Intermodal

Great info on this post. The Shiva, I had been told that intermodal makes pretty good money and has good home time so it really sparked my interest. Thanks for that heads up G-Town. Rainy D, 2 major rail lines run right through my city. JakeBreak, I see your point but it's going to be hard to avoid those 4 wheelers anywhere we go.

One other suggestion; other than UPS; JB Hunt and Schneider are "one" and "two" for moving Domestic loads via rail. Just a data point, as you consider your future employer. Others big Domestic players to consider in this space: CR England, Marten, Swift, FFE, and Prime. Go track side and you'll see the frequency of these companies on the rail in any intermodal train.

G-Town, I've also been told that KLLM has a decent intermodal division but is limited to the most experienced drivers because they are primarily a reefer company. They also have a driving academy here in Jackson that would guarantee me a job with them after completion but based on some of the stuff Brett has written about reefer, I'm not sure that's the division I want to be in.

One other suggestion; other than UPS; JB Hunt and Schneider are "one" and "two" for moving Domestic loads via rail. Just a data point, as you consider your future employer. Others big Domestic players to consider in this space: CR England, Marten, Swift, FFE, and Prime. Go track side and you'll see the frequency of these companies on the rail in any intermodal train.

Not saying that Brett has said anything that would make anybody not want to drive reefer. What I'm saying is that he explained that sometimes those grocery store employees like to mess with drivers and make them wait unnecessarily just to be jerks and I don't know if that would suit my interests as well. That's what I meant to say.

G-Town, I've also been told that KLLM has a decent intermodal division but is limited to the most experienced drivers because they are primarily a reefer company. They also have a driving academy here in Jackson that would guarantee me a job with them after completion but based on some of the stuff Brett has written about reefer, I'm not sure that's the division I want to be in.

One other suggestion; other than UPS; JB Hunt and Schneider are "one" and "two" for moving Domestic loads via rail. Just a data point, as you consider your future employer. Others big Domestic players to consider in this space: CR England, Marten, Swift, FFE, and Prime. Go track side and you'll see the frequency of these companies on the rail in any intermodal train.

I left off KLLM, no particular reason just that I do not see them as often.

There is a lot of TOFC/COFC/CIWC rail that is perishable. Even Hunt and Schneider move reefer in specialized refrigerated containers (especially Hunt). Remember you are only performing the Dray move, so the typical issues of OTR dwell time at the shipper or receiver many times does not exist. I worked intermodal for a couple of weeks and found that 98% is drop and hook or in some cases just a drop and you return to the intermodal yard for your next trailer. You biggest issue is waiting for a late train and/your trailer to be unloaded from the train.

Man...there's some good info on this website....and some good people too.

Not saying that Brett has said anything that would make anybody not want to drive reefer. What I'm saying is that he explained that sometimes those grocery store employees like to mess with drivers and make them wait unnecessarily just to be jerks and I don't know if that would suit my interests as well. That's what I meant to say.

What Brett said is true. It's highly unlikely you will be delivering direct to a retail establishment unless it's a Costco, SAM's or the like. Cannot claim to know anything about Costco, but with SAM's they usually move fast, once docked can unload a 22 pallet reefer load in under 30 minutes. Most of the time you will be going to a Distribution Center with an intermodal reefer load.

I never saw a difference driving the trailers but they are heavier than the norm and thus hold less freight weight.

One question I would have would be about security and background checks. When we eneteres the drop yard my trainer had to lunch in a bunch of numbers and put a thumb on the plate to get in. I'm wondering if the background checks would be more stringent or are we all eligible as TWIC holders?

JB Hunt owns their own equipment and maintains the equipment pretty good. JB Hunt is also number 1 in Intermodal. That's no bs statement either look it up. I'm a company driver, so I have no idea what the ops and lease op make. Not to brag but I have never gotten a check less than 1k, except for training week in local

JB Hunt owns their own equipment and maintains the equipment pretty good. JB Hunt is also number 1 in Intermodal. That's no bs statement either look it up. I'm a company driver, so I have no idea what the ops and lease op make. Not to brag but I have never gotten a check less than 1k, except for training week in local

JB Hunt is the number one TL carrier in intermodal loadings.

Overall though, UPS is number one.