Dreamed Of Trucking For Years

My experiences directly counter ypurs Drew. I work for Knight, which merged with Swift, it doesn't get much more "mega" carrier than that.

My terminal manager always has taken care of me, they have delivered on every promise made, I recieve quite often more layover and detention pay than I request. They bend over backwards to get me home on time. They communicate well on it. I'm flexible on some dates, hard on others. They always work with me.

I'm one of the top earners at my terminal and I still manage to take considerable time off, my last vacation was two weeks off to Europe.

There's an underlying narrative that local is "better" than OTR or regional in your replies. It's much more accurate to say that it's better for your circumstances. OTR may well suit others better.

I worked hard physical labor for 30 plus years and had to be up at the butt Crack of dawn. I hated it. I personally love being on the road, seeing sunsets and sunrises, working nights, days, driving whatever shift I want.

I love the art of negotiation in pay, it's very much like running my own business still. The opportunity to generate more money is always present when paid by the mile, bonus and ancillary pay. It's not necessarily so by the hour.

I’ve gotta throw my lot in with Davy here. Granted, I’ve only driven for two companies. One was mega and one is small. Both companies were like butter to work with on home time and parking.

That being said, I’m out several months at a time, not needing to be routed home every weekend. And I don’t live anywhere near a terminal for either company, especially currently. That has never been an issue.

My satisfaction is due to the fact that there is a symbiotic process going on. The company gets plenty of advance notice and a several day window. They have never failed to get me home within our agreed upon time frame. I don’t know what happened to Drew that was so troublesome, but I think my sort of experience is more common in the industry.

Same. I give my current FM 2 weeks notice, and a target date of when I need to be there. Of course I always pad it a bit. Both of my "home" locations are 8+ hours away from the nearest Terminal. I have only once been "late" on my targeted home time, but that was on the reciever end, changing the appointment and not notifying us, AND rejecting some of it. Not Primes fault at all.

This is a cautionary tale about understanding unsolicited advice, and how that may apply to your specific situation.

I’ve gotta throw my lot in with Davy here. Granted, I’ve only driven for two companies. One was mega and one is small. Both companies were like butter to work with on home time and parking.

That being said, I’m out several months at a time, not needing to be routed home every weekend. And I don’t live anywhere near a terminal for either company, especially currently. That has never been an issue.

My satisfaction is due to the fact that there is a symbiotic process going on. The company gets plenty of advance notice and a several day window. They have never failed to get me home within our agreed upon time frame. I don’t know what happened to Drew that was so troublesome, but I think my sort of experience is more common in the industry.

I appreciate everyone's responses. It's given me something to chew on...

I just went to a friend's wedding this weekend with my fiancee, had a wonderful weekend in a big city with lots to see and are now celebrating her birthday in a historical hotel in the beautiful country side. We took tomorrow, Monday, off to enjoy a slow morning on our way back home.

All the things I mentioned above are things I'd worry about missing out on being away while on the road.

It's a sacrifice and maybe I'll eventually get more than 34 hrs weekend time...

I must have mentioned several times in multiple responses that my experience was my experience and anecdotal. I also mentioned that I never worked for Swift so I couldn't say but to ignore moronic internet personalities that tend to stereotype every driver associated with those mega companies like Swift. That said, I am merely sharing my experiences and how two companies in my state decided [probably due to freight, fuel, and other variables] to walk back on agreed upon conditions of employment. These aren't things that are unique to me. These are circumstances that do exist even if they haven't happened or affected you. Also, in my original post, I never said local was "better" only that it was better for me. I specifically made mention that I wasn't painting OTR with a broad brush. Im sorry if my two cents contradict yours, but as I mentioned on another post, I'm not one to leave jobs. I would still be happily working Emergency roadside with AAA if I hadn't moved to a different state. Long haul trucking wasn't for me. That said, local IS for me because I actually enjoy the physical and hourly part of it. But that is neither here nor there. You guys can dog pile me all day on this, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. And if I'm not allowed to share my experiences, maybe turn this into a blog instead of an open forum.

My experiences directly counter ypurs Drew. I work for Knight, which merged with Swift, it doesn't get much more "mega" carrier than that.

My terminal manager always has taken care of me, they have delivered on every promise made, I recieve quite often more layover and detention pay than I request. They bend over backwards to get me home on time. They communicate well on it. I'm flexible on some dates, hard on others. They always work with me.

I'm one of the top earners at my terminal and I still manage to take considerable time off, my last vacation was two weeks off to Europe.

There's an underlying narrative that local is "better" than OTR or regional in your replies. It's much more accurate to say that it's better for your circumstances. OTR may well suit others better.

I worked hard physical labor for 30 plus years and had to be up at the butt Crack of dawn. I hated it. I personally love being on the road, seeing sunsets and sunrises, working nights, days, driving whatever shift I want.

I love the art of negotiation in pay, it's very much like running my own business still. The opportunity to generate more money is always present when paid by the mile, bonus and ancillary pay. It's not necessarily so by the hour.

I think I explained in great detail what "happened" to me. Maybe I just got unlucky? Who knows. All I know is that I did my job and did it well. This isn't a ****ing contest. I am just explaining my situation so others can be on the look out if something were to occur. I never said that every last trucking company on the face of the Earth operates in said manner.

I’ve gotta throw my lot in with Davy here. Granted, I’ve only driven for two companies. One was mega and one is small. Both companies were like butter to work with on home time and parking.

That being said, I’m out several months at a time, not needing to be routed home every weekend. And I don’t live anywhere near a terminal for either company, especially currently. That has never been an issue.

My satisfaction is due to the fact that there is a symbiotic process going on. The company gets plenty of advance notice and a several day window. They have never failed to get me home within our agreed upon time frame. I don’t know what happened to Drew that was so troublesome, but I think my sort of experience is more common in the industry.

Drew wrote this:

You guys can dog pile me all day on this, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. And if I'm not allowed to share my experiences, maybe turn this into a blog instead of an open forum.

This is a forum Drew. Your replies to the OP elicited contrarian responses to yours. How is that "dog piling"? I saw nothing wrong with most of this exchange. Especially Rob's reply.

And you continued with this:

This isn't a ****ing contest. I am just explaining my situation so others can be on the look out if something were to occur. I never said that every last trucking company on the face of the Earth operates in said manner.

No one is making this a contest, and no one is dismissing your experience Drew. The others shared their experience. I'll share mine, I did not experience what you went through. Doesn't make me more or less right than you. We are happy you have found something that best fits your needs.

One last thing:

The reference made to the knuckle dragging, inbred? Is that an opinion you can substantiate with facts? Regardless, it's an unacceptable reference that has zero to do with the credibility point you were trying to make. In my opinion it actually tends to diminish your point. Why lower yourself to other's substandard conduct?

I just talked to a friend of a friend who has a trucking company that has tanker that goes to the western 11 states and occasionally into BC. This is an exciting opportunity that I could have no predicted.

I'm told I'll need to get my hazmat endorsement, my twic card and my passport. I have an in person interview this week with everyone there.

This company is very close to my home as well.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that he said they occasionally have routes that go to Alabama and Arkansas.

There is one specific route he mentioned that went south from Oregon to Bakersfield, CA, sometimes LA, then out to Salt lake, UT, sometimes to Denver, then back to Oregon. Kind of a big triangle.

Running tankers is NOT a recommended path for an entry level driver.

I'd also suggest that a company owner willing to trust an entry level driver with a liquid hazmat is irresponsible. I'd be shocked if he could even insure you. You have zero experience, get 1 year of safe performance before considering this.

It's best to gain experience with a more static type of load transported in either a dry van or reefer (liquid moves around a lot, surges) and also one that is less volatile.

I just talked to a friend of a friend who has a trucking company that has tanker that goes to the western 11 states and occasionally into BC. This is an exciting opportunity that I could have no predicted.

I'm told I'll need to get my hazmat endorsement, my twic card and my passport. I have an in person interview this week with everyone there.

This company is very close to my home as well.