Newbie With Special Home Circumstance
Topic 19051 | Page 1
Bless you John and your family. So sorry for what your wife has to endure...
Try smaller trucking companies in your area. Your chances of getting local are much better. I lucked out by being at the right place at the right time. There is hope...
If you live near a shipyard or rail yard you could look into companies that do intermodal work. A lot of times they have OTR positions as well.
You can take a shot at LTL companies. I am not sure if they would have anything for OTR thought. Others would be far more helpful than I am concerning the LTL world though.
For intermodal off the top of my head you got Schneider, JB Hunt, and HUB group.. I think Swift has some intermodal as well. I know there are others, just what pops to mind.
For LTL you got FedEx, YRC (Yellow Roadway Corporation), SAIA, USPS, and XPO (bought Conway). Again there are others, just what came off the top of my head after being up for 18 hours.
Drive Safe and God Speed
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
OTR:
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.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
John, I had a grandfather who had ALS, so I understand your plight. I wish you the best of luck. You have gotten some great advise so far. I would like to ad that you check craigslist for your area. Also, if you have any companies in your area, you may do some good to stop in and talk to someone. How did you get your CDL and do you have any solo experience? If you got your CDL through a local school, they should have a placement person or service.
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.
We started a thread just for this sort of topic.
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Hi Everyone, I have a unique situation that I need some advice/help with. My wife was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in September of 2009. In March of 2013 I retired from my job of 24 years to take care of her full-time. Back in August of 2016, she went into a nursing home. In February 2017, I got the opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for MANY years - get my CDL A and get to driving a big rig. Well, she has come home now and I am having trouble finding a job. Here's why - I need local and home daily because of the need to take care of her. I do have nursing so someone else will be there during the day and I have people in the house that will take care of her if I take a late night job. As I have seen a number of times in the forums and on websites, most companies are requiring 6 mos or more of experience and it must be OTR. I don't have that option. Since her disease is terminal , she will eventually not be with us. I will then move forward with my OTR adventure. I would love to find a company that would allow daily/local and then work into the OTR when the opportunity presents itself.
Any words of wisdom, advice or help would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks, John Toledo, Ohio
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
OTR:
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.