Do Drivers Often Have To Ride On Buses?

I ask because I see a paragraph from Brett's book that reads:

"Larger companies also have accounts set up with customers, lumpers, repair shops, towing companies, motels, bus companies, and truck stops. These accounts generally allow you to walk in the door, tell them who you work for, and get what you need taken care of without doing a thing."

Quite personally, I would prefer to get on board an airliner, or even a train with a private compartment and a real bed to sleep in, for 3,000 miles that have to slug out a Greyhound ride for that distance.

Years ago, I rode Amtrak 1,500 miles each way from Denver to Oakland, coach, no stopovers in between. That was pure punishment.

Once hired and upgraded to first seat status; it’s unlikely there will be any more bus rides. It’s only for school and possibly road training.

As far as the airliner and private suite on a train?

How are you doing with the High Road CDL Training Program?

Todd, most of us ride the bus to our first trucking job, and then we are assigned our own truck from there. At that point you don't need the bus anymore. I've only ridden the bus one additional time, and that was when my truck dropped a valve in the engine. They towed my truck to a dealer then put me on a bus to the nearest terminal to put me in a different truck. Sometimes in that situation they can have another driver pick you up and get you to the terminal.

Many companies will allow you to fly or rent a car on your own dime and then reimburse you the cost of the bus fare if you just can't handle that bus ride. Some of them will get you a rent car, but the bus is the most economical option. Remember so many of these new drivers quit very early in their careers and it makes no sense to treat them like rock stars when they are nothing but high risk gambles as far as employment goes.

Yeah, typically the only ride on the ole grey dawg is to your first company orientation/training. Actually, just yesterday, I picked up a driver in Atlanta and gave him a ride to Indianapolis. He'd voluntarily gone home for Christmas after his truck had broken down near Frankfort, Kentucky. It was towed to freightliner in Jeffersonville IN, but they were going to take way to long to repair it, so my company had it towed even farther to Indy. The repairs were completed at Stoop's freightliner in Indy and his truck was ready to go again. If one of our trucks needs repairs, West Side Transport will do whatever it takes to get that truck repaired as fast as possible.. even if it means towing it an extra 130 miles from the original tow.

Todd, most of us ride the bus to our first trucking job, and then we are assigned our own truck from there. At that point you don't need the bus anymore. I've only ridden the bus one additional time, and that was when my truck dropped a valve in the engine. They towed my truck to a dealer then put me on a bus to the nearest terminal to put me in a different truck. Sometimes in that situation they can have another driver pick you up and get you to the terminal.

Many companies will allow you to fly or rent a car on your own dime and then reimburse you the cost of the bus fare if you just can't handle that bus ride. Some of them will get you a rent car, but the bus is the most economical option. Remember so many of these new drivers quit very early in their careers and it makes no sense to treat them like rock stars when they are nothing but high risk gambles as far as employment goes.

Ok, the bus doesn't worry me because it doesn't seem that drivers need to ride them that often. It makes me think of that George Benson song, "On Broadway". "They say that I won't last too long on Broadway. I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home, they all say." I don't ever want to be that driver who washes out for that awful long Greyhound ride home. Still. you can find cheap airfare deals on Expedia.com or PriceLine.com. I can't see a driver getting fired a long way from his home terminal unless he does something super bad like gets a DUI. I live in Boise, ID now but probably will be heading to Fort Wayne, IN. in the near future because Hoosier State has the cheapest housing in America now. A new-construction 3-br home can be had lower than $100K in Hoosier. It is in the middle of the heartland and major American industrial cities are all around nearby. It would be super hard not to be near a home terminal of most major American big trucking firms in northern Indiana. I mean within five hours drive of Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland and/or Indianapolis. The higher altitude of Boise 2,750 feet along with the colder weather of winter aggravates my asthma anyway and new 3-br homes are $200K on up here. A 1-br apartment and sometimes a 3-br home can be easily rented in Hoosier for under $500/mo. Ft. Wayne is only about 850 feet in elevation. I've spent most of my life in northern California in the Capitol Corridor/SFBA region under 200 feet in elevation but the high price of everything along with the lib-lefty politics drove my poor a_s out a couple years ago.

Once hired and upgraded to first seat status; it’s unlikely there will be any more bus rides. It’s only for school and possibly road training.

As far as the airliner and private suite on a train?

How are you doing with the High Road CDL Training Program?

G-Town, I am seriously working on reading Brett's Raw Truth book right now. I'll be sure to hit High Road next.

Once hired and upgraded to first seat status; it’s unlikely there will be any more bus rides. It’s only for school and possibly road training.

As far as the airliner and private suite on a train?

How are you doing with the High Road CDL Training Program?

G-Town, I am seriously working on reading Brett's Raw Truth book right now. I'll be sure to hit High Road next.

Glad to hear (read) that.

Todd, there are companies that care enough about their people to never put them on the dog, unless maybe the student/driver is a washout.

Some companies will pay for a rental car, some will pay for a plane ticket.

In a situation like Old School mentioned, some companies will get another driver to pick you up as they are passing nearby, and take you to a/the terminal.

Personally, I am not riding on the dog. I did it once about 48 years ago, when I was 12. I'm not doing it now. Anyone wanting to chime in telling me I'm a pansy or something, that's fine....I'll accept any label so long as I don't have to ride on the dog.

The company that successfully trained me and that I later became a trainer for, flew me from BWI to SLC initially and even gave me my choice of airline. When I wanted to take hometime somewhere that they didn't have customers, they routed me to the terminal and flew me wherever I wanted to go...each time they accepted the flights I chose. I never needed any other ride, but 3 times I was asked to pick up another driver from a repair shop and take them to pick up another truck (so no bus for them), and once they asked me to take a guy home (SLC to Chicago) that was actually quitting! That company is Pride Transport. I'd have stayed with them forever, but they don't have the program I eventually decided that I wanted.

Another company that I washed out of - ROEHL - got me a rental car to get to orientation (Detroit to Appleton), and when things didn't work out with them they bought me a plane ticket home (from Dallas).

There are run of the mill companies, and there are the much better companies. For me, one sign is whether they want to stick me on a bus....I'm not going.

I ask because I see a paragraph from Brett's book that reads:

"Larger companies also have accounts set up with customers, lumpers, repair shops, towing companies, motels, bus companies, and truck stops. These accounts generally allow you to walk in the door, tell them who you work for, and get what you need taken care of without doing a thing."

Quite personally, I would prefer to get on board an airliner, or even a train with a private compartment and a real bed to sleep in, for 3,000 miles that have to slug out a Greyhound ride for that distance.

Years ago, I rode Amtrak 1,500 miles each way from Denver to Oakland, coach, no stopovers in between. That was pure punishment.

There are run of the mill companies, and there are the much better companies. For me, one sign is whether they want to stick me on a bus.

Dave, you were sounding great until you got to your last statement. Many of these companies provide Transportation for several hundred new drivers each week. That's a considerable expense. It makes perfect sense for them to try and not waste money on transporting people who have no track record of success in trucking.

You and I may be treated to a free flight whenever necessary, but to describe these companies offering a free bus ride to a brand new driver with nothing to recommend themselves as "run of the mill" is unfair in my opinion.

There are run of the mill companies, and there are the much better companies. For me, one sign is whether they want to stick me on a bus.

Dave, you were sounding great until you got to your last statement. Many of these companies provide Transportation for several hundred new drivers each week. That's a considerable expense. It makes perfect sense for them to try and not waste money on transporting people who have no track record of success in trucking.

You and I may be treated to a free flight whenever necessary, but to describe these companies offering a free bus ride to a brand new driver with nothing to recommend themselves as "run of the mill" is unfair in my opinion.

Hi old school!