Employment opportunity for those interested in trucking

Hiring freeze is off and I've noticed many terminals looking for drivers, trainees and dock workers.

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

I live outside of Carthage, Texas. Half a dozen firms have standing adverts in the local paper for drivers... home every night... can work as many hours as you can stand... very hefty signing bonuses... health, and all that stuff...

They've got to where they're posting how much that top drivers are making each month... Last month it was ~7K a month... and you sleep at home... this is for salt water haulers... half the time your sitting in your cab waiting for the tanks to fill...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Jobs like this will always be around, everything we own or use travels by truck at least once in it's life. Trouble is most young people coming out of high school or college now don't want a job that includes much physical labour. Trucker, plumber, bricklayer, electrician, these and other trades are the jobs that employers are crying for people to fill them. I don't know how different it is in the States with the economy not doing so well but up here labourers and tradespeople are hard to find.

Most young people these days want the nice air conditioned office job. Most don't want much hard labour and want to dress up to go to work.

I've delivered construction equipment now for 22 years in and around Toronto and southern Ontario, the last nine of them with a gooseneck float, heavy and oversize loads, etc. On a good day it's a great job, driving along the highway, window open, radio on, load sitting "just right". On a bad day... well, I can't tell you how many times I was in a situation downtown that I just wanted to throw the keys away and walk home. Hot days, cold days, wet days, loading machines in the middle of a field in a blowing snowstorm or a hot humid smoggy day when the radio people are telling everyone to stay indoors and keep cool. I"m sure it's the same for roofers, road pavers, construction workers, farmers. If you're willing to work hard and learn new skills when necessary it's less likely you will be out of a job.

I would agree with others on this thread who say to research the job before you apply. Find out what territory would be covered, what the pay is, ask about the maintainance schedule for the trucks and maybe talk to a couple of drivers who work there already if possible, usually you can get an idea about the company by the attitude of a couple of their drivers.

Truck driving is a great job most days, other days...not so much!

Dont' forget the government itself as a potential employer. There are always jobs for those who hold CDL and other unique qualifications.

Here's the website for the Federal site that governs motor carrier safety:
http://www.fmcsa.gov/rules-regulatio...egulations.htm

And every state has a transportation cabinet:
http://www.transportation.ky.gov/default2.html

DH has been a tractor/trailer driver since 1978. Back then, he trained with other independent drivers, as in they trained him on cross-country long hauls, as he worked as a second driver for them. He did this for a few years, always looking for a job closer to home. That happened in the early 80s and he got employed by our local county road department as a combination garbage/dump truck driver. When our counties landfill regs changed in the late 80s, DH was job transferred into driving a tractor-trailer that transports the counties garbage to a landfill in a neighboring county. His average per load is 80000 lbs. and he transfers anywhere from one to three of these loads daily over a distance of about forty miles one way on a two-lane rural highway. We're both very thankful that he's never had an accident or hurt anyone. He's very aware of the tremendous weight that he's hauling and the responsibility that goes along with that.

That said, other drivers need to become and stay aware of their own responbilities while driving among the large trucks that service our economy. DH's greatest concern stems from drivers that talk on cellphones who seem to "forget" momentarily where they are and "drift" into his truck's vicinity. It is an 8 second look into the future at all times for DH when driving. Even at that, sometimes it's not enough,and although he hasn't yet been involved in an accident, he has witnessed many others who have been fatally injured.

I don't think you understand the trucking industry and the chronic driver shortage they are suffering from.

The average age of drivers working for the carriers I use (I spend $20 million per year on transportation) is about 52 now.

Carriers are desperate for new, young blood. This is one way to attract it.

The truth is, not many young folks want to drive trucks for a living. We keep raising rates hoping to find a level that will attract drivers without making us go broke! Kinda tough to do now with $4.75/gal diesel

So, not necessarily a scam...just desperate companies trying different ways to attract new employees to a not so popular market.

Tim

just FYI, speaking of minimum hours for a job. You can be a commercial pilot with under 300 hrs of flight time, if I remember right it was 250 hrs minimum, nobody gets it in the minimum. granted you would be stuck running single engine planes or towing banners (read deathwish) for about $10/hr. at 500 hrs you can be hired on with a commercial airline flying regional jets or turboprops.

actually I didnt even think truckers got as many training hours as they do, maybe people should get that much training before they start driving cars cause I've seen some REALLLLLLLL bad drivers around

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It has definitely changed in the 15+ years since I got my CDL. I worked for a construction outfit and once I got my permit it was on the job training for a few weeks and then go take the test. No cost to me other then the new license fee ($15.00). Now the guys I talk to all tell me about having to go to school and how much it costs. It's been my ace in the hole since then as I know I can always find a job no matter where I go.