What I Do In My Trucking Job
Topic 21501 | Page 1
Nice little read...thanks.
Really good post AD. Thanks for taking the time to write it.
Sounds like a good gig. As far as the long waits, in the long run they ballance out with the short ones. Stay Safe. Have a Merry Christmas.
Safety is job number one.... always. It's the only attitude you can have and be successful in any form of trucking
Sounds like you’re enjoying what you do and getting experience driving a tanker.
Stay busy. Stay there for a while. Wages dont go up in Milk. Thats what the old guys are telling me. Theyve been making the same 90-120 per load for the last 20 years.
Hourly drivers for other companies I talked to at the plant are only getting $14 an hour. overtime after 40. its close to the same for the paid by the load guys...
just build yourself a good reputation bubba. Stay for a coupke years and when you decide to make a change dont make it in haste. Maybe research now. Then youll have a couple years of research before you eventually make your local change if you do.
stay safe and wait for it to hit the back then give it to her. Its a funny feeling :) but its not as bad as I thought. Except the low end feels like your getting rear ended when it hits the front of the tank. (or maybe i was getting rear ended for driving so slow)
EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
Hourly drivers for other companies I talked to at the plant are only getting $14 an hour. overtime after 40. its close to the same for the paid by the load guys...
Where are you located? That's exactly what I used to make driving a 16' box truck in northern Colorado.
That's not a bad gig at all in my opinion. Everyone is different, that's what makes this industry so great. Something for everyone if they want it. I drive alot of back roads as well for many of our customers. I know first hand all the points you raise, however I will trade that anyday to not have to deal with Atlanta or DC traffic lol. I deliver to cemetary's and funeral homes. They are horrible with snow removal too, at least the farmers can probably pull you out if you do get stuck. I appreciate being familiar with the customers, just me. It makes your day much less frustrating. Just be super careful with that tanker. They are not very forgiving. Stay safe and most of all enjoy yourself
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I am a farm pickup driver. i take an empty trailer to 2 farms; take that back to the yard, do a drop and hook and take the 2nd trailer to 2 or 3 more farms. sometimes i take one of those loads to a local plant (o-at-ka) and do a delivery. i do local driving on an assigned route, and go home every day. i make a little over $1k per week take home about $840 per week. the truck is a 2010 kenworth T660 with 382K miles on the clock.... it might not be as new as the large fleets but its a low mileage, well maintained truck AND its a day cab. it has a cummings ISX and an 18 speed manual transmission.
things i really like about the job -home daily, local and familiar routes -nice truck -visiting the farmers, most of them are nice people -rural roads with modest traffic, no heavily congested areas - truck is well taken care of, just got new steer tires yesterday -18 speed MANUAL transmission, once you adapt to splitting the gears the advantage of this transmission is easy to see. especailly with h - boss is not a bad guy to work for, he is a driver himself
things i don really care for but take the good with the bad - rural roads are great right until it snows, they dont plow that well -some of the farms are a real adventure to back into AND they get icy in the winter. i carry TWO 5 gallon buckets of antracite coal ash on the truck at all times. i heat my house with coal, the ash is supper effective to use as a traction aid. - sometimes the farmer is not done milking when i arrive so i have to wait. - NOT an hourly wage, i get paid by the day.... if the weather is bad and it takes me longer then usual, i loose money. same if the farm is not ready to be loaded... however i think about OTR guys and how many times they sit and a shipper/reciver. what i do is not too bad
overall not a bad gig, i think im going to stick around for a while, and maybe move on to something better that pays more (after all ..... so long as it's local).i dont think 55K per year is a bad starting place.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Day Cab:
A tractor which does not have a sleeper berth attached to it. Normally used for local routes where drivers go home every night.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.