Looking For Advice

Well here's the fun part. I've applied to several companies and had a surprising amount of call backs. I know its a numbers game. One was for a northeast regional which included NY. Now I found out its hauling water 50,000lb. After speaking with a few drivers I know. 2 have driven in NY don't feel this is one I should take if offerd, no experience and they eluded I may even quit, tough driving up there, NY and NJ are on this route. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth and I still have 3 weeks of school. I do have my CDL with 2 endorsement waiting onfinger prints to get back so I can take my hazmat. As far as city driving should I be looking for shall I say something a little less demanding

I don't have any real world experience but I know as a newbie with no experience I would stay as far away from that gig as possible! Not only is it heavy loads but city driving in NY & NJ is better left to the pros. Yeah we will all encounter it to some degree but I sure as heck wouldn't want to do it all the time right off the bat. It's a potential to not only screw up your license but being inexperienced but a good way to burn out on the job before you ever really get started.

Just my opinion....

Well here's the fun part. I've applied to several companies and had a surprising amount of call backs.

Yes, it's really fun to feel so "needed!" It's like no other job hunting experience I've ever experienced, that's for sure. I used to like just perusing all the company profiles on this website before I actually even started trucking school. It's great to have such opportunity waiting.

In regard to the rest of your post, I think you should work hard to see what opportunities you have in your area. What are you interested in? Regional truckload, or perhaps local? A lot of the major truckload companies offer regional gigs. For local, you've got food service, fuel hauling (or water in your case), and LTL.

If you wanna learn about LTL , I've got a thread here. It talks about my experience as a linehaul driver, but also discusses other topics like P&D , LTL, and general local trucking.

LTL Trucking: My Linehaul Job

Does this job that was offered entail driving in metro NYC and NJ? Or are you just going through the major cities and making deliveries in the states of NY and NJ? What kind of destinations are you driving to? Be a little more specific, and we can help better.

To give a general response, any kind of trucking job that entails multiple pick up and deliveries to customers in an urban setting would present a lot of possibility for mistakes and accidents, especially to a rookie right out of school. To further complicate this, you could lose your job if you get into too many preventable accidents / incidents, and then it'd make it tough to find work at another employer due to your unproven and accident prone, short driving history. That doesn't mean that rookie drivers can't succeed at such a pickup and delivery job right out of school, but you've got to be very careful and hope that you've got a company that's willing to give you some wiggle room to make rookie mistakes. That's why this forum preaches easier jobs right out of the gate.

Not all local jobs are the same. LTL Linehaul is about one of the less risky jobs you can take as a rookie. You have familiarity with destinations, you're not doing as much backing in an environment you're not familiar with, and you're usually not responsible for moving freight and securing freight.

Pretty much any local job that ensures dedicated delivery where you're going to the same places will bring the propensity for accidents down a notch.

Tanker driving can be challenging as a rookie because you have the surge. But if you've got a company that provides good training and is patient, there is no reason why a rookie can't start off in some sort of tanker division.

Have you talked to Schneider? There's a Target dedicated account Schneider has near you; Stuart's Draft, VA. It's all drop/hook serving MD, DE & NJ.

I worked it New Year's weekend and loved it.

If you want more info, pm me & we can talk.

6 string and Steve L thanks for the advice. 6 string you hit the nail on the head with accidents. I don't want to be put into that position right out of school, I read some some of Betts book including his NY experience bridges, roads not meant for big rigs etc It sounds exciting as far as truck driving but how much forgiveness will a company have. The 2 drivers I spoke with said i should get some time in before tackling something of this nature. Think ill pass