Brakes Just Caught On Fire And Burned Trailer.

That's just mean!

They do look better than Ol' Yeller, though.

 I just reallt hope the respect my concerns if I come across some malfunctioning equipment, especially a trailer I would have to drive or tractor

when I come across a bad trailer or equipment? Are they going to pay attention to my concern or force me to push something that’s obviously a hazard.

I wish I could tell you they would, but their reputation says otherwise.

 I train for 2 weeks at 180 a day. I won’t get paid till the third week

Like Bobcat said, more of that 1950s stuff.

I would like to work for fed ex, but all of their terminals are gonna require tolls and most likely a 45 minute or more commute. This would be a steady 30 minutes and it’s M-f.

23 was kinda low and I would have to work some Saturdays

Again, your priorities are off. If you can get to central in Brooklyn without paying tolls, you can get to FedEx in Bethpage without paying tolls.

You hope for a lot of things, but hope doesn't get you far. Taking advice from people that know this industry and paying attention to a company's practices is what gets you to where you want to be.

If somebody told me that I can work M-F exclusively, but I have to load/unload my trailer, argue with dispatch about unsafe equipment and get paper checks, I'd laugh. Give me the Saturdays every week.

You refuse to take solid advice because you have hope and wants. That dump truck company satisfied your wants and you hoped a lot, but look where it landed you. I'd bet that Central will be more of the same.

I hear you ,Banks. You guys mentioned LTL and that’s what I found. It just happened to be local, so I jumped on it. It was either that or the iron works company for the 23/hr plus Saturdays. Central said they would give me the 2 weeks of training, which sounded great to me, especially after I told the manager I’d like to work on some backing. He said to come on in, so that’s what I did and they took me on. I didn’t realize that this company was so bad, but I made a commitment and I’m gonna see it through. I figured loading and unloading will help me get more familiar with my job and just give me that more experience. Sorry if I disappointed you over there Banks, but that’s just where I’m at with all of this. The dump truck, although brief was just an awesome experience. No doubt I was naive, in just taking the keys and carrying a load like that. But I went ahead and did it. I think that is somewhere I would like to be in the future. I toasted the brakes or who knows what on my first solo run. I would have gone further if I may have had a trainer, but I’m still pretty proud of how I handled that situation. I really wanted to bring that load on home. But I guess it just wasn’t my time, for that action. I’m sorry if that annoys you as well. Bethpage , is about an hour and 20 minutes away from me and that’s driving there at night time. I would imagine during the day or in traffic that commute would be 1 45 maybe 2 hours. No thanks and a Saturday. My last resort was going to be leaving my family and go to prime as I think they are the only real mega that offers training. I’m not trying to go OTR if I don’t have to. JB hunt, Schneider, they all want 3 months experience. If I can slug it out here and get some cdl time, I’d like to jump on over to a respectable company like that. That’s the plan anyways. I have hopes and wants yes. Are the odds against me with this central transport, I’d say yes. I know this place is more than likely gonna suck. I’m gonna practice as much safety and caution as I can. But you know what Banks, I just might land somewhere real nice. So I’ll take that bet of yours, because I’m just crazy like that. I promise to do my best.

 I just reallt hope the respect my concerns if I come across some malfunctioning equipment, especially a trailer I would have to drive or tractor

when I come across a bad trailer or equipment? Are they going to pay attention to my concern or force me to push something that’s obviously a hazard.

I wish I could tell you they would, but their reputation says otherwise.

 I train for 2 weeks at 180 a day. I won’t get paid till the third week

Like Bobcat said, more of that 1950s stuff.

I would like to work for fed ex, but all of their terminals are gonna require tolls and most likely a 45 minute or more commute. This would be a steady 30 minutes and it’s M-f.

23 was kinda low and I would have to work some Saturdays

Again, your priorities are off. If you can get to central in Brooklyn without paying tolls, you can get to FedEx in Bethpage without paying tolls.

You hope for a lot of things, but hope doesn't get you far. Taking advice from people that know this industry and paying attention to a company's practices is what gets you to where you want to be.

If somebody told me that I can work M-F exclusively, but I have to load/unload my trailer, argue with dispatch about unsafe equipment and get paper checks, I'd laugh. Give me the Saturdays every week.

You refuse to take solid advice because you have hope and wants. That dump truck company satisfied your wants and you hoped a lot, but look where it landed you. I'd bet that Central will be more of the same.

As a professional dreamer still trying to get settled in in this industry: focus on that commitment. What are your long term goals with this? --- not in the sense of "Oh I wanna go back to hauling for quarries" but --- is this a stepping stone, something to get you out of the pits of retail? Is it a second career?

Focus too much on the short term, like you did with the prior company, and you'll shoot yourself in the foot. Again.

There are reasons beyond number we recommend starting as an OTR driver but you're more or less locked in for at least a few months to build some distance from your previous errors. I'm hoping for the best for you and look forwards to reading updates as they happen.

This is most definitely a stepping stone. I originally wanted to go through Schneider’s training program. I sent them quite a few emails and applications. I wanted to try intermodal. They had a few other interesting accounts as well. To my surprise, they said I didn’t have any experience. I told them but you have training opportunities right here on your website. They told me that I already had my license and that I needed to get my license through them in order to take advantage of that opportunity. I was like sheesh, ok no problem. He told me to get at least 3 months. So that has been my hurdle. They have plenty of nice careers here in the city. I live next to these ports and plus I think that stuff is kinda cool. Go into a port, pick up a load and head to a terminal , repeat . Most of that stuff is M-F. I’ve filled out all of the applications, prime , CR England ,etc and they are all ready. I really don’t want to live in a truck, but have been prepared to do so as a last result. I know you guys are all pro OTR , I think it’s great. But my son, just is everything to me. Like I don’t think you guys understand. He truly is my best friend and I really can’t fix my self to be away from him like that. I’m almost kinda sad to be away for these 12-14 hour days. We really do everything and always find new adventures together. He is a true blessing. Anyways, so yeah Jb hunt was another. They had a nice rite aid account m-f $300 a day. I’m like that’s right up my alley. But I need experience to even talk to any of these companies. I personally would like to get more comfortable with my backing. I back like an old man , especially on weird angles.

Yeah that dump truck outfit was an opportunity on Craigslist. I told him straight up, I have never drove a dump truck in my life and don’t have any experience besides about 300 miles of driving. He said can you start tomorrow I was like ok. Then boom here I am driving a 117,000lb Mack truck. I really did enjoy that truck. I was like wow I can do this. Everything was going well, until I started smoking on the way back. When I fully inspected the other truck, which was new. It needed an oil change and had 3 flats on the inside. So I couldn’t tell you what was wrong with the first or why that happened. I really believed they had little elves that came at night to service the truck. I mean that’s what I was led to believe. Your paperwork was in your truck and I was told your being watched. I was just going with the flow and was just focused on driving. Anyways learned a big lesson after that episode. So again the plan is to get these 3-6 months and hopefully be able to go through Schneider’s orientation and secure an account. Next would be jb hunt or an outfit like that. If I find a nice dumpster opportunity you guys already know what it is. I like those Mack trucks. I think I fell in love with that. But we will see. I know you guys are ****ed with me and most want me to go OTR , but I just can’t leave my boy and I’m sure I can get by with all the opportunities here around the city. I feel if I can make it here as tight as it has been, I should make it anywhere. I passed my road test in the Bronx and I mean cmon, if that wasn’t a challenge. You got traffic, scooters all around you, construction, racers cutting you off. Hunts point is a whole other crazy. A bunch of trucks just packed and double parked, tight docks. That’s the day to day over here. I’m feeling good about it. Just need to respect the road and all that comes with it. Im a very courteous driver and really care about this license and the job. So even though if you don’t agree with the route I’m going, just send those good vibes over this way. I truly do mean well and not trying to offend anybody. ✌🏼💪🏼

As a professional dreamer still trying to get settled in in this industry: focus on that commitment. What are your long term goals with this? --- not in the sense of "Oh I wanna go back to hauling for quarries" but --- is this a stepping stone, something to get you out of the pits of retail? Is it a second career?

Focus too much on the short term, like you did with the prior company, and you'll shoot yourself in the foot. Again.

There are reasons beyond number we recommend starting as an OTR driver but you're more or less locked in for at least a few months to build some distance from your previous errors. I'm hoping for the best for you and look forwards to reading updates as they happen.

Nobody here is offended or angry just want what they think is best for you. Personally I would drive a little further and pay tolls to work for a better company but you have your reasons and that is fine. I'll tell you as someone who lives 5 minutes from my terminal a short commute is huge in the LTL world.

I know you guys are all pro OTR

I'm not, I'm pro what ever works for you and makes you happy. If it's OTR, Linehaul , P&D , beverages, food service, dump trucks what ever you want to do go for it ( some options I think require more experience than others, like you found out.) That is the great thing about trucking there are many different options, most people should be able to find something they like.

No disappointment here, or any negative feelings for that matter.

You're new and inexperienced. The most important thing for you right now is a company that would be willing to eat your mess ups because they understand you're new, not a company that's willing to take a risk because they're desperate.

I'm not telling you to go OTR. I didn't go OTR , I went straight local and have no regrets. I didn't want to leave my family for weeks at a time and even if I did, wifey wasn't having it. I don't want you to make the same mistake you made and the only thing that changes is the name on the truck.

Did you go to a truck driving school and get a 160 hour certificate? If you did, you may want to consider old dominion. They're hiring in Brooklyn, I think the building is right under the BQE by the Meeker Morgan exit (Humboldt McGuiness if you're coming from the other side) and they're a fantastic company. No guarantees, but worse they can do is say no. There's also New Penn in Maspeth and I think Estes has a building in the Bronx. All decent-good companies and you'll be in good hands.

Now that’s what I’m talking about, Banks!! Sheesh wish I would have known about them earlier. I’m gonna check them all out. I can still apply. It seems everyone want to just throw me keys and put me in a truck nowadays anyway. Hahaha…bad joke.

Last I checked with , Estes they didn’t have anything available. Old dominion looks very promising. They want 2 years ltl experience. All I have is 24 hours of school big bro and about 600 unofficial highway miles under my belt so far. I’m as green as they come, but I think I’m worth the time putting into. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I’ll see what’s up.

No disappointment here, or any negative feelings for that matter.

You're new and inexperienced. The most important thing for you right now is a company that would be willing to eat your mess ups because they understand you're new, not a company that's willing to take a risk because they're desperate.

I'm not telling you to go OTR. I didn't go OTR , I went straight local and have no regrets. I didn't want to leave my family for weeks at a time and even if I did, wifey wasn't having it. I don't want you to make the same mistake you made and the only thing that changes is the name on the truck.

Did you go to a truck driving school and get a 160 hour certificate? If you did, you may want to consider old dominion. They're hiring in Brooklyn, I think the building is right under the BQE by the Meeker Morgan exit (Humboldt McGuiness if you're coming from the other side) and they're a fantastic company. No guarantees, but worse they can do is say no. There's also New Penn in Maspeth and I think Estes has a building in the Bronx. All decent-good companies and you'll be in good hands.

No disappointment here, or any negative feelings for that matter.

You're new and inexperienced. The most important thing for you right now is a company that would be willing to eat your mess ups because they understand you're new, not a company that's willing to take a risk because they're desperate.

I'm not telling you to go OTR. I didn't go OTR, I went straight local and have no regrets. I didn't want to leave my family for weeks at a time and even if I did, wifey wasn't having it. I don't want you to make the same mistake you made and the only thing that changes is the name on the truck.

Did you go to a truck driving school and get a 160 hour certificate? If you did, you may want to consider old dominion. They're hiring in Brooklyn, I think the building is right under the BQE by the Meeker Morgan exit (Humboldt McGuiness if you're coming from the other side) and they're a fantastic company. No guarantees, but worse they can do is say no. There's also New Penn in Maspeth and I think Estes has a building in the Bronx. All decent-good companies and you'll be in good hands.

Any updates Rad? Did you still end up getting hired by Central Transport?

Any updates Rad? Did you still end up getting hired by Central Transport?

I sure hope not! My cousin worked out of that Brooklyn terminal + quit for all the reasons Banks posted earlier. Wish him lotsa luck either way.