Location:
South Central , ID
Driving Status:
Experienced Driver
Social Link:
ID Mtn Gal On The Web
Young old (74 on 26 July) lady that drove OTR 1988 - 1993 with a Chauffeur License, getting off the road because the husband hated driving & wanted to work cattle. In 1996 he suffered 2 Traumatic Brain Injuries & lived with the issues of that for 18 years. I cared for him all that time except his last 2 weeks of life. Knowing that he would be going to a nursing home, I went to school, got my CDL, got a job & getting the husband settled in at the home when he fell. That caused his death in Sept 2014.
The company gave me time and several weeks later I started driving team with my brother 😝 That lasted 2.5 mths and for the first time ever drove solo. I have now been on the road for over 10 years. My driving partner is an 10 yr old mini Rat Terrier guard dog.
On 6 May 2024, my company called me and 60 other drivers in to tell us they were bankrupt and closing their doors soon. By the end of May, the other 20 drivers were let go and the company closed. Since that time I put in over 30 applications for local work. Responses from Chobani for yard jockey was that I was overqualified. Glanbia wanted me to haul a milk tanker to se ID where winters are horrendous for $25/hr. Oh, the $25 also included washing out my tanker. Nope....too old to do that. So, I'm now doing in-home health care, back to raising dairy goats and chickens.
After getting several weird calls from guys that said they saw my info on Trucking Truth that I would talk or text while driving boring miles, but then want to meet up....NOPE, not doing that. Those that want to talk with me already have my number.
Posted: 1 month, 3 weeks ago
View Topic:
Schneider dedicated Floor and Decor
How is this account? Are they tight backing docks? Do you deliver to stores or Distribution Center?
Floor and Decor is the account? Never heard of them, so I looked them up. Now I know why....they have 243 stores in 38 States and none in Idaho, Wyoming, ND, SD, MT and only one in NE. I've lived in WY, MT, ND and now ID for the past 45 years!
If I had to hazard a guess, you would be delivering to individual stores.
Laura
Posted: 2 months ago
View Topic:
New CDL A Driver Facing Experience Barriers – Seeking Home Daily or OTR Job Near DeKalb, IL!
If you are that disabled, have you looked into disability payments? If you have worked any appreciable amount in the past, you would qualify for SSDI. If you haven't, then the state would pay you under the SSI program.
If you need help shopping, going to doctors appointments and even help with household cleaning, you should be able to get help from different agencies. I have 10 years OTR when my company went bankrupt last May and let 80+ drivers go. That's the second company that has stranded me from my home base. So I've decided that I will do local. Out of over 30 applications for local driving, I have had two responses and they were both not willing to take me on. So I've applied to grocery stores, Farm and ranch stores, offices that need just minimal computer work and never have heard from them. I finally got a job last week with the company that does in home health care. I have a client that is in her 50s with various health issues. Medicaid is paying my company who is paying me to go over there for 3 to 4 hours a day, 5 days a week to help. If she is having a good day, I encourage her to do dishes or sweep her kitchen and bathroom. She's had several bad days, so I do those tasks along with laundry if she needs it done and vacuuming. I don't do heavy cleaning but if she wanted me to wash windows I would do them. She is allowed 1.75 hours to go shopping and I would take her to Walmart. She does have a husband but he works 6 days a week 12 hours a day. He is off Mondays so he does go and pick up her medicines. You need to look into something like that. As others have stated, your expectations are way out of line for a beginner with no experience.
Posted: 2 months ago
View Topic:
Paid cdl A training in seattle (wa)
Sorry for late reply, thx for the information.
Yeah I`m thinking the same way that I will be doing this for long term period and I do not want to choose wrong path regarding this division.
I`ve heard that hauling gas is quite promisable as well as the income and I just realised that hauling milk is pretty heavy job. Do you think hauling gas is easier compared with milk? (including any other things outside hauling)? Thank you
You are putting the cart before the horse. You need to figure out where you are going to live, get your CDL and get 1 yr of experience over the road. That's all BEFORE thinking of driving a tanker with fuel/gas. Once you have your CDL, you can see if hauling milk is available where you are at and if they will take a trainee with a freshly minted CDL.
Like I said in my other reply, Idaho is 3d in the States with the number of dairies and cows. It's hard work and a couple companies are now taking new drivers without experience because of the lack of experienced drivers. Other States have dairies, but not as many cows, so less drivers to haul milk. It may be harder to get a job in those places.
Get your experience OTR. Many companies do not consider local driving or Class B as experience. Driving jobs are still in the companies favor.
Posted: 2 months, 1 week ago
View Topic:
Paid cdl A training in seattle (wa)
Last but not least, currently I also have a family ( my wife and a child ) and I think being local intermodal truck driver will be the best choice so far for me. My question is, is there any kind of local truck driver (gas, dairy, hazmat hauler, etc) which provide good or even better income than intermodal in arizona phoenix? Appreciate it!
I think you would be better off down in Phoenix AZ getting your CDL including your HazMat. However, don't expect to haul gas or fuel until you have at least one year experience and many companies want 2years.
As for milk, Idaho is 3d in the Nation for dairies. Not enough drivers, so several of the companies are now advertising for new drivers and they will teach you after you are done with school. It is hard work even for younger drivers when you have to chain up in mud to get out of the milk transfer yard and climbing up the ladder hauling a 30 lb empty hose to wash out the tank. I had put in for yard jockey and got an interview. Turns out that they wanted me to haul milk. $25/hr for daytime and $26.50 for nights. I can climb the ladder....but not hauling a 30 lb hose! Then wash out the trailer??!! Not at 73!! So, looking for any kind of work now. If I can't get something in the couple months, then it's back over the road again.
Go to a company school and good luck!
Posted: 2 months, 1 week ago
View Topic:
Paid cdl A training in seattle (wa)
Last but not least, currently I also have a family ( my wife and a child ) and I think being local intermodal truck driver will be the best choice so far for me. My question is, is there any kind of local truck driver (gas, dairy, hazmat hauler, etc) which provide good or even better income than intermodal in arizona phoenix? Appreciate it!
I think you would be better off down in Phoenix AZ getting your CDL including your HazMat. However, don't expect to haul gas or fuel until you have at least one year experience and many companies want 2years.
As for milk, Idaho is 3d in the Nation for dairies. Not enough drivers, so several of the companies are now advertising for new drivers and they will teach you after you are done with school. It is hard work even for younger drivers when you have to chain up in mud to get out of the milk transfer yard and climbing up the ladder hauling a 30 lb empty hose to wash out the tank. I had put in for yard jockey and got an interview. Turns out that they wanted me to haul milk. $25/hr for daytime and $26.50 for nights. I can climb the ladder....but not hauling a 30 lb hose! Then wash out the trailer??!! Not at 73!! So, looking for any kind of work now. If I can't get something in the couple months, then it's back over the road again.
Go to a company school and good luck!
Posted: 2 months, 2 weeks ago
View Topic:
If you’re comfortable with a male trainer and confident in handling the situation, it might be worth discussing that with him rather than omitting details.
Decent answer. However, she did not tell her husband, got a male trainer who was focused of getting her trained. She passed her training and has been in her own truck for more than 5 mths now.
Posted: 2 months, 2 weeks ago
View Topic:
CONGRATULATIONS!!! on the Million miles and the weight loss!!
Laura
Posted: 2 months, 2 weeks ago
View Topic:
We all want to do the best we can. However, in your first year it's inevitable that some accidents will happen. That's why we recommend that you go thru company training. They are more lenient with some smaller type incidents. The big thing is to acknowledge your responsibility in the incidents and you tell Safety what you learned.
Too many, like the lady above with 3 tow jobs for being stuck in the mud, shows she didn't learn. The comment that she has stories she could tell, tells me she is not taking responsibility for any of the 5 incidents she was involved in.
Laura
Posted: 2 months, 3 weeks ago
View Topic:
Your blood pressure cannot be over 140/90, so you will fail the physical. You will be told to go to your own doctor and have the high BP corrected first.
If you had your CDL already, it would be downgraded to a 1, 2 or 3 mth card. My top number was 150 and the bottom number was always less than 85. Took me two months trying a couple different meds to get that top number down into the high 130s. Changed my way of eating to Carnivore and it has stayed in the low 130's/76-80.
Hope it doesn't take you long to get that under control.
Posted: 5 days, 1 hour ago
View Topic:
What ever happened to Anne??
Stevo,
Anne and I talked on 16 Nov by Messenger and then she got her phone to work and we chatted for an hour. Her doctor said her rotator cuff would pass a physical and she was so excited. She was going to go take her CDL test soon. Unfortunately she passed away the next day. I kept sending messages by Messenger and text, but it wasn't strange to not hear from her due to her phone and internet issues. A month later, I found out by her daughter Jaime posting on FB. So I called Tom and talked with him for several hours. I miss talking with her.
Laura