Starting As A D&P Driver?

Or at least, I'm assuming it is what it's called? lol "Drop and Pin"? Daytime, local job, delivering retail goods to malls and such?

My question is....if I can get a job like this to start right out of school, so I can be home at night and weekends for my 16 yrs one daughter, am I shooting myself in the foot, as far as gaining road experience? There would be someone from the company training me on the road. I'm located in New England (Western MA) I'm not sure why but I seem to read on here that a lot of drivers don't like New England, any reason why?

Also, I'm really nervous about going into this field. I've been day dreaming on and off about being in a big truck for many, many years. I have always been in "awe" seeing them on the roads. A few of them nearly killed me a few times while traveling to Quebec thought I-91 in Vermont during the holidays (very snowy up there). I have always preferred big trucks over small cars. I drive a Nissan Armada and can parallel park like a champion, when most women shy away from trying. I feel safer, more secure being up high. I rode motorcycles for about 7 years.

I'm a feminine, girly girl, with a tomboy mentality. I do not get along very well with the average female, and always had easier times making friends with guys. I do not cry "sexual harassment" at the first sexual comment or joke from the guys, as long as it's only playful and not "aggressive" or stalker-like. I prefer to work alone, rather than being surrounded by co-workers and have a boss breathe on the back of my neck. I'm strong headed, tough (I've been through a lot) but also can be very sensitive, and have my feelings hurt.

Although I always thought I'd be great at driving a truck, a few things scare the hell out of me. Learning to back up in tight spaces with a big rig must be quite different than parallel park a big SUV. Getting along well with guys doesn't mean I'd do well working with the ruthless type. Are male truckers good to their females sharing the roads with them? Or is it kinda like in the military, where many still feel women don't belong to that world?

Sorry for some typos....I wish I could go back and edit them but I can't! (And I'm a stickler for good grammar!)

Hey there RebelliousVamp, I think what you are referring to is a "P & D" trucking job. Those letters stand for Pickup and Delivery. Those are generally a local area type job that gets you home in your own bed at night. We have a couple of P & D drivers here in our forum - Mountain Girl, and Heavy C are the ones I'm thinking of.

It generally is a tough trucking job, but it does the one thing that you are needing, and that is that it allows you to go home at night and make sure your kids aren't running wild. There is a lot of loading and unloading of freight - it is not what we call a no-touch freight type of job. They generally pay by the hour, and the pay is usually pretty good. There is a reason why the pay is good, and that's because it is hard work!

My question is....if I can get a job like this to start right out of school, so I can be home at night and weekends for my 16 yrs one daughter, am I shooting myself in the foot, as far as gaining road experience?

This is one of those weird things about trucking. You are right in your assumption. Most, if not all, of the major over the road carriers will not consider local truck driving as experience. You might do one of these P & D jobs for a few years, and after your daughter has figured out how to make it through life without your assistance and care, go try your hand at travelling the country in a big rig. What's gonna happen is that they will all want you to do some sort of a refresher course, because they do not count what you've been doing as experience. It sounds crazy, and to be honest with you, it is - but that is the way the insurance industry sees it, and they are the ones calling the shots when it comes to hiring truck drivers. It;s also tough for most new drivers to land a job in the P & D sector because they are usually not available to drivers without verifiable experience. You happen to live in an area where there is a lot of that type of work, and you may very well be able to get in on it. I would also recommend that you look into Linehaul trucking jobs in your area - the pay is very good and you don't have to handle the freight. Those jobs require pulling doubles though, and I'm not sure how you feel about that. Six String is our local linehaul expert and he has a great thread about linehaul jobs.

Also, I'm really nervous about going into this field. I've been day dreaming on and off about being in a big truck for many, many years. I have always been in "awe" seeing them on the roads.

That is perfectly normal, and if you weren't a little nervous I'd be afraid to be on the road with you. A little fear can go a long ways to keeping you safe out here on the road, a little respect for the damage one of these gentle giants can do when mishandled is an important characteristic for any driver to have. You will be just fine out here, but it will take you almost a full year to get some confidence and some expertise under your belt. It really takes that long, and that is one of the many reasons we encourage folks who are trying to get started in this as a new career to hang in there for that first year wherever you start your career. That first year will make or break you, and hanging tough to stick it out is vitally important to your future success as a driver.

I'm a feminine, girly girl, with a tomboy mentality. I do not get along very well with the average female, and always had easier times making friends with guys. I do not cry "sexual harassment" at the first sexual comment or joke from the guys, as long as it's only playful and not "aggressive" or stalker-like. I prefer to work alone, rather than being surrounded by co-workers and have a boss breathe on the back of my neck. I'm strong headed, tough (I've been through a lot) but also can be very sensitive, and have my feelings hurt.

I think your description of yourself sounds like you will do just fine out here. Many of the things you mention about yourself are characteristic of why people have chosen this career in the past.

Are male truckers good to their females sharing the roads with them? Or is it kinda like in the military, where many still feel women don't belong to that world?

This could probably be answered more accurately by a female, but I will give you my impressions on the subject, with the disclaimer that I can only come from the male's perspective. I see quite a few lady drivers out here on the road. Percentage wise their numbers are very small compared to the men, but they are out here, and most of them are really good at what they do. StarCar, one of our Moderators from way back was a female driver who always said "It doesn't take external plumbing to drive a truck!" She is right about that. You are a lady, so you know in all walks of life there are always a few creeps, and knuckle draggers around who hold to some weird thoughts about women. It is no different out here, so just be prepared to get a few "looks" every now and then, and maybe a few derogatory comments, but something tells me that you already know how to handle yourself with these types, and I assure you that for the most part the male drivers will treat you with respect.

Sorry for some typos....I wish I could go back and edit them but I can't! (And I'm a stickler for good grammar!)

Not a problem, we don't judge folks by their grammar around here.

If you want to edit your posts the only way we have for you to do that is before you hit that submit button use the "Preview" button. That will give you a little preview of what your post looks like, and then as you are looking that over if you see some mistakes just go back up to the box where you were typing your post and make the changes, then hit that preview button again and it will show you the revised version - take a look at that one and if you still find some more mistakes make the changes in the same manner. After you get it all spiffed up and looking just the way you want it, then hit that submit button. And If you are like me, there will always be one more mistake that you will discover after you look at it over in the actual forum page! But it's too late to change it then.

Old School....thank you, I appreciate your response. 😊

I was wondering if there was any company out there who train their drivers to get their CDL , even if I have to leave home for a few weeks to go train at one of their facilities in another state, but after training is done, would be able to place me on a truck where I could be home every night? Again, I'm in Western MA, and I'm not familiar with what the companies offer and where they operate. My next door neighbor works for Swift, as I see his truck parked there for a few days at a time, but only every few weeks, so I know he's gone for quite some time.

I love my girls too much and worry too much about them to be away for too long. My oldest is 20 and doing her own thing, but still need her mama's time sometimes. My youngest is soon turning 16 and I want to be there for her, I want to keep a close eye on her schooling, her sports, what she does in her spare time, cook for her and just do my job as a mother should! But I also want to earn a living wage where I can take care of them and myself.

My issue is that I'm afraid of getting in debt for $5000 to train with tri-state trucking school, not knowing if I will succeed or fail. I am debt free and would like to stay that way. Training for free for a company and having to commit to them afterwards might not allow me to be home at night with my daughter.

This should help:

Company-Sponsored Training

I just spoke with my baby girl and she's all for me doing this. She's about to turn 16 in a few weeks. If she took her driving course and got a car, she'd be able to get around, find herself a little job, and she wouldn't be home alone anyway, she'd be with her dad and my oldest daughter would drop in all the time. She said if I can get free training, even if I have to be gone for a few weeks/couple months, she assured me she'd be fine and that she really wants me to do what I have to do to find a way to make a good living. :)

So with this in mind, is anyone aware of a company who'd train me at one of their facilities, and then would allow me to work closer to home (Western MA) for them?

I just spoke with my baby girl and she's all for me doing this. She's about to turn 16 in a few weeks. If she took her driving course and got a car, she'd be able to get around, find herself a little job, and she wouldn't be home alone anyway, she'd be with her dad and my oldest daughter would drop in all the time. She said if I can get free training, even if I have to be gone for a few weeks/couple months, she assured me she'd be fine and that she really wants me to do what I have to do to find a way to make a good living. :)

So with this in mind, is anyone aware of a company who'd train me at one of their facilities, and then would allow me to work closer to home (Western MA) for them?

This might be worth a try:

Cardinal (GreatWide) Logistics Westfield MA www.cardlog.com

I just spoke with my baby girl and she's all for me doing this. She's about to turn 16 in a few weeks. If she took her driving course and got a car, she'd be able to get around, find herself a little job, and she wouldn't be home alone anyway, she'd be with her dad and my oldest daughter would drop in all the time. She said if I can get free training, even if I have to be gone for a few weeks/couple months, she assured me she'd be fine and that she really wants me to do what I have to do to find a way to make a good living. :)

So with this in mind, is anyone aware of a company who'd train me at one of their facilities, and then would allow me to work closer to home (Western MA) for them?

This might be worth a try:

Cardinal (GreatWide) Logistics Westfield MA www.cardlog.com

Thank you, dear. Will check them out! :)