How Long Of A Hiatus.
Topic 32747 | Page 1
What about other driving options besides the DG account for you? There's a lot easier stuff out here for you.
I took 5 months off, from my 1st company after close to 2nd year. Got hired for solo gig without any questions, or mention refresher, at a different company. Of course that was before this fuel crisis came into full effect, back @ December 2nd, when I was hired, and assigned a brand new truck lol
How long of a hiatus can I take from trucking before I'm listed as needing a refresher course or extra training?
There's no industry standard. Varies by company. You've got two things going for you:
1) You already have more than a year of OTR experience.
2) You already have enough information (tickets/incidents/accidents) on your CDL that an insurance agent can give a company the o.k. to hire you.
Companies are a lot pickier about stale CDLs for drivers with no driving experience. If I were in your shoes I'd shop - put together a list of companies you'd be interested in driving for and ask. Don't fill out an application. Don't give any identifiable information. Call a recruiter and say, "I saw your ad. I meet the qualifications but I've been off the road for (insert however long you're planning on playing hooky for) is that going to be a problem?" That should give you a pretty good idea of what they want.
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.
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.
I was looking into transferring into another division within Schneider. It's just been a super rough time since Thanksgiving. Had 2 liftgate issues that cost me each over half a day. Got caught in 2 storms in the Dakotas that cost me 3 days. And then you add dealing with all the crap DG stores and employees. Just to much.
Managed to bring in $103k last year. That's with a 11 day, 7 day, and 8 day of unpaid unexcused absences.
Got away with that because I'm a runner. However with my old boss leaving without notice last month, and doing it to my new boss last week. Probably at my last straw.
Of course I'm starting back tomorrow heading from the Twin Cities to Dell Rapids SD in the storm, lol.
What about other driving options besides the DG account for you? There's a lot easier stuff out here for you.
What were the liftgate issues? Walco or one of the max pro? It wasn’t always possible but I did my best to learn how to fix as much liftgate stuff as I could on the fly because road breakdown didn’t seem to know crap or Sunday Evenings when we didn’t have anyone in the trailer shop
Walco. 2 failing batteries. On my second call to the trailer shop they had looked up the records. They weren't holding a charge and should have been red tagged by previous driver. 3 weeks back a trailer was brought to me in Jamestown ND. Sat there for 12 hours in -25. Got to my first store and it crapped out right away. Used handwarmers and a hairdryer to no avail. On my 3rd call to TMF they had 4 drivers in the Dakotas with liftgate issues. On my 4th call the issue was a mesh. It crystallizes in those temps and has to be removed. I was with a trailer that hadn't had that removed yet.
The past 7 weeks they've been relaying me everything. So I'm only averaging 3 loads a week, so I guess its sort of a break. lol. I guess it probably would make more sense to travel the 300 miles to Janesville to start my week and get/demand more miles but I don't care at this point.
Looking into McLane. Or maybe some local linehaul jobs.
What were the liftgate issues? Walco or one of the max pro? It wasn’t always possible but I did my best to learn how to fix as much liftgate stuff as I could on the fly because road breakdown didn’t seem to know crap or Sunday Evenings when we didn’t have anyone in the trailer shop
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Larry,
Have you checked out Magnum? They have OTR , linehaul , and P&D. I know their openings are dwindling with the low freight volumes but they have terminals in Coon Rapids and Lakeville.
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.
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.DWI:
Driving While Intoxicated
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Been trucking for about 17 month's. Pretty much at my ropes end with Dollar General. How long of a hiatus can I take from trucking before I'm listed as needing a refresher course or extra training?
I do consider myself a delivery driver. So not really sure what I want to go to.