Profile For NW Kayaker

It makes complete sense that a trailer door on a trailer might be hard to close on uneven ground. If you consider how a trailer is constructed - essentially a long box with an opening at one end - even if it is a very rigidly built trailer, all it takes is the opening to be just a little bit off from uneven ground to make a door hard to close. It's all physics, really.

On a different note, I have really enjoyed the responses I have read on here. I was worried about the physical aspect of the job as well. I'm 49 years old and am actually in better physical condition than I was in the military. It's just not knowing anything about the physical aspect of trucking got me concerned.

Old School you are very correct. I have no beneifts other than what I pay for myself, I loose money everytime the truck sits. For anyone following this I use software from a site called lets truck, owned and operated by Kevin Rutherford. He has been around trucking a very long time. Yes I pay a monthly subscription for that too. I shared the current number only as a way to show folks that I make very very little more than the average experienced driver. I take on all the risks and aggravation. If I were driving as a sole source of income to support a family, no way in the world would I be doing this.

Paul what you are referring to as sharing trucks is called slip seating. Most companies don’t slip seat trucks as a general rule. AutoZone is an exception. If you go regional or OTR with most companies they will issue you a truck when you finish training and it will be yours.

Slip Seating - that's it! Thank you, that was bothering me :)

Thanks for all of the insights that everyone has given me. The financial aspect of being a company driver over an owner/operator definitely makes sense!

You hear or read things about independent drivers looking at company drivers differently and company drivers having to share trucks (there is a term for this that I can't remember) and you wonder what the truth really is.

I am seriously considering being an OTR driver one day. I am getting a lot of invaluable information from this website! Again, thanks for all the info.

I read a lot about drivers that drive for shipping companies...are there many drivers with their own rigs, schedule their own loads, etc? I think that part of the "allure" to driving is having your own truck, and driving for a company where anyone else can drive the truck you are driving seems like it would kinda stink. Am I wrong?

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the trucking forum and have many questions. Some I've already found out, others I am still looking for answers.

One thing I've wondered - When you are about to go out on the road for a shipping company, do they have places to park your vehicle? If you live in an apartment, you don't really want to leave your vehicle sitting for an extended period of time in the apartment parking (vandals, thieves, etc.), so what do drivers do with their vehicles? This is assuming you live alone in the apartment.