Profile For Tom W.

You might not be making a whole lot right away, but $1,200 is near what a lot of truckers gross each week after a year or so.

Refusing a load, I was working for a company and was hired for no touch freight after 1 year and 7 month working for them they gave me a load on the holiday that say that I have to unload myself about 1000 tires and they say if I find lumpers there and pay them I’m not going to get reimburse for it. Instead of causing all the assle at the customer i refused the load and got fired. After being fired some companies will not hire you regardless the reason. My advice is don’t refuse the load just quit on the spot.

Hurts to hear you say that just because tires are what I have been doing for five years straight now.

1000 tires can work up a sweat in the summer time but it is nothing to lose your job over. Just shoot them out the trailer one at a time. They probably would have payed you extra for unloading it yourself.

A thousand tire load at one spot for my particular job comes to exactly $150 for 90-150 minutes of work. Then there is regular mileage pay on top of that. That is why they are my favorite.

Looks good to me. What am I missing here?

If you want this bad enough then it is possible. You got to have a Whole Lot of love for this job to stick it out though. Some of my real bad days I wish I had stayed in the service myself over starting this career. Even after several years I just recently had a day where I wanted to get out of my truck and just leave it there on the highway blocking all traffic and walk away.

That is great that you want to get off of the dependence of government. If you really want this then do what you can right now. I do not know about all the meds that the VA perscribed, I honestly stay as far away from any type of pills as I can. But you got to get yourself fit, the main thing is find out how to fix your sleep apnea. It is impossible to have a career long term in trucking without resolving that. Doing all this should be proof enough to yourself that you are ready for getting back on the road.

Good luck to you.

Trucking does not sound like the right career for you.

You got to be able to remain focused when things get bad in this career. There will be plenty more times when you will want to quit working because you will realize "Hey, why am I putting up with all this stress when I could be making nearly the same amount from my entitlements?"

You need to do whatever it takes to accomplish your task. If you refuse to even treat your sleep apnea then that should be evidence enough to yourself that you are not motivated enough yet to succeed at this.

Keep that attitude you have and you will be able to succeed with whatever path you take in training for this career.

Do whatever it takes to accomplish this. Adapt to and overcome all problems and obstacles that arise. Even after you have your cdl and are making your deliveries all by yourself keep this mentality.

If you are hauling something explosive that requires a "safe haven" then in no way should you pull off on any old exit for the duration of the company mandated shutdown period, safety should understand that and will likely work with you.

Though if you are not hazmat and are just referring to a truckstop as a safe haven then be honest. Tell them you did not read or understand the message and that you were just trying to do the safest thing possible in an already bad situation.

If you have no accidents on your record then you will be able to get another job. If they waited this long to do anything about it though then I would think they are going to give you another chance. Just be sure to pay attention now.

I have to travel us-62 through Eureka Springs Arkansas every once in a while. It is a beautiful town to drive through but you will be having to concentrate on the driving so much that you will not be able to enjoy it a whole lot. Turns so tight that your trailer is forced into the oncoming lane several times. It is just a tow lane road with a mountain wall on one side and a cliff side drop off on the other. For about ten miles you got to creep through at 15-30 mph.

I never make a delivery to Eureka Springs, but it is positioned between two of my regular stops and going around would add way too many miles. Couple years ago my route planner accidentally arranged my stops so that I had to drive through there three times in one day.

Everyone at my jb hunt account drives a ten speed manual, but I have heard rumors that there are jb hunt otr drivers that have automatics.

34 cents a mile split is great money starting out so if that is your only concern then do not worry about it.

Be sure you can do this. Teaming with an experienced driver should help for those times you get in tight situations. Linehaul though is a lot about routine so so really this might not be such a bad way to start. You should get used to the route pretty quick. You will not learn quite as much as if you were driving otr but I still say go for it.

If I had an opportunity like this back when I first started out I just might have stuck with it till today even.