Profile For JakeBreak

I can agree with Deb. Fresh outta school I woulda panicked and made the phone calls to get it fixed. After you get some time in and you know how the company likes to handle things you can almost plan in stuff like that. My last company used loves or thier own shop almost exclusively for tires. If I had a problem I would just take it there and get it fixed. If I had a pick up and my trailer had a bad tire, make the pick up and then get it fixed. Some people like to make things more complicated than it needs to be.

Butler is a good company I had no problems when I was working there. They are a true OTR company though. Expect to only be home every 3 to 4 weeks.

CFI, Trans Am and more than a few others all have stuff in and around KC. Old School is 100 percent correct as always that terminal locations don't matter. 2 of the 4 companies I have worked for didn't even have a drop yard within 3 hrs of my house. One of the others was a local gig where I slip seated and parked at the yard and the current one has a yard about an hour and a half away, but I park 5 mins from the house.

So many topics in one thread.

1) The driver shortage is a total scam by the ATA to create a crisis in the minds of the public. They do this so they get support for their, "solutions" that all involve paying drivers LESS - CDL training in high schools, H2-B visas, allowing drivers from Mexico to run in the US, lowering the age for interstate driving, etc. If there were an actual shortage wages would be going up to attract more people to the industry.

What we have is churn - thousands of people earning their CDLs then giving up driving in their first year. Out of my CDL class of 30 only 2 were still driving 8 months later.

2) Truck driving is a, "big tent" - there are A LOT of driving jobs that are rarely, if ever discussed here. Waste Management (garbage trucks), the city bus company and others will train people to get their CDLs.

3) It's up to YOU to find the driving job that's right for YOU. The problem is there isn't a simple way to research all the types of driving jobs. It takes time and it it isn't easy. The good jobs that pay well and have low turnover rarely advertise. There are a lot of companies that just accept 100%+ annual driver turnover rather than make changes. In most industries that would be unacceptable.

4) Your mileage may vary. Just because one driver had a positive experience doesn't mean a different driver working for a different company will have the same experience. Not all companies are equal-pay, working conditions, home time and equipment condition can vary greatly just by changing the name on the side of the truck. There are definitely some companies that treat drivers much worse than others. Three drivers on a truck? Yeah, they've got that.

I agree with all this. The driver shortage is a myth, if there was a true shortage then wages would go up to compensate. I mean I think im pretty well compensated, I can support my family and I have a job where I'm home every weekend. And it is completely up to you to determine your productivity which is your pay. And if the company you are at isn't the right one then keep looking, there are thousands of trucking companies out there and im sure you'll find the right one. It is hard to start out, mainly because like you said some good companies very rarely advertise because they don't need to. They get enough people from word of mouth. Thats actually how I found my current company, I was looking and just happened to stumble on them.

I guess I'm going to be the odd man out here. I would say to go with the Mack. There are a ton of FB groups that feature Class A trucks pulling motor homes. Depending on the frame length you could even put ramps and tote the Harleys behind the cab. That opens you up to more living space in the camper, instead of having to worry about storage.

I personally don’t get caught up in any of those terms. I don’t think I get any of those in my pay either. I turn in my time sheet every week and get paid very well per load. That’s all I worry about.

For us OTR drivers, it's not so cut and dry, especially those of us hauling reefer.

Here's a knowledge nugget for you since you're so new to both this site and to truck driving, Ryan.

Pay attention to this part:

Some local and regional drivers, like Bird One, actually drove OTR prior to their current gig.

Your foolish responses continue to make many of us shake our heads behind the scenes, Ryan.

100 percent agree with packrat. Did reefer OTR for 2 years, 3 years local and 2 more OTR and really it doesn't matter. I make really good money and I don't get any of the accessory pay. I turn my bills in every load and I make what I make. I'm happy with it and like I said I make good money. My first 2 years I spent at roehl and they had all the extra pay stuff, didn't really apply, except detention pay. When I went local I was hourly just turned in my timesheet every week. Went back OTR and this company doesn't have that stuff and I make more than I did before.

The only advantage I have seen to having a terminal near your house is it is easier for a company to get you home. If you have obligations that require you to be home for a certain period of time, it is usually easier on the company if there is a terminal or yard close by. If you can get home whenever or have easily changed plans for your hometime then it becomes less important. For example im divorced and have a son, I get my visitation when I am on hometime. If I come home during the week he still has to go to school during the day and I am responsible for transportation. So I schedule my hometime for the weekends. If I get home late it impacts the amount of time I get to spend with him. So I am not as flexible as someone else who even though they would like to be home on Friday, it isn't a huge deal if they get home Saturday morning instead.

Things have been pretty slow here. I had to wait a day n a half to get my load home for hometime. They gave me an extra day of hometime, and since I've been back while I haven't been waiting for loads, the loads I've been getting have loads of time on them. 3 days for a 600 mile run. Or 2 days for a 500. I was gonna ask here a few days ago if it was slow for everyone else or just my company lol

The only way I would ask is if I wasn't sure. That's honestly one of my biggest worries out here is that one day I'll bump a truck, or a trailer and not realize it and get charged with leaving the scene of an accident. If you are sure you didn't hit it, then don't worry about it.

While I agree the NE isn't truck friendly, I never thought it was as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The only thing I don't like about it is you need to run either overnight or be ready to shut down by 3 in the afternoon to have a spot.

Another thing to consider when choosing to run recaps versus reset, is that load planners and dispatchers also have to be on board to maximize your time. As I said my week generally starts Monday when I deliver my "weekend" load from the Friday before. How I run during the week doesn't matter, short loads or long loads, until I get to Thursday or Friday. That's when load planners will start looking for either a "day run" to set me up for my "weekend load" dispatched on Friday or if there is a really long load I'll sometimes get my weekend on Thursday.

Honestly this is probably the biggest roadblock for most drivers. If the planners or your dispatch aren't good at thier jobs, it will impact your miles. I've been with 4 different dispatchers over my 2 years at this company and there is a huge difference between one that is just calling it in vs one who is trying to get the best miles for thier drivers. If it was up to me I would reset every week and run nights, because that is what works best for me. Load planners have trouble planning for guys that run nights and if your dispatcher is in coast mode then you get loads where you have 24hrs of waiting to deliver.