Profile For BQ

While it is very true that there are plenty of companies willing to work around many criminal backgrounds, especially after a few years of "clean" living, it may prove difficult with this particular crime. There tends to be fear of utilizing your job/equipment to transfer drugs from place to place. I do wish you luck and hope it works out.

Attitude is EVERYTHING in this business and it will make or break you as a driver. It's all about perception. Is your glass half empty or half full?

Congrats on the award but forget half empty/full, some folks need to learn to be thankful they just have a glass to fill.

OP... Your husbands dispatcher is certainly lying about switching over to company. The leases are "walk away," meaning he could break it and not have credit consequences. He will owe any money for payments or damage that is not current at time of termination but nothing further. After breaking contract, if he is a solid driver, Prime would certainly rather take him on the company side than watch him join another company. As far as pregnancy complications, I wish you guys the best of luck and as many have stated, communicating with company early and often is incredibly important.

Nopers on being home for thanksgiving, I don't take time off while training a student, only between students every 3 months or so, barring emergency, which a holiday certainly does not constitute. I did get myself and student our own hotel rooms last night and had quite a feast at nearby restaurant doing the buffet deal. He was quite thankful and we are now being unloaded at a WMDC in Oklahoma.

They used to allow trainers to meet/select random students, that's how I got mine when coming thru. We happened to meet on pad the first Friday, he liked what he saw, we thought would be decent fit, went to dispatch to be placed on his truck and rolled out first thing Sat morning. Got along fine and stuck together thru entire process. They would aslo try linking randomly when needed. They have since integrated a "matching" system, which utilizes a personality test that incoming students take and I, like all instructors take when going thru trainers course. I am just starting 2nd student, took both of the first match, 1st got along fine and 2nd is off to a solid start. There were "horror stories" the old way and they still exist now. The fact of the matter is, some trainers have no business training, some students just aren't built for this lifestyle or have no work ethic. The problems lie on both sides of the fence. General personality clashes do occur but if both can focus on the business at hand and leave personal differences at the door, they shouldn't matter.

Most importantly, an adjustment to your sleep schedule for day sleep will be necessary. Driving linehaul, you likely won't have time to nap during shift and personally I'm not a fan of the idea of talking on phone while driving, hands free or not, it still takes attention from the road and what's happening around you. Aside from appropriate rest before shift, I have found hard candy, such as jolly ranchers to be terrific when getting a bit tired, as well as pumping the radio and rolling down window for fresh air.

Wow, I am dumbfounded that there are companies who prevent their drivers from utilizing the split. My assumption for this is the confusion it seems to pose for some drivers for some reason, tho it's truly not very complicated.

If the temp you set reefer at varied from temp in BOL, you can absolutely be held responsible. Sometimes the company will give you a certain temp when heading to shipper, sometimes said temp doesn't match BOL after load is received, in such a case always alert dispatch of discrepancy. If they still want you to run at original temp, be sure they send a Qualcomm msg to that affect, this will take responsibility off you. Anytime you run something at temp different than BOL and not approved by company in writing, it is you on the hook if load is rejected. The company may or may not decide to retrieve damages.

Again, my point is not about the issue of leasing versus not leasing. It's about chiding someone who offered advice to another person, because you think that advice is wrong. Nothing he said in his original reply was incorrect. Whether you like it or not.

If your opinion is different, then state your opinion. That is what the forum is for. You can do that without chiding someone for replying in a manner that you think was wrong. Contrary to popular belief, differing opinions are a good thing. Everyone here is an adult, and adults need to make their own decisions. Don't try to make the decision for someone. Help them by giving them relevant information. You can do that without blasting someone else's opinion. That is all I'm saying and I hope you'll take that to heart.

Thanks Chris, you seem to have gotten the point. At no point am I recommending the driver jump into any form of a lease. I did however simply recommend he do his due diligence in researching the idea and be sure to be ready to work hard and be very attentive to all responsibilities if chooses such a route. Some folks get what they want out of a post. No worries here.

Also, success is a subjective term, everyone may interpret it differently. Some folks feel successs in just getting out of bed every day, some by making it thru each day not in a box, some not until CEO at google, others at a mid level manegement position at McDonald's etc........

Hey sorry BQ, I could never in good conscience recommend something to someone (who doesn't know any better), that I myself would not do. Bottom line, if you are unable to prove the reward far outweighs the risk, it's plain foolish to lease through a carrier. You have yet to come up with anything tangible contrary to that...which again is the underlying problem with this model. .

For the record my suggestion still stands, if you haven't already, please read the link I sent the OP. If you are true to your word about wanting to continue learning, reading that thread will only add to your knowledge base...and also the below reply in another thread, something Robert wrote in response to a newbie desiring to lease...timely and relevant...his numbers do not lie.

You called it OS lol. I am leasing and will gladly tell the vast majority, especially a brand new driver not to do it for the reasons I already mentioned. Now I'm sure people would like to know why I chose to do so. For one, I'm crazy. It's probably up for debate but I'll admit it. Seriously though, the reason I did was because I had all the numbers in front of me before I made the commitment. My truck is a 2016 Freightliner Coronado that had just under 50k on it when I got it. The total cost of the truck including all of my securement equipment and tarps will be $139,600. It's a Glider so it's not California compliant but it won't have many of the issues that plague newer trucks. I used to build trucks for several years for Freightliner and was both CAT and Cummins certified so the vast majority of repairs, I can do myself. (It still has 2 years of remaining factory warranty). The company I'm with runs a rate of a minimum $2 a mile to the truck and we don't do much deadhead with many loads more than that rate. The load I'm picking up today and running to Colorado for Thursday delivery is $3.90 a mile to the truck so the numbers do work out to where I can make money. Now, compare that to the vast majority of big company leases where they're lucky to get $1.35-$1.50 a mile and paying much much more and you can definitely see why folks need to run, not walk away from those leases. I too have experience in business and still own a working body shop that has been in business since 1997. So between my vehicular knowledge and a very good portion of my life (starting at 16) in and around trucks and the industry, I do have an advantage over a person who is brand new and will gladly say,,,,, Stay company.

I am well aware reading comprehension is not a requirement in truck driving, but at no point did I recommend the O/P to do anything but THOUROUGHLY RESEARCH HIS INTERESTS AND MAKE SURE HE IS WILLING TO PUT IN THE WORK NECESSARY BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISIONS. Some folks find the risk worthwhile and are successful, others fall flat on their face and don't receive an actual check for weeks. There are also many miserable company drivers who believe there is no money at all in this business. Most of which are lazy, full of excuses and completely lacking in personal responsibility, expecting a pat on the back for a successful pretrip. I am aware L/O is not a popular decision, particularly on this site, which is extremely helpful to new drivers, including myself at one time. I don't recommend anybody do anything without understanding what they are against but life isn't about the cards your dealt, but how you play your hand. To insinuate there are no successful L/O's anywhere is not true, the same way insinuating most or all are successful is not true. I am done with this nonsensical back and forth. To the O/P, again, make sure you fully research any lease and are willing to put in necessary work for success before signing anything. Success is possible, as is falling on your face.