When I drove back in 88-92, after getting out of the Air Force, I drove for May and hauled a reefer. I remember sitting quite a bit waiting for loads back then. The husband wanted to work on cattle ranches and I drove bull racks and a drop deck flat bed. He became Traumatic Brain Injured and I was off the road 22 yrs before getting my CDL.
Got my CDL at 63, so realized no flatbeds for me. While you try to be careful, accidents do happen and bones take longer to heal now. No cattle either. I got a job driving a dry van. Drove 1.5 yrs and switched companies that ran reefers. Been in them since. I prefer dry Van's cause I didn't get middle of the night deliveries but do get more miles with the reefers. I am a night person, but don't like the flip flopping of my schedule in reefers.
Laura
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
A refrigerated trailer.
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So, step one is down, CDL is in hand. I posted my school journey in the cdl diary section “Troops into transportation” for those who are interested.
Backstory is I am retiring from the army in April and did the cdl school a little bit early so I can focus on my transition. The school will provide refresher training at no additional cost, so that’s a plus. I am not worried about specific companies, I plan on applying to all of them. I know I am at the mercy of whomever will give a rookie a chance. I have been watching the site long enough to know to chalk the first year up to learning my job , not worry so much about pay. And sticking with the company for at least a year.
But I am having a hard time deciding what type of driving I want to do. Dry van , flatbed, tanker. (Not so much reefer) I only know that that I don’t want to be local.
All of them seem to have their own specific rewards and drawbacks.
How did you trucking vets decide what type of freight you wanted to move? Is there anything you wish you had known before you decided? Anything besides local that you don’t recommend for a rookie?
Maybe I’m just over thinking it , with having so much time in my hands I plan on having all my endorsements, and don’t mind hard work. I just wanna get on down the road and be safe.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.