Best States To Live In For Trucking

Is there a general area that is best to put down roots if you plan on being in the trucking industry for a living?

Not really. It's more like there are a few places that have very limited opportunities compared with others:

1) Florida - very little freight comes out of Florida relatively speaking so a lot of companies won't run down there. Otherwise they wind up sitting for days trying to get a load out of there or spending a fortune on fuel to drive empty to Georgia or Alabama for a load.

2) The extreme Northeast like CT, MA, ME, NH, and VT. Not too many companies include the extreme Northeast in their major freight lanes so it's difficult to get people home up there.

3) The Upper Midwest and Upper Rocky Mountain Region - SD, ND, WY, MT. Again, very little activity up there relatively speaking so it's difficult to get people home.

4) The Carolinas on the East side of I-95 - NC, SC - just another areas that's a little less dense in the freight department. Some companies don't consider that part of their major freight lanes.

Pretty much anywhere outside of those areas are great for trucking. Those areas still have plenty of opportunities, just not as many as the more centralized regions of the country. You'll notice I didn't include the West Coast. The population is rather dense in OR, WA, and CA and there's plenty of freight that moves in and out of those states so they are not limited in their opportunities.

Not really. It's more like there are a few places that have very limited opportunities compared with others:

1) Florida - very little freight comes out of Florida relatively speaking so a lot of companies won't run down there. Otherwise they wind up sitting for days trying to get a load out of there or spending a fortune on fuel to drive empty to Georgia or Alabama for a load.

2) The extreme Northeast like CT, MA, ME, NH, and VT. Not too many companies include the extreme Northeast in their major freight lanes so it's difficult to get people home up there.

3) The Upper Midwest and Upper Rocky Mountain Region - SD, ND, WY, MT. Again, very little activity up there relatively speaking so it's difficult to get people home.

4) The Carolinas on the East side of I-95 - NC, SC - just another areas that's a little less dense in the freight department. Some companies don't consider that part of their major freight lanes.

Pretty much anywhere outside of those areas are great for trucking. Those areas still have plenty of opportunities, just not as many as the more centralized regions of the country. You'll notice I didn't include the West Coast. The population is rather dense in OR, WA, and CA and there's plenty of freight that moves in and out of those states so they are not limited in their opportunities.

Appreciate the insight as always Mr Aquila

@ brett : let me get this right since i live these so call dead frieght area( live east of I 95 . in a backwood county) in north carolina all of the major trucking jobs /terminals are west of i 95 and near major cities. is that right mr.brett???????

how can one find a trucking job he/she likes if they gotta move away or drive long distances?

@ brett : let me get this right since i live these so call dead frieght area( live east of I 95 . in a backwood county) in north carolina all of the major trucking jobs /terminals are west of i 95 and near major cities. is that right mr.brett???????

how can one find a trucking job he/she likes if they gotta move away or drive long distances?

We are not saying you can't find a job living in those areas. We are saying your options are going to be more limited than more populated parts of the country. If you wish to pursue a trucking career you will have to apply to every company out the and see who will hire you. I know Stevens hires from North Carolina. And if there is only a few companies the hire from that area and you don't like any of them you have two options at that point. Either move or don't drive a truck.

Okay that does seem logical . can anyone give me a list of the trucking companies that hire out of n.carolina please ? and thank u

Start here. Apply For Truck Driving Jobs we have a pretty thorough company job lookup. You can also put in your zip code and will bring up the companies that hire in your area.

Once you get experience opportunities will open up for you even living in that same area so it maybe a very real possibility that you might have to start driving for a company you may not entirely like but could live with for a year or so just to get your foot in the truck door.

Okay that does seem logical . can anyone give me a list of the trucking companies that hire out of n.carolina please ? and thank u

One piece of advice that someone gave me. If there is a truck stop near you, go and see which companies have trucks there. Also, if there are places near you with large parking lots, see if any trucks are parked there. Especially on the weekend.

In the town I live in we have a Home Depot that lets big trucks park there for a few days when the drivers go home. On a holiday weekend, I saw 3 trucks from my company parked there. It's one of the reasons I applied there.

If you start by applying with companies that you know come through your area often, you'll have a better chance of finding one that hires in that area.

Yea thank u and i will keep my eyes peels for any trucks rolling thru my area

Now that you find yourself interested in trucking, you will naturally start looking at trucks and see which company names are on the trailers. You'll start noticing who shows up on the freeway most frequently, around you. Also keep in mind, what gets trucked into your state. There are things like Coke and Pepsi and the major beer labels that get shipped everywhere in the country, so somebody has to drive those trucks. What I have found is that trucking has a very wide variety of options, if you can get creative in your job search. Grocery store chains, both local and national is one example. I've even pulled up to truckers from various companies and asked them what their routes were like and where they were coming from. They don't seem to mind talking about it at all. I'm very limited, in that I can't move for a few years (if I had to but the Rockies have a ton of shipping going on) and I can't go over-the-road, so I've searched high and low. There are opportunities out there, though. If you have the option of moving to a high-traffic hub of a city, I'd say GO for it, and go where there's a lot of activity and opportunity. If you can't re-locate right now, you have to be open to a little more compromise. Out here, in the West, it's all about the railways (for the really big stuff) and the trucking.

-mountain girl