Employment opportunity for those interested in trucking

I don't want to be a truck driver but I do appreciate you posting the job opportunity.

You're welcome.

A side note is that LTL freight companies have terminals in just about every city, usually around the outskirts too. They employ a lot of people besides just drivers. Dock work ain't easy but it's not bad and better with seniority and forklift training and yard horse training. They also use a lot of office help, maintenance, and truck mechanics.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

TN Doc
What I ment when I said "a few dollars spent for training" was to the company its a few dollars. To a new guy starting out the amounts look huge and I think the companies tend to leverage that against a guy quiting, As in "If I quit this driving job that I hate and go back to flipping burgers Ill never pay the $12,000 back and the dispatcher says the company will throw me in jail"
I totally agree with you in that you dont swerve, with the exception of human life.
How did I learn to deal with weather? Id like to say the hard way in real life ,but I also spent some time on a skid pad and I have to admit it was a real eye opener.
The point I was trying to make was that 385 hours is not nearly enough, even 2 years could certainly leave you a rookie , most importantly is judgement and Im not sure any amount of traing can instill that.

You are so right on the chain issue.
As for your accident story dont you wonder how a guy gets 10 years in without a late load? It could be a truckers tale(HIS not yours)
You do know the difference between a truckers tale and a fairy tale dont you?
A fairy tale starts out "Once apon a time..........."
A truckers tale starts out " This aint no S........"
"my truck ran round the clock, unless the weather didn't permit it." It might not seem that way to you but Id guess that would seem a lot like slavery to a lot of people.SPECIALY those outside the industry or just starting. With the ideal of work in this country being about 3 hours away from work for every hour at work the idea of being wedded to the truck 24 hours every day seems pretty slavish,I suppose you could have accumulated 198,000 miles in 200 days but did you really get 600 days at home to off set them? 200? How about even the 165 that would have been left inthe year? We in the industry tend to forget that others get huge amounts of home time, even the guy working 6 /12's gets more time away from the job than on it. (150 days on 265 off)

NW HIPPIE Of course I belive in what I say or I wouldnt say it but I do have the ability to change my mind and even admit Im wrong when shown a better way.

I certainly see your point about it seeming as though (especially) to non-drivers, that we're "married" to the truck. And it did feel that way sometimes but I learned quickly if the wheels didn't turn, I wasn't making any money. As far as late loads, I never had a late load either and that's not a fairy tale...I told my students (as my dispatcher told me) that the delivery time on their trip information was the earliest time in a "window" the load could be delivered, and with early communication with their dispatcher, the delivery time could be changed without it being considered a late load. Of course, those window's became much smaller with time sensitive freight. I used to pick up the load, and run non-stop, with the exception of fuel and showers, till I got to the consignee, and 9 times out of 10, I was hours early...and I drove a truck governed at 63 mph. That gave me the opportunity to deliver early, get another load and keep running...more money. I figured if I was going to be away from my family, it was going to be worth my time because honestly, who wouldn't rather be at home with their kids?? They only consignee I ever saw that wasn't willing to take their frieght early was Walmart...they only took freight from their own drivers early...not "outside" drivers hauling their freight.

And you're definately right about the home time. But most drivers that truly want to drive, understand that truck driving is not a job, it's a lifestyle and that with more experience, more doors open to jobs that allow you to be home every night. Unfortunately, this is not stressed in driving school nearly enough, and the student usually ends up in "culture shock" for the first couple of weeks or so.

As far as driving school and the loans go, I always thought it was much better to get the loan through either government based student school loans or from a lending institution...it doesn't make sense to give someone else control over your choice of professions by dangling a loan under your nose. But I've never heard of them being threatened with jail time over quitting before the loans were paid back. Usually a contract is signed stating that if the driver quits, they are responsible for the loan being paid back in a timely fashion...If someone hates driving enough, it's an option they usually are willing to explore...even if they have to go back flipping burger...which usually isn't the case. They are qualified to learn to drive any truck and/or a bus (with passenger endorsement of course) and after checking it out, as well as having a friend in the business, Greyhound pays excellent, and you have very good home time as the runs are all dedicated to a certain amount of miles within the driver's home. That was an option I explored when I wanted to be done with over-the-road driving.

It seems that we do agree on these issues fantasymaker, we are just taking different routes to get there

Beeman, Thanks for posting the job. I don't drive anymore but maybe someone here will appreciate the heads up. I think it was nice to try and help others. Ignore the complainers.

I agree...it was nice of him to try to help someone else...I was trying to defend the industry and his post...sorry if it came across as complaining...that surely wasn't my intent.

I think we were both trying to tell people about what we see as the "Real " world of driving.

HEY NW Hippe Obviously I was wrong , the moderaters havent pulled this thread so apparently its not to blatent or wrongly placed.

Thank you very much!!
My brother is finishing up at Central Tech this week and getting his CDL, it's nice to have things like this to pass along to him.

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Vickie

I have a friend who is a long distance hauler. He just signed the paperwork to lease his own truck. He's had his Class A for ten or fifteen years, and has many 1000s of miles on the Dalton Highway, and Alcan, running between Alaska and L48. He was involved in one serious wreck (not his fault) in Canada about five years ago. Every company he has driven for, insists on accurate log books. And now there are regulations about how many hours he can drive before he must take a mandatory break for sleep/rest.

I too, have a CDL, for work. It's not really required but there has been a change in regulations since I originally took the test. I specifcally did not want a Class A or B. I drive basically a one ton locally, and the very thought of being in charge of 80,000 pounds rolling down the road gives me the willies. I have much respect for those people who can do this, and do it safely.

Now ya got me drooling....................my dream job!

The job I posted about is LTL freight. Do the research and find out the real story for yourselves. Last I remeber, as I went thru the training, if you quit before the year you owed like 2k, never heard of anyone paying, and you were paid salary during training.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

I have a cdl and drive for a living.when i got started 10 yrs ago,i went thru training with schneider national.It was about a 8 week program and to go thru it you had to sign a non compete letter.so you had to work for them for a year and if you quit you could not go to work for any other company driving a truck.It was a very good deal, they did all they said they would do,and you cant ask for more than that.I was very happy with the training program at schnieder.

I ve been driving over the road for 5 years now and i would say do your homework first. And dont expect to make what the ad says .Not in the first couple years .And get your own loan because it could turn into an nightmare . My loan was though the school where i got my cdl and before i was off the trainers truck they sold my loan to another loan company then re-sold it again. short version of that story is an 3,500 dollar loan is now costing me 10,000 at 400 a month . Here in missouri we have no protection against this. I do agree that the good jobs dont have fancy ads . I ve found better luck with companys that have under 200 trucks .Then there are slow times in the year where you could be gone all week and not make anything but layover pay. So saving money for the slow months is a must [ the slow months are the begining of the year ]
and dont belive recruiters unless its in writing and its always best to talk to people that are driving for them , but then again most big companys pays good for bringing in other drivers so be careful.
You can make an decent living and be home everynight , just please do your homework.

My Brother in law trucks, and makes about the same amount as my factory Job.

BTW there should be lots of job opportunities when these independent truckers go on strike.

I was wondering if anyone was interested in this or if anyone had researched the opportunity. The jobs I'm talking about are not advertised and most don't know much about, including many in trucking.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

fantasymaker do you drive truck?

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to know and not to do is not to know

Kind of getting off subject but I drove Truck years ago,took written Test,Road Test and Physical,driving cross country that evening.After first month found I was running out of ways to doctor my Logs so I put DW on for extra Book.Basically all she had to do was take Physical.Second day she was driving.

My how things have changed.But I loved it and made good money.

big rockpile

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Yes ,but Im also a recruiter and consultant among other things I do.

I don't know anything about the job, but I believe that Old Dominion has been around since trucking began, it seems like i seen their trucks in the 40s.
I drove over the rd and local within 100 mile for over 30 yrs as an owner operator. seen many companies go by the wayside. all of them in Johnie Cashs song.

They've put up the "no longer accepting applications signs" so I guess they've filled their quota. I hope anyone that was interested did the research and possibly benefitted from the info.

__________________
"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost