Sway Me To Cdl Training Company With Lease Afyer Completion

Turtle, i am.practically my own boss.

No I get that, and I totally enjoy the same freedom with my FM. I think any company driver who gets it done can expect to write their own ticket out here.

BUT I was specifically addressing the common belief that as a L/O or O/O, or "boss" per se, one can run the show without having to answer to anyone. When in fact, the show won't go on unless you are taking care of business, or "answering" to your customers. Lease or company, it's the same principle.

CHICOFILFL has it all figured out...

I want to be my own boss and not have to answer.

Even as an owner op, you will never be your own boss. You know who the real boss is? Your truck and your customers, that's who. You will always have to answer to your customers.

Turtle, i am.practically my own boss. Today i told my FM to get me a load to.the terminal to get my APU belt fixed. He the sends me a 2900 mile load from CA to NH that will be cut in half if i drop it in MO.

my next message was "Oh, Greedy One Kenobi, you attached a 3000 mile load to my truck and expect me to drop.it? can i just run it in then get the APU fixed in PA?"

he responded "ok"

almost everything i tell him is "10/4 thanks"

it is the best job in the world witbout the hassles.

Company driver and same thing here. If I don't like my fuel stop I know how to change it (although I don't abuse this). Also he trust me to make the right decisions and never really questions me. My apu was just down also and I sent a message saying I am going to run 100 miles out of route to get it fixed at the Decatur tanker terminal and his response was roger that sir... So I completely agree 100% with everything Rainy has said. To be honest as a company driver I have a ton of freedom and very little stress.

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.

Fm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

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.

Leasing is a very bad business and personal decision; the agreements are designed to favor the companies and NOT the driver. Do not even consider leasing until you have at least the first year of experience.

Please read this link:

Lease Operator, when is the right time?

I have to be blunt here: Do you know when the best time to lease or become an owner operator is? I will be glad to answer that question:

The best time is.......

NEVER.

Whatever you do DON'T DO IT. You will WRECK yourself financially.

Please I implore you, stay a COMPANY driver for your ENTIRE truckin career. It will help ya out more in the long run. Do a search for lease operator or owner operator on here. Read EVERY article on here about it. Old School and Brett wrote most of them. Read them and then reply back to me if you REALLY think that is the right decision.

I don't mean to derail the thread but I have a question regarding requesting trainers. Are you typically able to request a company driver for a trainer? And if so, is there a chance the wait might be longer? It seems like a number of L/Os train for the additional income. I ask because I was thinking there might be a benefit to being trained by a company driver if one plans on being a company driver. Thanks.

I don't mean to derail the thread but I have a question regarding requesting trainers. Are you typically able to request a company driver for a trainer? And if so, is there a chance the wait might be longer? It seems like a number of L/Os train for the additional income. I ask because I was thinking there might be a benefit to being trained by a company driver if one plans on being a company driver. Thanks.

At CRST anyway the trainers are randomly assigned a student. I am a company driver so my students will have the benefit of learning the true way a rookie should do things. I always advise them against leasing.

CHICOFILFL: it seems as though you have a great gig already. You say you get home everyday. I can guarantee you that as a lease up, that’ll be very difficult. You’re beholden to the debtors; truck payment, insurance payment, fuel, on & on. I met an owner op that said his truck never stops. Only for maintenance & such. If you feel you just have to do this, then best of luck to you.

Hans Solo Cup: At Prime they now have a survey that both trainers & trainees fill out & that data is used to pair folks according to certain algorithms. If you know someone specifically then that can be arranged. It happened in my case. I did my PSD training with one trainer & my TNT with my requested trainer. Best of luck to you also.