New Truck Driver Home Daily?

I'm in Chicago. About 60 miles from Huntley.

McMahon Dairy Service. It's a small family owned company. We are a contract carrier for Dean Foods. It's a lot of work cause we unload our own trailers. But it's much better then just driving all day in my opinion. How far are you from Huntley?

Keep in mind that "home daily" means your 10 hour break. So you have to park and if lucky have a truck stop near you. Need to wait for someone to get you to go back home...then eat shower and sleep. Included in that ten hours is the travel back to the truck.

Sounds like you'd get a ton of family time, doesn't it?

Another thing, there is only 1 time I had to get rescued. Coming back from Danville, IL I had a tandem tire blow out. I ran out of he's waiting to get tire replaced. Got paid breakdown pay for the entire time I was waiting, up until my feet touched the pavement at the yard after being "rescued ". 99.9% of the time you keep track of your hrs, to make sure you can get back in time. I set my ETA and hrs left , so the planners have an idea of how far they can send me. It is up to me to accept or decline a load. Only 1 time I turned down a load, because I felt I that everything would have to go perfect in order to be back st the yard in. So I didn't want to chance going over my hrs. Most of the time my day is done in 10 to 11 hrs. That's another thing, we go off of our 11 he drive clock, so it helps to keep us from getting into sticky situations

Shiva, you pointed out just one of the little nuances that makes a local job different than OTR. Most local gigs get the driver back at the origin of departure at the end of the shift or run. If such a driver running a day cab gets caught in weather, has a break down, or has some other unforseen event that requires an overnight stay somewhere, this presents an entirely different set of circumstances compared with the OTR or regional driver that's running a sleeper cab.

Got an interview at FedEx Freight for the Driver Apprentice position. Anyone know what their interviews are like? What type of questions do they ask? What are they looking for?

From my experience of dealing with them, ALTOM transport is a good outfit for tankers. All their cabs are day cab since they only do regional chicagoland and indiana. But they require at least one year of experience. Its a family run operation and I have noticed that his drivers from talking to them have a lot of loyalty for him. Goodluck

I got an offer from Schneider for an intermodal position at .34cpm. They say that I would average 1700 miles per week.

You can start out doing regional with Schneider. I would recommend regional intermodal with Schneider. I had a buddy that worked for them. Very good company, very big on safety. I currently work for JB Hunt Intermodal Local. Live the job live intermodal. Never sitting cuz the rail yards are open 24/7. I did otr and hated it, regional was much better, home weekly, local is even better

I am 57 years old and I am brand new to truck driving. I graduated truck driving school 3/2/17, I have tanker, hazmat , double/triple endorsements and I am looking for the best company in the Chicago or Northwest Indiana area. I would like to retire from the company I decide to start working for. Are there any great companies in this area that hire inexperienced drivers, offer training and have runs close enough to get home daily?

Got an interview at FedEx Freight for the Driver Apprentice position. Anyone know what their interviews are like? What type of questions do they ask? What are they looking for?

We have a driver on here from Fed Ex Freight, maybe if you start a new thread with the title of Fed Ex Freight he might see it and respond. Interviews can differ even among different terminals in the same company - it might depend on the personality of the manager.

FYI, Fed Ex Freight is a good choice. I would recommend Fed Ex Freight over Fed Ex Ground, because Ground is usually contracted out to owner / ops and the drivers are actually considered something like a subcontractor and are required to pay their own taxes.

Fed Ex Freight is a company position where you'll either be a P&D or linehaul driver. I would also recommend inquiring about linehaul. Linehaul pays better and is not as demanding. You'll need to understand the difference between linehaul and P&D to decide what you think would suit you.

Any first trucking job will be something of a baptism by fire, but be aware that P&D can be extra tricky due to the nature of the job. The main issue with going into P&D as a rookie driver is handling all the different scenarios you'll come across while going to customers, all this while still learning the basics of truck driving. You need to be cautious with obstacles and really be careful backing. This is why it is recommended you get some experience before attempting one of these jobs. There are drivers on this forum that didn't fare well when starting out with their first trucking job as a P&D driver. BUT, I know of many drivers at my home terminal that continue to do well as a P&D driver off the street for their first trucking job. Starting out as a P&D driver isn't for everyone, but it's also not something to be scared of. It can be done, but you'll be climbing something of an uphill battle from the start. Just be aware of the challenges, and always be aware of your surroundings.

The Driver Apprentice program is a great way to earn your CDL and stay with your first company as a driver. Fed Ex Freight is a fine LTL trucking company. Sounds like you landed yourself a great opportunity. Congrats.

Thanks 6 string rythm for all your advice! I know I am really blessed to get this opportunity to be hired at FedEx freight right out of truck driver school and I am nervous as hell!!! I really don't want to blow this. I'll let you know how it goes. My interview is 8am tomorrow.

Got an interview at FedEx Freight for the Driver Apprentice position. Anyone know what their interviews are like? What type of questions do they ask? What are they looking for?

We have a driver on here from Fed Ex Freight, maybe if you start a new thread with the title of Fed Ex Freight he might see it and respond. Interviews can differ even among different terminals in the same company - it might depend on the personality of the manager.

FYI, Fed Ex Freight is a good choice. I would recommend Fed Ex Freight over Fed Ex Ground, because Ground is usually contracted out to owner / ops and the drivers are actually considered something like a subcontractor and are required to pay their own taxes.

Fed Ex Freight is a company position where you'll either be a P&D or linehaul driver. I would also recommend inquiring about linehaul. Linehaul pays better and is not as demanding. You'll need to understand the difference between linehaul and P&D to decide what you think would suit you.

Any first trucking job will be something of a baptism by fire, but be aware that P&D can be extra tricky due to the nature of the job. The main issue with going into P&D as a rookie driver is handling all the different scenarios you'll come across while going to customers, all this while still learning the basics of truck driving. You need to be cautious with obstacles and really be careful backing. This is why it is recommended you get some experience before attempting one of these jobs. There are drivers on this forum that didn't fare well when starting out with their first trucking job as a P&D driver. BUT, I know of many drivers at my home terminal that continue to do well as a P&D driver off the street for their first trucking job. Starting out as a P&D driver isn't for everyone, but it's also not something to be scared of. It can be done, but you'll be climbing something of an uphill battle from the start. Just be aware of the challenges, and always be aware of your surroundings.

The Driver Apprentice program is a great way to earn your CDL and stay with your first company as a driver. Fed Ex Freight is a fine LTL trucking company. Sounds like you landed yourself a great opportunity. Congrats.

My interview is 8am tomorrow.

Congrats! Good luck at O eight hundred. Learn to use the 24 hour clock. You will never hear 8am or 8pm in this business

10-4! I was in the Marine Corp so that won't be hard to get used to

My interview is 8am tomorrow.

Congrats! Good luck at O eight hundred. Learn to use the 24 hour clock. You will never hear 8am or 8pm in this business

I didn't get an offer from FedEx. I think I'll try to go to Averitt.