When Is The Best Time To Enter In

So i am considering entering this lifestyle they call trucking and i had a few questions. This has been a great site full of straight forward answers and i can't even begin to say that it has really been an eye opener to the realizations of what i will be under taking.

My questions are.....

How do you balance the day to day of trucking with the family life?

Realistically, can you make enough being out 2-3 weeks at a time and how hard is it to make the transition from home time to work time?

To all of the people that make this site function and work i thank you. I don't know that i would even be considering this without having read what i have on here. Most of the other site focus on the bad with little positive.

So i am considering entering this lifestyle they call trucking and i had a few questions. This has been a great site full of straight forward answers and i can't even begin to say that it has really been an eye opener to the realizations of what i will be under taking.

My questions are.....

How do you balance the day to day of trucking with the family life?

Realistically, can you make enough being out 2-3 weeks at a time and how hard is it to make the transition from home time to work time?

To all of the people that make this site function and work i thank you. I don't know that i would even be considering this without having read what i have on here. Most of the other site focus on the bad with little positive.

Welcome Ryder M.

How do you balance the day to day of trucking with the family life?

Im hoping in in line with your question but, This, I think, Is the hardest part of trucking. Working so far away from home, and still trying to stay in the loop with family is rough. It takes tame. The best think I can tell you from experience is, get yourself a good bluetooth headset, (Plantronic Voyager is good, so is a few of the Blue Parrot's) this will be the best way to stay in contact while driving. The other option is to setup 2 skype accounts, one for you and one for the family to use so you can atleast see eachother. it also helps to have a picture or two of your family that you can put a piece of double sided tape on and just stick them somewhere in the cab for you to look at. It'll take a bit to balance everything out, as there may be times when you sleep while your family is up and vice versa. But with today's technology, staying in contact is well easy.

Realistically, can you make enough being out 2-3 weeks at a time and how hard is it to make the transition from home time to work time?

Well as a first time, you can see roughtly 32-35k your first year, its not the greatest, but once your learn more and get through that first year, you can see more... Think of it this way, if you start out at say .32 Cents Per Mile (CPM) and run an average of 2200mi a week (you can run roughly 3000 if you do it right), you can see a weekly check of $700/week. This is just a rough figure, nothing set in stone, but its possible.

as for transitioning from home to work or work to home, the First day back from home time i personally think is hard as there would be times you don't want to leave. After that first day, the rest of the weeks are easier and by the time you get to the point where your ready to go home, it'll be that time and its easy to go from truck to home time.

Trucking is a lifestyle. Its hard at times, but can be worth it. Just be patient and everything will work out.

Hope this helps ya,

David

So i am considering entering this lifestyle they call trucking and i had a few questions. This has been a great site full of straight forward answers and i can't even begin to say that it has really been an eye opener to the realizations of what i will be under taking.

My questions are.....

Realistically, can you make enough being out 2-3 weeks at a time and how hard is it to make the transition from home time to work time?

I can attempt the pay question. Pay is determined how hard you work, and understanding how to maximize the HOS- hours of service. Pay for a new solo driver- year 1- $35,000, year 2- $40-45,000, year 3- $50,000. There's a tremendous amount to learn year 1.

So i am considering entering this lifestyle they call trucking and i had a few questions. This has been a great site full of straight forward answers and i can't even begin to say that it has really been an eye opener to the realizations of what i will be under taking.

My questions are.....

Realistically, can you make enough being out 2-3 weeks at a time and how hard is it to make the transition from home time to work time?

I can attempt the pay question. Pay is determined how hard you work, and understanding how to maximize the HOS- hours of service. Pay for a new solo driver- year 1- $35,000, year 2- $40-45,000, year 3- $50,000. There's a tremendous amount to learn year 1.

Going along with what Scott said, the quicker you learn to maximize your HOS , the better of you'll be. Learning the log book is probably 30% of driving truck.

Thanks to both for your replies. I have read various blogs here about maximizing the HOS. That seems to be the thoughest aspect of the job. Besides all of the other things you need to learn. My wife's biggest hang up is the home time. I am doing my best to tell her the truth while also understanding her positions and being realistic about the expectations of home/work balances. She knows it will be a sacrifice on both ends. I have told her once we get past the first year the doors slowly open up for more hometime.

Your pay and hometime are really dependent on the company you start with. I know everyone seems to say $35k for the first year, but my guess is that would be a minimum and you could make more with some companies. . All depends on your miles and what they start you out at. Obviously you won't get the best miles right from the start and will have to prove your reliability first. For example, the company I'm considering guarantees a minimum of $900/week for the first 3 months after you complete their company driver training for 30 days. I've seen some companies guarantee even more to brand new drivers. Tyson has its own fleet and pays very well (and hires new drivers too). Being able to drive for a particular company has everything to do with living in their hiring area, so research companies which hire from ypur area.

Home time is also a huge variable depending on the company and their expectations. For instance, Prime.. expect to be out 3-4 weeks, but Schneider, USXpress, etc offer regional home weekly options. If you live close enough to a tyson facility, you *could* be home daily but they have slip seating and the trucks are not taken home.

Some people get local home daily jobs from the start, but realize with those you're generally dealing with more traffic, tight docks or locations not designed for tractor trailers, more deliveries/drops, and more driver unloading. . Its hard work, as is flatbedding.

The best advice I can offer is do your homework/research. Make a list of must-haves/deal breakers and find the company that best suits you and your family's personal needs.

Thanks Sue. I have it down to either Knight or Prime. Knight's training course and terminal are the best fit and i have found they kewp their drivers regional with an expectation that you'll be out 10-14 days. However in reading a lot of the blogs and forums it looks as though it is best to be out 3-4 weeks to maximize bonus potential and other incentives. I am worried about the adjustment periods as is my wife as this would obviously be new to both of us. I appreciate your feedback and will definitely work on that list with my wife as i do value her input as well.

Some companies guarantee weekly home time, or have regional routes that get you home almost as often, even for new drivers. That can be a big bonus for you, if home time is a big factor. Don't rule out a private school though, especially if there is one within a reasonable driving distance. This will allow you to still be at home, as you learn the skills for your new profession, and give you a lot more options to find the company that best fits your needs.

A couple companies that offer weekly home time, are Veriha, (Dry van) and McElroy.(Flatbed). Schneider, and Swift*, are two (BIG) companies that offer Regional routes with really good home time, to new drivers. I would stay away from local jobs at first, because they can be really hard for a new driver to adapt too, but it can be done. Knight is a great company, too, that can get you home frequently.

This all depends on where you live too. If you are close to some major freight lanes, your options can be numerous. If you are out in the sticks, it can be hard.

*Swift has several schools around the lower 48.

Good luck with your search

Thanks Dan. Yeah i live in and around Fontana so the lines in and out are not too horrible. My plan is to do otr for a year or two then look at the local market. Driving in and around So Cal all the time seems like it would not be worth it to me to start out. Plus I'd like to know its something i want to to do. Plus its better to put in my time and work my way up. I will look into Schneider as well i know they have a terminal near me.

I ran Monday to the Second Friday, so basically everyother weekend I was home. It worked well for me, basically 12 days out, 2 home. If you are really worried about the adjustments, you can try getting on with an OTR carrier that will get you home every weekend to start, until you get use to it.. Being in Fontana, you could basically run the I-5 corridor to Tacoma, WA and back down in about 50hrs if I remember correctly.. (its been about 2 1/2 yrs since I did that... ) as its 2200 mi there and back give or take.

Don't rush on picking a company, call the recruiters and talk to them, goto a truck stop and talk to other drivers and see how they like it. Take the negativity they give with a grain of salt, as most unhappy drivers are to lazy to do anything about their issues with the company.

Learning the HOS , will come in due time. It takes work to learn it.. I watched youtube vids alone with studing the High Road Training Log Book Section.