Hello, Thanks, & A Couple Of Questions.
Topic 23150 | Page 1
Welcome Chris. Any of those companies you listed would be a great place to get started. It all depends on you personal needs & preferences. The idea that you’re too tall to shift gears might be true in a 4 wheeler but doesn’t seem likely to me. I’m only 5’ 7” so I can’t relate but the position of the seat in the truck is totally different from a car. That said, most of those companies you listed are fully automatic or are switching to them.
The sooner you start submitting your application, the sooner you can decide what company you’ll be starting with. There’s a checklist of questions to ask the recruiters on here. Just use the search bar above.
September is going to get here very quickly. If you haven’t started already, you need to get going with the
High Road CDL Training Program
Also, learn as much of the pretrip as you can now. It’ll make it that much easier to pass that part of the CDL exam. You can search YouTube for Apex Driving School pretrip. It’s about a hour long. There’s a pdf with pics on here. Pretrip pdf
Good luck!
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.
BMI:
Body mass index (BMI)
BMI is a formula that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. The BMI's biggest weakness is that it doesn't consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass. BMI may:
- Underestimate body fat for older adults or other people with low muscle mass
- Overestimate body fat for people who are very muscular and physically fit
It's quite common, especially for men, to fall into the "overweight" category if you happen to be stronger than average. If you're pretty strong but in good shape then pay no attention.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
You are not to tall. I think my bunk is 7 feet long. When in the driver's seat of a truck you are sitting with your feet flat on the floor. You can adjust the hight of the seat. In a manual truck the shifter is to your right. Your body won't get in the way. On a manual truck you have more floor space between the seats.
Of course you may know I drive for CFI. We have KW T680's and a very new fleet. In these trucks you can stand up in the front. They have great interior hight. I think their traning is great.
Welcome to the forum Chris.
Most all of the trucks in the major carrier's fleets should have ample room for your height; both in the width of the bunk (over 7') and available headroom. Seats and steering wheels adjust to an infinite amount of settings to enable comfort and a safe driving position. You should be fine.
Trucking Truth has a starter kit highly recommended for folks like yourself checking-out trucking as a career path.
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
The "Getting Started" links are important in that they provide grounding of expectations, establishing a factual base of knowledge and an industry leading training course designed to assist with passing the CLP exams and preparing a student for trucking school.
Let us know if you have any questions. Best of luck!
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.
CLP:
Commercial Learner's Permit
Before getting their CDL, commercial drivers will receive their commercial learner's permit (CLP) upon passing the written portion of the CDL exam. They will not have to retake the written exam to get their CDL.
Read through the CDL diaries for the companies you are interested in. it gives you a variety of perspectives. use the search bar for any topics you want. You.mentioned Jim.Palmer. They carry Prime freight and get use of our terminals. they have great equipment. the smaller class comment baffled.me cause although prime has large classes but training is done one on one. so class size only matters for physicals, filling out forms, and SIM classes.
Theres another thread sorta showing the similarities and differences between swift and prime. G Town can add to that.
Swift or Prime questiom thread
I kept up a thread showing my pay and increases over the years, including posting pay stubs. . Other Prime dribers confirm my numbers, and those from other companies chime in with theirs.
In the end, from a money stand point, the work you get done will off set any discrepancies in cpm whichever company you choose.
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.
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.
Baffle:
A partition or separator within a liquid tank, used to inhibit the flow of fluids within the tank. During acceleration, turning, and braking, a large liquid-filled tank may produce unexpected forces on the vehicle due to the inertia of liquids.CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.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.
Duh... it helps if i post the link lol
Welcome to the forum Chris.
Most all of the trucks in the major carrier's fleets should have ample room for your height; both in the width of the bunk (over 7') and available headroom. Seats and steering wheels adjust to an infinite amount of settings to enable comfort and a safe driving position. You should be fine.
Trucking Truth has a starter kit highly recommended for folks like yourself checking-out trucking as a career path.
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
The "Getting Started" links are important in that they provide grounding of expectations, establishing a factual base of knowledge and an industry leading training course designed to assist with passing the CLP exams and preparing a student for trucking school.
Let us know if you have any questions. Best of luck!
Thanks GTown. Couldn’t find the rest of the links in the starter kit in recent threads.
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.
CLP:
Commercial Learner's Permit
Before getting their CDL, commercial drivers will receive their commercial learner's permit (CLP) upon passing the written portion of the CDL exam. They will not have to retake the written exam to get their CDL.
The sooner you start submitting your application, the sooner you can decide what company you’ll be starting with. There’s a checklist of questions to ask the recruiters on here. Just use the search bar above.
September is going to get here very quickly. If you haven’t started already, you need to get going with the
Whoops I did put September in my post! I should have put November. Thanks for the quick response and information.
BMI:
Body mass index (BMI)
BMI is a formula that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. The BMI's biggest weakness is that it doesn't consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass. BMI may:
- Underestimate body fat for older adults or other people with low muscle mass
- Overestimate body fat for people who are very muscular and physically fit
It's quite common, especially for men, to fall into the "overweight" category if you happen to be stronger than average. If you're pretty strong but in good shape then pay no attention.
Welcome to the forum Chris.
Most all of the trucks in the major carrier's fleets should have ample room for your height; both in the width of the bunk (over 7') and available headroom. Seats and steering wheels adjust to an infinite amount of settings to enable comfort and a safe driving position. You should be fine.
Let us know if you have any questions. Best of luck!
Thanks for all the info G-town. It’s good to know about the steering wheels this helps in me a lot in personal vehicles.
The sooner you start submitting your application, the sooner you can decide what company you’ll be starting with. There’s a checklist of questions to ask the recruiters on here. Just use the search bar above.
September is going to get here very quickly. If you haven’t started already, you need to get going with the
Whoops I did put September in my post! I should have put November. Thanks for the quick response and information.
Good to hear. The more time you get to study, the better prepared you’ll be. The better prepared you are, the quicker you’ll get out here & start earning.
One thing, since you live in Texas & you might or might not need your CLP from that state. The High Road Training program does not cover chapter 14 from your state’s CLP exam. You’ll need to read it in the Texas CDL manual
Again, this all depends on what company training you choose to go with & whether or not they require your state’s permit. At Prime’s Springfield Training program, you will test for the Missouri permit & license. After you start the TNT training, you’ll be routed through your home to transfer the license. If you go to Salt Lake City, you’ll need to bring your state’s permit. You can check the company paid profiles for the policies of the other companies you’re interest in.
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.
BMI:
Body mass index (BMI)
BMI is a formula that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. The BMI's biggest weakness is that it doesn't consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass. BMI may:
- Underestimate body fat for older adults or other people with low muscle mass
- Overestimate body fat for people who are very muscular and physically fit
It's quite common, especially for men, to fall into the "overweight" category if you happen to be stronger than average. If you're pretty strong but in good shape then pay no attention.
TNT:
Trainer-N-Trainee
Prime Inc has their own CDL training program and it's divided into two phases - PSD and TNT.
The PSD (Prime Student Driver) phase is where you'll get your permit and then go on the road for 10,000 miles with a trainer. When you come back you'll get your CDL license and enter the TNT phase.
The TNT phase is the second phase of training where you'll go on the road with an experienced driver for 30,000 miles of team driving. You'll receive 14¢ per mile ($700 per week guaranteed) during this phase. Once you're finished with TNT training you will be assigned a truck to run solo.
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.
CLP:
Commercial Learner's Permit
Before getting their CDL, commercial drivers will receive their commercial learner's permit (CLP) upon passing the written portion of the CDL exam. They will not have to retake the written exam to get their CDL.
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First I wanted to say Hello and thanks to everyone on Trucking Truth, there is a lot of great information here. I plan on making a move in September and most of my questions have been answered here!
I’m 46 looking for a new career, I work out of Las Vegas and live in Texas.
Special thanks to Brett, G-town, Rainy, & others who I have forgotten (sorry).
Currently I’m considering putting in an application at the following companies.
1. Prime - great training, pay, etc... (Rainy gives a lot of info here, thanks again.)
2. Millis Transfer - good training, pay, equipment, etc.. they also have regional Texas routes that might be available down the line. Training in TX
3. Jim Palmer - Very Prime like smaller classes.
4. Swift - a little less pay, but good equipment, training. They also have dedicated routes I might want to look at in the future. Training in TX (G-town has a lot of info here - thanks!)
I’ve looked at others, but these four seem to stand out. (I’m sure I missed somewhere or something I’m always open to suggestions)
A couple of questions:
I know it’s been discussed here before and I’ve read the threads but I am tall 6’9” and I’m assuming that driving an automatic might be easier for me than a manual transmission. (I believe the companies above have autos or are heading that way) The last time I drove a standard transmission I couldn’t get the car into second gear because my knees got in the way!
Is it easier for tall people in autos? Am I too tall?
When I’m ready how far in advance should I start submitting applications?
Thanks, Chris
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
BMI:
Body mass index (BMI)
BMI is a formula that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. The BMI's biggest weakness is that it doesn't consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass. BMI may:
It's quite common, especially for men, to fall into the "overweight" category if you happen to be stronger than average. If you're pretty strong but in good shape then pay no attention.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated