Dogs As Truckers

Ive been looking at companies to apply to. Have my permit and medical card and was ready to join swift (husband has 1year) but they are not hiring from florida. So it goes im reading about Millis Transport and its getting my 5stars. Until i got to the no pets policy. I need to write them and enlighten them how having to walk a pet and pay attention to their needs (like cookie for good boy) gets the road off of you real quick. My husband walks morning noon and night. After 2 to3 hours of driving the dog sits up and whimpers "time to pee dad". He'll stop at the next available rest stop and walk the whole outside perimeter of the place. Get back in the truck and keep on going. I found myself actually smiling walking to the truck stop saying hello as i passed people. My spirits were lifted. No damage whatsoever. And within 3 days he could ignor some of the worst bumps. And for a chihuahua, a darn good watch dog. Millis must have had some pretty bad things happen to ignor the health and safety benefits of having a dog. To bad. So if you see my husband out there walking with this weird little funny looking dog, his name is Chucky, Chucky the truckin' chihuahua.

Writing never hurts. I have heard some horror stories from people bringing pets in the trucks before (and not even OTR). It's the inconsiderate ones that ruin it for everyone else.

Worst story. Driver complains that Truck #XXX makes him feel sick and nauseous when he drives it. Thought maybe there was something wrong with himself until he realized that it was that particular truck after driving a different one and feeling fine, then switching back to truck that made him sick. He gets sick again, Company shop guys goes to investigate. After lifting the sleeper bed up, discovers weeks worth of dog crap. The other driver was letting his dog crap underneath the sleeper and left it there. Either that or whenever his dog crapped where ever in the truck the driver intentionally put the crap underneath the sleeper. Either way it's full round disgusting.

This was actually at a company I worked for. The whole company was grossed out, and since....has not allowed pets to ride anymore. It's possible in the past that company had some bad experiences like landlords do with pets. That's what I would imagine anyway. Good luck to you out there. I think in the general forum I remember reading something about another person interested in trucking out of Florida and there weren't many options. If I think of the thread I'll let you know but it was one that I posted on I believe. I don't think I've posted on too many threads to find it O.o

Well I found it.

Best States To Be A Truck Driver

Not sure if this helps at all but there is links above to help look for job opportunities and companies that sponsor your training up there.

Hope you can find a decent company to start on with that lets you bring along the pup :D Good luck!

Gross. But with my allergies i would have found out about that within 3 minutes of stepping in that truck. And i read that thing you sent. Very interesting. We have been looking at interesting places to move. Always hated Florida. Just applied to Wil-trans , perfect fit. We'll see what happens. Oh, and I'm allergic to Florida too. Been all over the country and only had to take the allergy pill in dusty Arizona and halfway thru Ga into Florida. Thanks for the info

Wil-Trans:

Darrel Wilson bought his first tractor in 1980 at age 20, but, being too young to meet OTR age requirements, he leased the truck out and hired a driver.

Through growth and acquisition, Wil-Trans now employs over 200 drivers, and has a long-standing partnership with Prime, Inc. to haul their refrigerated freight. The family of businesses also includes Jim Palmer Trucking and O & S Trucking.

Yow! Husband told me about someone abandoning a truck(quit the job i guess) and the person had birds flying loose around the truck. The birds were gone but the person picking up the truck had to clean up the crap before he could drive it. Unbelievable.

Ugh now that's REAL nasty....worst than the dog poop one because, bird poop is not only harder to clean but can carry some SERIOUS diseases/illnesses. Wheres the hazmat clean up crew! I probably would have looked at it....and just said no.......or company gonna have to buy me a respirator and some industrial long gloves before I clean it up :P

Whats even more disgusting is the company should have found the dog poo. I know my company replaces the mattresses EVERY TIME a truck gets assigned to a different driver. When you are issued a truck, shop personnel clean it thoroughly and place a brand new mattress still wrapped from the manufacturer. Stacks of new mattresses at every terminal.. I thought all companies did that.

Swift does, but you have to ask them. I saw the single mattress for sale at one of the truck stops and just for grins looked to see how much they were. $212.

Well ofc, the company I worked for at the time was a dirt haul company. So depending on how busy it is, one driver will be in the truck in the day and the other at night and if the truck does have a sleeper, it is typically not used unless the company gets a job that is far enough out of town where a driver will consider staying in the vehicle instead of commuting (it happens but most dirt jobs are local). Or one driver could be assigned to a truck for the majority of the season due to only day shifts running and then a night shift will pop up or vice versa and then a different driver would jump in that truck for the opposing shift. I think in this particular instance the driver who was letting their dog poo in the truck had some sort of fall out with the company. I think he quit. So when the next guy took over his rig that's when that story started.

More often then not, we really don't use our sleepers but they are good to have in case we need them. Some drivers even if their assigned truck has a sleeper will bring up campers, rvs or travel trailers to out of town jobs to stay in. Odds are if a dirt job is far enough out to consider it, either there is a "man camp" or there are no showers, bathrooms or hotels/motels/inns available. Most of the time even if there are hotels available drivers wont stay in them, it's an extra $75 bucks (typically) a day in the drivers pockets if they don't for per dium.

Sorry to say, I grew up hating the dirt haulers. We live right next to a sand pit at the outskirts of the Withlachoochi Forest. My dad bought it for the quiet surroundings way before the sand pit was started. So the fighting with the owners and the county and the drivers continued for years. Now that I know better, we wave to each other while passing. We did win the fight btw, and there's one truck that's slipping thru at 20mph (thats fast for this road) I want to run out there and not tell him he's in the wrong, but ask if I can ride along and watch him shift. It won't happen but I smile at the thought of the change between then and now.