Profile For Suicide Jockey

Technically I spent the weekend jumping from beach town to beach town!

But actually I was just delivering fuel to our beach town stores all weekend...

Back in June I was on my way east on I40 headed to a beach store. A car knocked a piece of road debris into my lane and I heard a load pop as I went over it. Pulled over to find one of my tractors air bags blown. My boss set up a road service call, and we got an eta of 2+ hours til arrival. Well a bit over 2 hours later the road service company cancelled, saying they don't have the necessary parts in stock. It was going to be hours until we could get our own service truck out to me. We ended up having one of the day shift drivers who was just getting started drive his empty tanker out to me and swap trucks on the side of I40. I was already exceeding 14 hours, so I jumped in his truck and made it back to the terminal just before hitting the 16hr mark. The other driver had the pleasure of sitting and waiting for our mechanic to come replace the airbag, and then continue on to complete that delivery. I loaded that truck at 11pm, made it 1hr 45min down the highway before breaking down, and didnt get back to our terminal until 7:30am.

I watched three full Netflix movies while I was on the side of I40....

Unfortunately we had a driver recently terminated after a similar mishap.

The store he was at required you to park under the gas fuel island to reach the fuel drops, and then pull all the way through to turn and depart the store.

Unfortunately he rushed his his right turn and hit the bollard protecting the fuel pumps with the trailer axle at just over 20mph. The trailers frame was bent, and will likely never be roadworthy again.

Always watch your mirrors and be aware of where your trailer is tracking. And more importantly don't rush!

Came in on my day off to help run some loads as folks were panic buying fuel before the storm.

We grounded the whole fleet as the storm made it's way through the area.

Fleet resumed operations this morning. All the sleet and snow melted away today.

As usual after a NC ice storm there are plenty of cars in the ditch. Otherwise all back to normal.

Agree very much with this. In my area as well there are quite a few older fuel haulers. They just take their time and do it right. Age and fitness are far less relevant than your head being in the right place. Mistakes happen in a moment of stray thought, and are very expensive, very dangerous, or both. Accidentally hook your hose up to the wrong compartment, and u may drop thousands of gallons of gas into a diesel tank or vice versa. If you catch the error you'll shut that store down for the day until their tanks can be pumped out, which is an expensive and time consuming task. If you don't catch it you may cause tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the customers engines who purchased that fuel.

The physicality of the job isn't a major issue. Complacency is the biggest challenge.

Mental requirements are more important in this job. There’s a lot of fuel haulers around here in their seventies and even a couple in their eighties, so obviously the physical part of the job is not overly onerous. Having the mindset that allows you to do the job for forty years with no incidents is the hard part.

Probably haven’t lifted anything over twenty pound in this job. We do do a lot of standing around in the weather while delivering.

I'm based out of Selma, and load out of there primarily. Also load out of Fayetteville, Apex, and occasionally Chesapeake VA.

I'll occasionally run a load out west near Charlotte, bit it's rare, and I'm not carded at any terminals out that way.

With a 2-3 year time frame, I'd recommend sticking with one company. Earnings in trucking are very performance based. The better you are at your job, the more you make. Drivers tend to not earn much their first year because they are still "learning the ropes". They make more their second year not because they receive a pay increase, but because they are better at their job. That tends to repeat itself each time you change companies. When you go somewhere new you now have to "learn the ropes" at your new employer.

I was at Prime for a bit over 3 years. Each year I made more than the previous year. At no time did I receive a pay raise of any kind.

When I left Prime and got into fuel tankers I did pretty well my first year. My 2nd year I made an additional 16k more. And my third year I made 10k more than my second year. My pay system was the same, I just got better at my job.

Stick with one company and strive to be the best driver possible. Keep your expenses low and put all that money in the bank. You'll have a nice amount saved up when your ready to leave.

I may have misread something. But typically if a company pays for your CDL training, it is typically with a contract to work with them for at least a year. My assumption is that if Amazon pays for your CDL training, you would be driving for Amazon for at least a year after. Just like if you go though Wilsons CDL program, you will be working for them for at least a year.

I am not familiar with Amazons "Career choice" program, so I could absolutely be wrong. But I don't see how they would pay your CDL training without expecting a year of driving for them in return.

All that aside, It's good that you are pursuing company sponsored training, over paying out of pocket to a CDL school. Let a company invest in you, and they will be more interested in your success.

I don't have specific experience with Wilson, but I went through Primes CDL training program and then was a Lease Operator with Prime for 3 years. Since Wilson hauls freight for Prime, I'll assume experiences may be similar. I had a very positive experience with Prime and did bring home a net income in the ballpark of 85k. 100k+ net may have likely been possible as a constant driver trainer in a good market. That being said I would not be comfortable recommending any new driver to get themselves into a lease or a lease purchase. The risks are to great and you are to inexperienced to fully grasp what you are getting into. The companies will sell you on the benefits of being a L/O, because it is more beneficial to them. As a L/O you assume the costs of fuel, maintenance, taxes, medical benefits, and the financial risks associated with driver errors.

It is more risky and more expensive to the company to bring you on as a employee, than it is to pay you a percentage of load and allow you to assume all the risk as a private contractor.

Also I have seen accounts from other motivated Prime drivers on this forum that earned a similar income as company drivers.

I have heard that the current freight market is in a rough place, so those income numbers may be more difficult to hit. The freight market may also be why companies are nudging you towards a lease, as it reduces their costs and risks.

I'm a bit out of the loop, as I left Prime about 3.5 years ago. But I would highly recommend a company driver position based on my experience.

I am now a company driver for a local company hauling fuel, earning more than I ever did as a L/O with Prime.

Years ago I saw a flatbed with their load leaning like that in Amarillo. I hung way back as he got off the highway and headed towards a truck stop. As he tried to make the turn, he rolled over in the middle of the intersection.