting you.

That's where mama comes in. It's all going to be in my name and he is "leasing" it back from me. I trust him to make payments, etc. That isn't at all my concern. I'm just wondering, other than financial liability for the payments should he not make them , what else should I be concerned about? Insurance will be on him, in his name. I've made sure he gets life insurance should something ever happen so I'm not left with a giant truck that I have no idea how to operate. I'm so clueless about all of this I'm not even sure what questions to ask. I'm just looking for some advice and trying to make some smart decisions here for us both.

Taxes is a big one. and the fact that you are the owner, insurance or no insurance.

You would be owning a commercial vehicle and in a business transaction would then be receiving an "income" of the payment. Then the payment wpuld be an expense of your business. If he kills someone... do you think you wont get sued as the owner?

I would stay far far away from this. I usually tell my students not to go lease/buy a truck unless they have $50,000 in the bank. Right now with the feight issues, i would recommend more.