Profile For Mark D.

Hello folks, great post, I worked for the Haulers for 3 months couple of years ago, good company deffo not the worst to work for. I just hit the solitary confinement wall when I was with them. So I came home and have done local supermarket deliveries for the past year mostly in a straight truck, and of course some warehouse work too, although as I sit and write this I am missing the road again ( most of you guys may know this feeling, the good bits not the bad bits lol) . I am edging towards tanker again, and even contemplating team which I have never done, but thinking it may cure the solitary side of things. Yes tanker driving is certainly different than van which I enjoy, mostly because there is no customer docks to bump, and usually the receiver is happier that you turned up. And I have a tendency to over think things so driving a tanker sort of suits me. I have preferred food to chemicals ( another over thinking problem I have) . Sorry for the long winded reply.

I am finding it difficult to find local tanker , need more experience I guess . For me the question is do I want to do chemicals again with a large company like Quality Carriers or haul food grade with a relatively smaller company like Caledonia Haulers. Are things like medical costs and 401k better with the larger companies , or is it more a case of which truck do you like to drive Pete or Mack. Is it beneficial to go with larger haulers because of more customers etc or is it better to go with smaller because that means you get more runs ? I wish I could decide

Thanks Patrick, I was with Superior Carriers for about 8 months, I absolutely loved driving the tanks, I don't think I would go back to dry box. Most of the other chemical haulers need at least 2 years exp , although QC would like to hire me. Also a food grade outfit want me too , although I would have to find home time parking .My original post was to ask if there was any benefit in hauling hazmat over foodgrade. From now on in I only want to drive with tankers. Just wondered if hazmat was the way forward for me or food grade. All spillage sis not good but at least orange juice won't do as much damage as acid or the likes. I've never been any good at deciding , perhaps I was spoiled at superior and if I go to QC I will always compare , and if I jump to food grade although it's tanker there is a difference in what I am hauling. Hope this post makes sense lol

Thanks for your imput Chris , just trying to find a tanker job up here in Massachusetts, very few and far between. And the ones that are up here require more experience than I have. Looks like I may need to expand my search and if this is the case I will need to find some parking for truck and also trailer.

Thank you very much guys for your response and wisdom , I recently left Superior Carriers through no fault of them. Just felt I needed a little bit extra training to really make me feel secure with some of the chemicals I was hauling as a newbie. So now I am in a bit of a hole as to my next trucking home , do I stay with chemicals i.e. QC as they have a terminal in Massachusetts so I can leave truck there , or do I try my hand at food grade and try and find somewhere I can leave the truck when I am on home time

Hello folks Trying to decide if I should stick to hazmat or try food grade. Is there a real pay difference between the two.? Or does the accessory pay on both mean the pay and benefits are the same. Does it really pay to haul hazmat? Thanks in advance

Hello there Ferret , how's things at QC Chicopee , I am thinking of heading over there.

Just wondering if there is any recommendations for companies outside the bigger companies ?

Congratulations

Thanks for your input , Home time would be good but I guess sacrifices have to be made in the first few years ? As to benifits this will be my first job stateside so great to good ? . The school I attended put me towards the big 3 Werner , Schneider and Us Xpress , was just wondering if that would be best or any other big , medium or small outfits are the way to get into the industry . Thanks in advance