NTI Bangor, Maine... My CDL Class A Journey

G-Town,

Thanks again for the links concerning the Pre-Trip inspection. I finally checked the out. Very useful, indeed!

Joe

Dear Stewart A.,

It's really good to hear from people here in New England. I see truck after truck every day and a number of them with day cabs so I know they must be in the region, but it seems like they must be figments of my imagination since no one in the trucking community seems to like driving up here.

Evidently, it's common for trucking companies to pay a NorthEast mileage differential to compensate for extra slow traffic in the NE, which should mitigate the problem to an extent, anyways.

I myself am just a spectator in this whole experience with a lifelong desire to drive a tractor trailer but realizing it probably isn't going to happen. At least not as long as I want to stay married.

Maybe you could bring your wife along with you! Team driving, or just as a tourist ;-)

Shortly before they adopted the CDL classification I used to have a "Heavy Commercial" license through my local fire department. That, for you young people is an endorsement/license that allowed me to drive a "10 wheeler".

Interesting—never heard of a Heavy Commercial license before!

Joe, I am also rooting for you. I live in Plainfield and work in West Lebanon so we may have stood in line at WalMart together. Who knows?

Yep, you never know!

Tom, you're welcome and thank you for the encouragement. Truth be told though, I have a good job now that I like and am old enough to realize that I will need to wait until retirement or I lose my job in order to look into getting my cdl. If after retirement, then only for part time work. No I don't expect that to be easy to find. Getting my cdl is becoming more of a bucket list thing to check off than a real goal. I did get my pilot's license 12 1/2 years ago but gave that up 3 years ago so I did get that one checked off.

Joe, I have thought of having my wife along for the ride but she has lower back problems and needs to get out of a vehicle and walk around for several minutes after every hour of riding. She would never make it in a big rig.

Stone wrote:

I got 2 job offers... one from Stevens Transport and the other from Prime. I accepted Primes orientation invitation. They are offering a NE regional flatbed driving job granted everything goes as planned.

How did you decide on Flatbed (vs. Reefer)? I'm applying for Prime's Student Driver Program, and on the online application you can only choose to apply for one of their 4(?) divisions. Did they encourage you to drive flatbed?

I haven't submitted my application yet. I'm willing to try either reefer or flatbed.

How bad is the noise from the reefers? Does it interfere with sleeping?

I know a reefer has its own diesel(?) fuel tank, so presumably, it also has its own diesel engine, that runs a generator, that charges a battery that runs the refrigerator unit itself?

Does the reefer's diesel engine run constantly? Presumably, its electric motor only runs intermittently, like a home refrigerator. Someone said the sound of her reefer was soothing & helped her sleep, but I imagine, if it cycles on & off, it could still interfere with sleep.

Thanks for any advice, guys (& gals!).

Best, Joe

Joe,

I decided on flatbed for a few reasons:

1. No docking. I like the fact that I don't have to dock the truck to unload. I'm sure I'll have situations where I'll have to back it into places but most of what I've heard it's easier to get your truck into wherever you unload it.

2. I never have to load/unload it. You get to your drop area and fork trucks or whatever equipment load/unload your trailer.

3. Minimal wait times. Usually what you haul is always needed as soon as it gets to the destination compared to other stuff you might haul in dry vans/reefers. I don't enjoy the thought of waiting around lol I want to go go go!

4. Some physical labor. You have to handle heavy tarps and tarp your loads and secure them. I like that I'll be able to get out of my truck and put a little work in besides driving. Plus you get paid an extra amount to tarp/secure your load. Plus you may have a fork truck handy to put the tarps on the load so you just have to unfold and cover it.

The only downside to this is inclement weather but that doesn't really bother me.

5. Paid more. Most flatbed positions offer more pay than hauling other trailer types and loads. I got offered $0.42 CPM starting out for a NE regional flatbed position which is pretty amazing for being a rookie.

6. I just like the fact that I can look back in my mirrors and not see a huge box blocking my view lol You can see everything behind you!

7. Most flatbed tractors are nicer than all the others on the road lol

That's pretty much all my reasons. I can't say this is absolutely consistent all across the board as this came from a few sources that have driven flatbed. I'm sure different situations will effect what goes on but for the most part these were the consistently similar things I was told between them all.

As far as all of your reefer questions go I'm not sure I know enough to give any feedback there. I know they refrigerate! Hahaha

Anyway I hope this helped!

Stewart,

Your very welcome!

Just remember how diverse the trucking industry is and that you have lots of options to explore which is awesome.

I also would like to learn to fly. Good thing is ill have that opportunity thanks to getting into this line of work and I'm continuing to make a bucket list of my own. Adventure awaits! Lol

Joe,

Also I forgot to mention that most flatbed loads don't have as much height as dry vans/reefers so you won't have to worry about height limits when going under stuff!!!

Stone wrote:

Joe,

I decided on flatbed for a few reasons:

Dear Stone,

Thanks for your detailed response on how you chose to drive flatbed. Excellent analysis, seems to me. I think I lean to flatbed myself, thanks in part to your analysis. I'll try to contact my recruiter, though before I specify that I'm applying for one or the other, so I can ask if they're more interested in hiring drivers for flatbed vs. reefer. (Maybe after hiring you, they won't need anymore flatbed drivers! ;-) )

Thanks again!

Joe

I can answer the reefer questions!

The reefer unit is attached to the trailer. Those big boxes you see at the front of some trailers? That's the reefer. They have their own fuel tanks underneath the trailer that fuel the unit.

They can be very noisy! It was tough to adjust to for me but they aren't too bad now. Most of the time they run on a cycle setting just like a home refrigerator but sometimes they are set to run continuous

The noise takes a little adjusting to but it's not bad at all. The last few trailers I've had I haven't been able to hear the reefer over my APU running.

Hope this helps!

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Joe,

Also I forgot to mention that most flatbed loads don't have as much height as dry vans/reefers so you won't have to worry about height limits when going under stuff!!!

That is true most of the time from what I've seen. Just don't forget that time you picked up a really high load, ouch!

I like your other reasons for choosing flat bed too. If you haven't done some looking on Youtube then you can find a number of different drivers out there with their own channels and a good deal of information about the day to day operation of both box trailer and flatbeds. One that takes you through the whole rookie process and day to day work in flat bed is Dale Clay who drives for Maverick. He has many days where he has to do a lot of waiting for the shipper to either be ready to load or unload him. Some of the shippers have extra safety rules that he has to follow in tarping or securing his load where he has to park next the staging platforms and tie into a harness to keep him from falling to the ground. Pretty nice stuff at some places.

A couple more things to consider with flatbed work that I have seen online is that you will find yourself in dirt and mud a lot more than reefers will be. You also have extra considerations for turning your trailer as the tandems are usually further apart and you want to limit or even avoid sharp turns especially when loaded and on pavement.

Stewart