Best States To Be A Truck Driver

I'm just praying this year we actually have a winter to haul snow.

Wow, how often do you have to pray for snow in Alaska? That's like having to pray for a lousy NFL team where I'm at in Buffalo!

Brett,

It really depends on the company and where their most important customers are located. I can't imagine Southern Florida would be good, regardless of the company. My company for example, operates primarily in the midwest where freight rates tend to be higher but we also have many customers in the Atlanta area and parts of the northeast so we run there also. Since I live close to Louisville I65, I64, and I71, there are always plenty of options to get me home or back out when I'm ready to roll again.

Southern Florida is not a strong lane for Stevens Transport, though we do sometimes go there. I've been told that a substantial chunk of the Florida loads are used specifically to get drivers into and out of Florida for home time. I've been routed there only twice and been there only once, in over six months with Stevens.

I hadn't been on here for a few days. Thanks for the input everyone.

I've been told that a substantial chunk of the Florida loads are used specifically to get drivers into and out of Florida for home time

That is almost certainly true. Most companies that do hire from Florida will put a cap on the number of Florida drivers they'll have in their fleet at any given time simply because it's difficult getting them home and back out again.

Well, i cant make sense of this one. They have a driver, been driving for them for 1year, they schooled him and send him home every 2 to 3 months and they wont school or hire the wife cause shes from florida. The same dang place he lives and their plan is to be a team ($$$) for them. Im talking about swift.

Waffle House is best at 2am after an evening of drunken debauchery!! Nothing like grease and starch to settle a stomach upset from alcohol.

Isn't that what White Castle is for?

Please pardon my ignorance on this, but I don't understand Florida. I understand the concept that it's a "large cul-de-sac" and really only one direction to go in or out. What I don't understand is that you have Miami in the lower east, Tampa in the lower central west coast, and Orlando right smack dab in the middle of the state. Those three cities are rather large and seems like they would generate enough supply and demand for freight to get OTR drivers both in and out on a regular basis. What am I missing?

Went to Miami once. Lakeland and a Brooksville Walmart which is 30minutes from us. Ocala's 50 minutes. Just don't seem right, Hoss.

Trucking companies move freight. Yes, all the people in Ocala, Tampa, Ft Myers, Miami, on out to Key West, do need toilet paper, automotive oil filters and furniture. But there isn't all that much coming back north.

I looked these up: Florida's top source of new money is tourism, then Space Industry, then agriculture. Tourism and Space don't produce freight that needs hauling. That's what makes it tough for companies - nothing for the backhaul!

That makes sense! I knew there was something I was missing.

Thanks for explaining that.