Stick Vs. Auto?

Tim says:

The only reason I will not list the names is because my brain will explode if I get any more input. I am not trying to be evasive or illusive but I just want to grab and go.

Did you ever go to the grocery store and skip getting the cart? Soon your arms are full of this and that and you can't carry any more. I'd that where your brain is going? "Grab and go" learning is a waste of time.

If you truly want to make the best decision, put names to the companies. I bet you won't be swayed by anyone's personal opinion, but you might learn more about a company than "APUs are OK, but no pets allowed".

You will then be more confident in choosing a company. Learning facts will turn you into a sort of dictionary: full of facts but unrelated facts. Getting the "unwritten" part will put all this together.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

My company doesn't like to hire drivers with the automatic only restriction despite the fact that they are over 2/3 automatic in their fleet. We have to train and road test in a freightliner 10 speed but when completed with training, are issued an automatic.

Why on earth do they do this? Basically its so if a situation arises where your truck needs repairs or whatever, they can easily temporarily assign you any unit available to keep you rolling. That said, I don't mind a manual transmission at all, but I really like my volvo automatic. It shifts very well and is awesome when having to deal with Chicago, Atlanta, etc. heavy rush hour traffic. I try to avoid driving in that, but sometimes I must and my automatic makes it much less of a hassle.

I'd almost hate to go back to an manual, however its likely I will, if I team with my other half because his truck is newer, the sleeper is larger, etc.. just makes more sense to use his, as mine will get traded in before too long anyways. Incidentally I despise the International automatics in our fleet.. the transmission auto shift is piecemealed from different manufacturers and they're terrible slow at taking off from a stop, but the volvos take off very well and I've heard our freightliner automatics are ok too, but I've never driven one of those.

Enough rambling. I certainly wouldn't want that type of restriction on my license but with a few larger companies, (not all) they don't care if you have the restriction.

To Errol. I am sorry, I didn't fully explain my statement. "Grab and go" was my way of saying that I just need to pick a company and run with it. That way I can focus on everything else that needs to happen. And I have definitely made my choice. I went very deep with 5 companies, spent at least an hour on the phone with each of them. So now, it's all about the study time.

To Brett. Yes sir, I understand that there a lot of things I need to learn. I have every intention of going through your program at least twice, be assured of that. There are differences in companies though. I am very happy that I spent the time to research. The company I chose has a feature that no other company has, and it was the one feature that sold me. It's not the equipment or the truck features or the pay. In fact, I will be making less with them than some other carriers listed here. But that one factor sold me. I am a nobody in this industry, starting from scratch. Every driver I know has told me the same thing. Your first job sucks. But it can be awesome if you spend the time looking and put forth the effort. I feel like I am going home to a family I never met. I have a smile on my face that you would need a crowbar to remove.

To Sue. My dad's been driving for a while, and your comment about the Internationals caught my eye. Apparently they have an engine that's an issue as well. Cat has apparently gotten out of the making semi engines. Someone has piecemealed together a Cat engine with other parts. I think they are just using the Cat block and using different manufacturers for the other parts. It's a junk engine and it's left him and several other of his company drivers stranded. I will call him tonight to verify, but apparently there is a label on the outside of the truck that designates it as a truck that has that engine. I'll keep you posted.

Get your license in a manual transmission truck. I worked for a slip seat company with mostly autos, if all that's left in the yard is a manual you will be sitting waiting for a truck to come in. This might not effect you right away but if you choose a local slip seat job down the road, you will limit your opportunities.

I would get every restriction lifted (airbrakes, automatic only) and get every endorsement (Hazmat, tanker, doubles/triples) well except for passenger/bus unless you want that. This way no further schools, tests if you do find something tomorrow, next week or next year that fits you better.

As far as extensive research, if you only talked to company recruiters, etc on the phone you got about as much depth about driving for that company as a mud puddle. Without talking to current and past drivers you really are only getting the introductory of the company, not the whole story.

Tim Y wrote:

Every driver I know has told me the same thing. Your first job sucks.

Hey Tim. Wow dude, that's a rather absolute statement, in fact it's a piping hot crock of DEF. It's not the job, but lofty expectations, poor attitude, and/or lack of experience in all things trucking that can make the "first job" suck. I would counter by suggesting that it's not the company that contributes to your initial success or failure, but you, and only you can positively or negatively effect your outcome. Good drivers succeed no matter what company they drive for. If you need examples just ask the drivers on this forum...the companies represented here are from A to Z.

Not trying to burst your bubble here, but thus far your company research is tick-mark above superficial. You have spoken to recruiters, virtual salespeople that at times can lack integrity due to their pursuit of the almighty dollar. Granted there are some good ones, but consistency and truth is not always part of their pitch. Talk to three different head-hunters from the same company and you might get three conflicting stories. The only way to do a "deep dive" as you put it, is to work for a specific trucking company as a driver for 3-6 months, performing your job day in and day out. That's a true deep dive, not an hour on the phone with a five recruiters.

As suggested by other replies, focus on learning the industry, the truck, the job and work to complete the High Road Training Program. At this point in your journey, effectively preparing yourself for school and this career path is far more important than exhaustive and perhaps repetitive research on your first company.

Good luck. And please chill on the intrigue, tell us the company you picked, the suspense is too much...

To Errol. I am sorry, I didn't fully explain my statement. "Grab and go" was my way of saying that I just need to pick a company and run with it. That way I can focus on everything else that needs to happen. And I have definitely made my choice. I went very deep with 5 companies, spent at least an hour on the phone with each of them. So now, it's all about the study time.

To Brett. Yes sir, I understand that there a lot of things I need to learn. I have every intention of going through your program at least twice, be assured of that. There are differences in companies though. I am very happy that I spent the time to research. The company I chose has a feature that no other company has, and it was the one feature that sold me. It's not the equipment or the truck features or the pay. In fact, I will be making less with them than some other carriers listed here. But that one factor sold me. I am a nobody in this industry, starting from scratch. Every driver I know has told me the same thing. Your first job sucks. But it can be awesome if you spend the time looking and put forth the effort. I feel like I am going home to a family I never met. I have a smile on my face that you would need a crowbar to remove.

To Sue. My dad's been driving for a while, and your comment about the Internationals caught my eye. Apparently they have an engine that's an issue as well. Cat has apparently gotten out of the making semi engines. Someone has piecemealed together a Cat engine with other parts. I think they are just using the Cat block and using different manufacturers for the other parts. It's a junk engine and it's left him and several other of his company drivers stranded. I will call him tonight to verify, but apparently there is a label on the outside of the truck that designates it as a truck that has that engine. I'll keep you posted.

Negative on your comment about the MaxxForce being a Cat block and pieced together parts from another manufacturer. It IS the Cat C13 Acert motor. The Pre Emissions versions had very few problems and were pretty decent on fuel economy as well. Once International added on the EGR systems and other emissions equipment, they started having major problems.

Cat did get out of the Class 8 engine program for a few years but is back now and from a recent report from Caterpillar, they will be releasing new versions of the C13 and C15 in 2017.

Your first job sucks.

I have to say, I am very happy with my choice. I spent some time researching companies just because I was looking for certain items. Are there some things I want that this company doesn't offer? YES I want a pet on my truck and they won't allow it. I am fine with that for now as a pet would complicate things a little bit. The recruiters said that the trucks don't have inverters I was prepared to buy my own when the shop mechanic explained to me that every truck has inverters. As my goofy luck would go as soon as I finish pretripping my truck my inverter was beeping like crazy and the shop replaced it that day.

I average about 2,200 miles every week. My pay checks are pretty solid and I get the home time I require. They actually want me to take more home time! I haven't been home since December 20, 2015. I miss my kids but they need cloths, food, shelter. I rather them have that than be out on the street.

My dispatcher is awesome, I also make it a point to communicate with my dispatcher at least daily and I keep things more personal as I see us as a team, if I make money i am happy and if he's keeping me rolling he's happy as he's hitting his goal of $3,000 per week on my truck. It helps to understand what your dispatcher's set goals are and what you gotta do to make him/her look good because that can only help you in the long run. It's about personal relationship skills. I know of one driver that complains constantly but he doesn't talk with his dispatcher he just keeps it all to himself and he expects his dispatcher to know what's going on in his head. I am up front and direct with my dispatcher. Even the overnight/weekend people. I am very polite with them and I keep them entertained with jokes; however, when the fuel pump stops with 10 gallons of fuel and I am at 1/4 of a tank remaining, they want the store to fix the problem. That takes A LOT of time, when it happened to me a second time, he tried to get me to go through the time consuming option and I had a load due. I said to him, "listen, I have a load due in a few hours, I don't have time to sit, but I need fuel, so either give me a new location to fuel or I'll drive this truck until it's dead on the side of the road. I am NOT going to sit here for hours waiting for the fuel associate to reset the fuel card." I realize that is not how to talk to people, but I have learned that I have to be proactive in life to get what I want done, as no one else is going to do it for me! The lesson here is for you to talk with your dispatcher, don't ASSUME anything, communication is key!

Hope you all have a wonderful life. Brett, or and other moderators out there, please delete my profile. I'm not coming back. You have access to my email, please confirm that you have done that, since private messaging is gone.

My goodness, Tim! All you get is advice and opinion (that's what you do get on Trucking Truth) and you give up. Nobody's bashing or criticizing you.

Being that thin skinned I suppose you'll have a tough time in driving school and on the road. Remember TT is open 24/7.

Best of luck out there,