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Sassydi's Comment
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Good Morning Ladies! This seems like a good place to get some of my questions answered. My ex and I are getting back together after a lot of years and are looking into trucking together. He's been a local driver for a few years and will be moving soon, but I have no experience. We want to find a good company to work as a team with together. Any suggestions? Also, I'm 59. I'm concerned that places may not accept me since I'm not spring chicken coming into this field. I've been researching everything I can get my hands on and hope I can get some valuable input here. Thanks in advance! 😊

Starcar's Comment
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Dianna, you have found "THE PLACE" to get all your questions answered, look into trucking schools, and companies, and study so you will go thru school, and look like a super star. Your age will not be an issue, so lay that to rest. Here is how your adventure will start. You and your partner will need to research, and choose a trucking company that you want to drive for as a team (trucking companies LOVE partner teams !!). Then your partner will need to get hired on there. As he is "doing his thing", you will either go to the trucking company cdl school, or to a college CDL course, or to a private CDL school ( be sure and pick one that is accedited and that your chosen trucking company approves of). Then, when you graduate, you will go out with a trainer. The trucking company that your partner drives for may let him train you. (My husband trained me...I will caution you to think long and hard on this, because training is VERY hard on a relationship..I can expound on this more if you'd like..Its really kinda funny). After you have completed your over the road training, and passed, you are then ready to start your trucking adventure with your partner !!! I know it sounds like alot, but it flows smoothly, once you pick your company, and your school. AND the whole Trucking Truth site is here at your disposal, along with all the help you can handle. So talk with your partner, and research companies...AND remember...if you go to a trucking company school, you will need to spend a given amount of time working for them to pay back your "tuition"...so choose carefully.. Theres tons of links here for your research...heres a few How To Choose A School Truck Driving Schools How To Choose A Company Trucking Companies and many many more. You can post on this forum, or on the general forum...we all do !!! So start your researhc, and fell free to ask all the questions you want !!! and WELCOME TO TT !!!!!

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Over The Road:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

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.

Sassydi's Comment
member avatar

Thanks so much for the info and the vote of confidence. We're definitely looking into various companies and schools and working out which will work best for us. I've seen a lot of negative reviews on nearly every company but realize that a lot of that is basically people who just can't cut it. So I'm trying to weed out the facts from the general discontented people! I really appreciate this site as it's answered a lot of my questions and given me a whole gamut of more! lol

Starcar's Comment
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Its not so much everyone else's negative comments about a company...because that just tells you how THEY interacted with that company...THAT is the magic of it all...every company can end up bad for some people. They go in with preconceived ideas on what THEY want from the company...what THEY are worth...what THEY will accept..WRONG. The company trains you in their school, trying to make sure you learn and understand all you can. Then they send you out with one of their drivers, to learn everything there is to know out on the road. After you do that, then you are put in your own truck. You are trusted with a vehicle unit worth nearly $200,00.00 empty...then you add on average, another $100,000.00 worth of freight. So do you think you should be able to do things "your way" ?? HECK NO !! And these people who cry and complain about companies have, somewhere along the way, gone in the ditch, be it schooling, on the practice yard, out with a trainer, or solo for the first time. So many people think that they don't need to "work" in the school.."any fool can drive a truck" mentality. Going to any trucking school is INTENSE...repeat INTENSE.You have to work to get thru any of them. (Thats why we push the High Road..learn before you go). If you are self important on the practice field, you won't learn what you need to know, cuz your mouth will be open talkin' when it should be shut so your ears can hear....The very same thing when they go out with their trainer, EGO...EGO...EGO. As a newbie driver, you have no ego...you have fear, and uncertainty, and questions...tons and tons of questions...and you better be asking every one of them. And even then, if you clear that hurdle, and you get sent out in your own truck, you will be scared, uncertain, and then have no one (but TT..we'll be here!!) to answer your questions. THATS when you wish you'd spent more time trip planning, and getting familiar with your atlas, and QualComm..But those folks who get in their solo truck with all that ego and nothing else are doomed to failure sooner or later...the ditch will find them. Theres no place for ego in trucking, ever. You will learn every day you're out there, for as long as your out there. Just ask us old drivers...we learned until the last day we sat in the seat. So when you read, or hear some whiner complain about how the company " did 'em wrong"...just wonder what the person did to run themselves into the "I am the best thing that ever happened to trucking" ditch. You have to go into cdl school with all the early learning you can get...your permit and all the endorsements you can get, and a willing and open mind.And you need to stay that way for as long as you have someone to answer the questions you are going to have. You do research, alot of it. THEN and only then do YOU pick the company that fits YOU...irregardless of what happened to Ernie Ego, when he was there.... I like this post so much, that i'm going to copy and past it on the general board...maybe it will give some other new folks a different way to look at all the negative whining they see on other sites...

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Qualcomm:

Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Sassydi's Comment
member avatar

I like that reply too. ☺️ I've learned along life's highway to listen to what others say but to form my own opinions. I agree that so many people who moan and groan are merely looking for excuses for their own inadequacies. I've started looking at high road. I want to go through it "blind" first and see what things I know or that are common sense and get a good prospective of how very much I don't know so I can open my mind more. This lifestyle appeals to me on so many levels! And I'm one of those people who if I'm going to do something, then I'm damn well gonna try to do it right!!! I'm a pretty positive person so I certainly don't mind hearing any negatives too but I'll decide whether they're a negative for me personally or not. Thanks again for your valuable insights. Have a great day!

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Susannah F.'s Comment
member avatar

Hey Starcar, I would love it if you would elaborate on training with your husband a little. I was hoping that once I get my license I could train with my boyfriend, but of course I do have my reservations, so I'm curious how that went for you.

Sassydi's Comment
member avatar

Are steel tied boots required or would good hiking boots suffice?

Sassydi's Comment
member avatar

Grrr. Darn auto correct! *steel toed*

Starcar's Comment
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Steel toed boots are not required in most shippers or receivers. And they would be ungodly to drive in. I always suggest good leather boots, either lace up, or slip on, with RUBBER soles. the regular leather soles are really slick in oil,diesel,and about everything else. I only wore my leathers when I had to get out of the truck at a shippers, receivers, or to fuel. the rest of the time I wore tennies..I like comfort, and the looser the shoe the better the circulation..same goes for your sox... As for teaming...I'll try to have Brett dig up the old post from the old forum...its quite informative...and honestly funnier than heck...but heres some of it..: Teaming with your partner you will find out these sad facts of life: Slamming a sleeper curtain does not have the great effect of slamming a hollow core door. Throwing Styrofoam cups and paper dishes against padded sleeper walls gives you little to no satisfaction compared to throwing china against good, sturdy drywall....

So there ya go...I'll find the rest of it and see if it can get brought over...

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

OWI:

Operating While Intoxicated

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.

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