I'm Finally Gonna Do It!

Well, after 36 years of wanting to become a truck driver, it appears that I am finally gonna do it! I remember being ten years old while watching Smokey and the Bandit. The biggest thing I took from that movie is that I wanted to become a truck driver! Thank you Jerry Reed! Anyway, at the tender age of 21, I made my first attempt. I had gotten into a huge fight with my first wife and left her. I left California, went back home to Indiana, and decided I would go to truck driving school. At that time, the training was eight weeks long, and the government was willing to back truck driving school loans. Lo and behold, I ended up making up with the Wicked Witch of Southern California, so I quit school half way through and rode a Greyhound bus back to the woman I loved. Needless to say, that marriage ended in disaster.

Fast forward a few years and I was now with my current wife, who was very pregnant with our son. Once again, I made an attempt to become a truck driver; this time with CRST. I just could not stand being away from her, so I ended up coming home after a week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Fast forward a few more years and I now have four children. I was barely keeping the rent paid and decided that truck driving would be how I saved my family from poverty. But alas, my wife just couldn't deal with four children all by herself. So, once again, my dream of becoming a truck driver was put on hold.

Fast forward to today. My son is out and on his own. My oldest daughter is graduating from high school and will soon be pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse. My youngest daughter is officially a teenager. And the wife and I can go more than a few days without seeing each other. In fact, we are both looking forward to the time away from each other! lol So, this is it. The time is now. This dream I've put off for many years is finally coming to pass. I've picked a school--Commercial Driver Training Consultants--in Indianapolis. I'm going next week to take the physical and get my permit. By this time next month I should have my CDL in hand.

With all that out of the way, I have some questions. Well, maybe not questions so much as a need for a sounding board. I'm trying to decide what direction to go in for the type of driving I'm more interested in. On one hand, there is the dry van , OTR , drop and hook type of driving. My research indicates that this type of driving will give me more miles, but I will get home every couple of weeks or so. I like the fact that there are many companies to choose from, but I've also read some horror stories about how these companies operate. It's also less work than my other area of interest--flatbed driving.

A friend of mine, who is taking a break from driving to help his father out with his business, has done this type of driving for most of his career. He's been a great source of information for me. I've talked with him about Maverick Transportation and TMC Transport, both companies he says have a good reputation. He's explained to me that there is considerably more work involved with this type of driving because of securing and tarping down the loads. It's also a lot dirtier work than hook and drop driving. He also says that when they say they have you home almost every weekend that it's true.

I already know that truck driving will radically change my lifestyle, but I'm actually looking forward to that part. I work well by myself, can make good decisions, and believe that safety is the most important aspect of driving a truck. I've discussed the changes we are in store for with my family, and like me, they're ready for it.

So, I would like your opinions on dry van vs. flatbed. Gimme the pros and cons of both. I look forward to your replies.

Welcome aboard James!

We have a series of articles on How To Choose A Trucking Company, including an eight part series that I wrote comparing different types of freight to each other. You can scan down the listing of my articles and you'll find Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VII: Tankers and Flatbeds and Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VI: Dry Van and Refrigerated Companies amongst many others.

Let me say this about choosing a company - if you go by a company's reputation you'll never find a good one. There's no such thing as a trucking company with a good reputation because every company out there gets blasted to the ends of the Earth by people who likely had no business being in trucking in the first place. And as you know, people who tend to screw up a lot like to place blame somewhere. So naturally they blame the company for all of their shortcomings. You can scour the web for opinions on trucking companies and 99% of them will be negative. But you can ask the drivers in this forum what they think of their companies - the same companies the others are bashing - and 99% of them will be positive. When you read a review of a trucking company, 99% of the time what you're actually reading is a review of that driver's work ethic, attitude, and performance. Trucking is performance-based. Just about every company can be a great place to work if you're an awesome driver, and every company will be a miserable experience if you're a lousy driver. That's life in this business. So remember that when you're getting opinions.

The best place to get opinions on a company is face to face with some of their current drivers. Go to a truck stop and speak with them at the fuel island or as they're walking into the truck stop and you'll get much more honest opinions from people who are out there doing it successfully day in and day out. You don't want anonymous opinions from knuckleheads sitting home after being fired from a company or from people who never even worked there. That's mostly what you'll find on the Web.

The two biggest things you have to decide are how often you want to get home and what type of freight you want to haul. If you want to be home weekends, dry van and flatbed are your best options. Both will have those kind of opportunities. If you don't care how often you get home then it's simply a matter of deciding what type of freight you'd like to haul. That's where it starts. Once you find a list of companies that suit your needs you can break them down by pay, benefits, equipment, and types of opportunities available like dedicated runs or different types of freight to choose from.

Oh....and let me add this...getting your trucking career off to a successful start is going to take tons of determination which quite clearly you've never mustered to this point. So far every time the wind changes direction you quit. That's fine. You've taken your life in different directions. But I can promise you one thing - you're going to want to quit trucking 100 times before you reach your 6 month mark running solo. You're going to be exhausted, stressed out, frustrated, home sick, and disillusioned by the entire process, just like everyone is in the beginning. It takes fierce determination to get through it. You're going to come across personalities you clash with, policies that make no sense, procedures you can't seem to get the hang of, and schedules that constantly change. At times you're going to think everyone in the trucking industry is clueless and everything they're doing is backwards or illogical. Everyone goes through this.

You have to see it through.

Commit yourself to getting one year of safe driving under your belt and then you'll really know if trucking is for you. But don't try to make that decision in the first few months. The chances are very good you'll drop everything and walk away if you allow yourself that option. Look at it like joining the Army....take whatever they throw at you and come back for more until you make it to the end of that first year. Then go in whatever direction you feel suits you.

Welcome aboard James!

We have a series of articles on How To Choose A Trucking Company, including an eight part series that I wrote comparing different types of freight to each other. You can scan down the listing of my articles and you'll find Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VII: Tankers and Flatbeds and Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VI: Dry Van and Refrigerated Companies amongst many others.

Let me say this about choosing a company - if you go by a company's reputation you'll never find a good one. There's no such thing as a trucking company with a good reputation because every company out there gets blasted to the ends of the Earth by people who likely had no business being in trucking in the first place. And as you know, people who tend to screw up a lot like to place blame somewhere. So naturally they blame the company for all of their shortcomings. You can scour the web for opinions on trucking companies and 99% of them will be negative. But you can ask the drivers in this forum what they think of their companies - the same companies the others are bashing - and 99% of them will be positive. When you read a review of a trucking company, 99% of the time what you're actually reading is a review of that driver's work ethic, attitude, and performance. Trucking is performance-based. Just about every company can be a great place to work if you're an awesome driver, and every company will be a miserable experience if you're a lousy driver. That's life in this business. So remember that when you're getting opinions.

The best place to get opinions on a company is face to face with some of their current drivers. Go to a truck stop and speak with them at the fuel island or as they're walking into the truck stop and you'll get much more honest opinions from people who are out there doing it successfully day in and day out. You don't want anonymous opinions from knuckleheads sitting home after being fired from a company or from people who never even worked there. That's mostly what you'll find on the Web.

The two biggest things you have to decide are how often you want to get home and what type of freight you want to haul. If you want to be home weekends, dry van and flatbed are your best options. Both will have those kind of opportunities. If you don't care how often you get home then it's simply a matter of deciding what type of freight you'd like to haul. That's where it starts. Once you find a list of companies that suit your needs you can break them down by pay, benefits, equipment, and types of opportunities available like dedicated runs or different types of freight to choose from.

I'm not asking for opinions on specific companies. I am asking about the differences between hauling dry vans vs flatbeds, what each involves. pros and cons, that sort of thing.

Oh....and let me add this...getting your trucking career off to a successful start is going to take tons of determination which quite clearly you've never mustered to this point. So far every time the wind changes direction you quit. That's fine. You've taken your life in different directions. But I can promise you one thing - you're going to want to quit trucking 100 times before you reach your 6 month mark running solo. You're going to be exhausted, stressed out, frustrated, home sick, and disillusioned by the entire process, just like everyone is in the beginning. It takes fierce determination to get through it. You're going to come across personalities you clash with, policies that make no sense, procedures you can't seem to get the hang of, and schedules that constantly change. At times you're going to think everyone in the trucking industry is clueless and everything they're doing is backwards or illogical. Everyone goes through this.

You have to see it through.

Commit yourself to getting one year of safe driving under your belt and then you'll really know if trucking is for you. But don't try to make that decision in the first few months. The chances are very good you'll drop everything and walk away if you allow yourself that option. Look at it like joining the Army....take whatever they throw at you and come back for more until you make it to the end of that first year. Then go in whatever direction you feel suits you.

LOL. It's easy to sit there and say I've never mustered up enough determination when you weren't there and don't know the details of my previous attempts at truck driving school. I'm asking for opinions on different types of trucking, not advice on sticking with trucking. Got any insight into that? Thanks.

Afternoon James, and welcome to Trucking Truth!

Keep in mind that a lot of prospective drivers come to this forum mentioning the horror stories of trucking companies - no matter what freight they specialize in hauling. I guarantee you that Brett was responding to a statement you made concerning hearing horror stories about how some trucking companies operate. The negativity on the web is rampant. These 'reviews' are usually the biases of bitter drivers, failed drivers, or would-be drivers that didn't count the cost. Most of these reviews or horror stories are simply deflections of personal responsibility or skewed perceptions. It's amazing how this affects a lot of prospective drivers. Disinformation like this perpetuates a lot of negativity in the trucking industry. While some horror stories might be true, the truth of the matter is that this industry will reward those that persevere, and that do so with a great attitude. There's a reason why successful drivers can be successful most anywhere. In short, don't believe the hype!

You can probably make your own conclusions and comparisons after you read the articles Brett posted links for. It'd be a good starting point for you. After reading those articles, the veteran drivers here are very helpful, and probably wouldn't mind sharing their particular experiences with you regarding specific freight. Ultimately, you'll need to make a decision as to what type of freight is better to haul for you.

You'll run into some very honest people on this forum that are here to help. The High Road Training material is an invaluable resource alone!!!

Again, welcome, and congrats on finally being able to realize your dream

I'm not asking for opinions on specific companies. I am asking about the differences between hauling dry vans vs flatbeds, what each involves. pros and cons, that sort of thing.

Which I answered by giving you links to articles explaining the differences.

LOL. It's easy to sit there and say I've never mustered up enough determination when you weren't there and don't know the details of my previous attempts at truck driving school.

Actually it's quite easy for me to say you never mustered up the determination because you've tried twice and quit twice already. So obviously you never went into it with any determination. I'm trying to tell you that it takes a ton of determination to make it in this industry, something you haven't shown in your previous attempts. Your attitude and expectations are going to be a lot more important than the type of freight you choose to haul. I don't care if you intend to haul circus elephants or ping pong balls. If you aren't prepared mentally for the challenge of getting your trucking career underway you're going to fail and my job is to help people understand what it takes to get their trucking career off to a great start.

Read through those articles if you haven't already and you'll get some pros and cons to the different types of freight out there.

Afternoon James, and welcome to Trucking Truth!

Keep in mind that a lot of prospective drivers come to this forum mentioning the horror stories of trucking companies - no matter what freight they specialize in hauling. I guarantee you that Brett was responding to a statement you made concerning hearing horror stories about how some trucking companies operate. The negativity on the web is rampant. These 'reviews' are usually the biases of bitter drivers, failed drivers, or would-be drivers that didn't count the cost. Most of these reviews or horror stories are simply deflections of personal responsibility or skewed perceptions. It's amazing how this affects a lot of prospective drivers. Disinformation like this perpetuates a lot of negativity in the trucking industry. While some horror stories might be true, the truth of the matter is that this industry will reward those that persevere, and that do so with a great attitude. There's a reason why successful drivers can be successful most anywhere. In short, don't believe the hype!

You can probably make your own conclusions and comparisons after you read the articles Brett posted links for. It'd be a good starting point for you. After reading those articles, the veteran drivers here are very helpful, and probably wouldn't mind sharing their particular experiences with you regarding specific freight. Ultimately, you'll need to make a decision as to what type of freight is better to haul for you.

You'll run into some very honest people on this forum that are here to help. The High Road Training material is an invaluable resource alone!!!

Again, welcome, and congrats on finally being able to realize your dream

His post mentioned articles. How do I find them? And yes, I kinda figured there are disgruntled people complaining on the internet. That doesn't necessarily mean they all fall into that category. Even my friend told me there are quite a few companies out there that don't give a hoot about their drivers. It seems to be more of a problem among the dry van type of companies, but that could be because there are more of them out there. I'm just guessing on that part.

I'm hoping to make my decision on which direction to go in BEFORE I actually start the training. I was told by a recent graduate of the school I am planning to attend that he started getting bombarded with contacts from companies right after he got his permit. My idea is that already having decided what type of freight I'm interested in hauling will make sorting through those contacts much easier. Once I make that decision I can start narrowing down the field of companies I will apply to.

I'm not asking for opinions on specific companies. I am asking about the differences between hauling dry vans vs flatbeds, what each involves. pros and cons, that sort of thing.

Which I answered by giving you links to articles explaining the differences.

LOL. It's easy to sit there and say I've never mustered up enough determination when you weren't there and don't know the details of my previous attempts at truck driving school.

Actually it's quite easy for me to say you never mustered up the determination because you've tried twice and quit twice already. So obviously you never went into it with any determination. I'm trying to tell you that it takes a ton of determination to make it in this industry, something you haven't shown in your previous attempts. Your attitude and expectations are going to be a lot more important than the type of freight you choose to haul. I don't care if you intend to haul circus elephants or ping pong balls. If you aren't prepared mentally for the challenge of getting your trucking career underway you're going to fail and my job is to help people understand what it takes to get their trucking career off to a great start.

Read through those articles if you haven't already and you'll get some pros and cons to the different types of freight out there.

Actually, this will be my fourth time enrolling in truck driving school. If that isn't proof enough for you that I want to do this (as if I have to prove it to you in the first place) then that's your problem, not mine. LOL Also, I don't see any links in your posts.

as if I have to prove it to you in the first place

You're right. And I don't have to help you. Good luck. I'm out.