How Do I Know If Trucking Is For Me?
Topic 24091 | Page 2
I was wondering what the reason was for some of you to get into trucking if you would not mind
Tired of being retired? Is that a good enough reason?
Agreed. Find someone willing to take you OTR for a week or so. i personally think all dispatchers and planners should do ride alongs for 2 weeks. Until you get diarrhea at 3 am in a huge truck stop in 10 degree winter...you just dont get it.
always have a jar of Imodium and jug of Pepto-Bismol handy 
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.
Dispatcher:
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.
You never know until you get into the driver's seat and spend time on the road.
Best part of this job is all the different types of driving jobs available. I found out after driving for a while that driving all over the country living in the truck wasn't for me.
I do dedicated delivering to Walmart stores throughout New Mexico, southern Colorado, El Paso, and west Texas. Some weeks I am home everyday and some weeks I may be out the whole 6 days till my day off. I like knowing the area I am running as well as going to the same places often. I am less stressed when I don't have to worry where I will be sent to next. Also with the area I run being fairly rural it's nice not having to deal with as many urban enviroments.
I hope to eventually get on with a ltl carrier pulling doubles in the future. My current position doesn't offer much when it comes to time off. One day off isn't enough (for me anyways).
Being that I don't know how old you are or where you live I can't offer much advice. I got into this job for the money and to get out of my bummer of a small town. Thankfully I already like to drive so being paid to do it is a true plus. Also being a loner introvert this job is perfect for me, ever since I was little I have tended to do things alone.
If you are the type that blames everyone for your problems and does the bare minimum to get by I wouldn't recommend driving a truck. This job takes a lot of dedication and hard work. If you think it will be easy just cause we sit on our butts all day think again. If anything like most things in life it is what you make of it. I recommend doing a lot of research before committing.
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
Doubles:
Refers to pulling two trailers at the same time, otherwise known as "pups" or "pup trailers" because they're only about 28 feet long. However there are some states that allow doubles that are each 48 feet in length.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
I am 46 from wv currently getting 1300.00 dollars a month on disability I am married no kids it takes all the 1300 to make it a month and I am so fed up with not having anything I have thought about trucking for a year now not to mention before I have lost 66 pounds so far hope to loose more I got off of insulin by walking and also one blood pressure medicine and my motivation was the thought of truck driving but I keep wondering how it would effect me and my wife so any info would be appreciated thanks.
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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Sometimes I drive over to the interstate to watch the trucks I like being on the move and I love the big rigs and machinery just cannot decide what to do
Interstate:
Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).