Husband Looking Into Get CDL - Will There Be Any Options For Short Haul?
Topic 7282 | Page 1
There are plenty of companies that will train you for your cdl , most help you get permit and CDL license. I would check out company sponsored training that has a section on this site (i would link it but on mobile and that makes it more difficult ). If he isnt wanting to be over the road i would suggest acquiring school privately. Its difficult for rookies to get a short haul job home everynight but if you move to NY as you mentioned it'd definitely be alot easier, but still very difficult. The only person here that i know was able to start in LTL as opposed to OTR was 6 string, but thats mainly because hes on the east coast, so he may be able to give you more information on that. I also believe that LTL would typically pay more than OTR.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Over The Road:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Thanks so much Rob! I read 6 String's post and now I know the difference between LTL and P&D. That gives me something else to research.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Or would that be P&D vs linehaul? And they are both LTL?
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Both are LTL jobs. For most drivers that is the goal to get to if they have a family and want to be home more. I understand linehaul to essentially be driving from 1 terminal to another of your companies, and doing a drop and hook (dropping your loaded trailer, hooking up to another trailer often Times already loaded.) P & D stands for pickup and delivery which means dropping off and picking up pallets at customers. With P & D there is often times waiting in dock to be loaded/unloaded. With most LTL jobs i believe your paid hourly as opposed to OTR where your paid based on mileage. As i said before its rare to be able to start in LTL unless you're in an area with many carriers that arent able to fill positions. Seems like northeast would have your best chance at getting something like that with little to no experience. I'm still waiting to start school, so i could be mistaken as to some of what I've shared, but some of the experienced drivers will be able to assist you with more detail and advice just know they tend to run hard most of the time so it may be a little bit before your able to get the advice you're seeking. Best of luck.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
P & D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
Thanks for the clarification. I'm doing a lot of research on both linehaul and P&D. Linehaul might be a good option for husband since he's a natural night owl but I like P&D because I like having him at my side at night! Following 6 string's post closely, lots of great insight and advice there. Looked through his list of LTL companies and only found one job for rookies in NYC though...
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Amanda D.
I don't know if you have looked yet but there are LOTS of sections or parts to this website that cover an unbelievable amount of information . . . you could take weeks exhausting the information here . . . so take the time to really explore and get your husband on the High Road program here so he can get his CDL-A permit BEFORE he starts any school or training . . . also, transferring his CDL to anther state is fairly simple in most states but you'll have to get the exact details from the respective state's DMV . . . good luck,
Jopa
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
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My husband has recently expressed interest in the trucking industry. I know beyond nothing about trucking so I'm just trying to gather as much info as possible. He spoke to one representative and I think he might have been overselling things a bit. I really like this site because it's positive yet honest.
For one, how difficult is trucking school? Husband is not a native English speaker although his English is quite good. I think most schools require a written exam after the first week. How much preparation does he need to put into it before taking the course?
Would he be able to transfer his CDL to a different state? We currently live in FL and are thinking of moving to NY.
How do the loans for school work? My interpretation - the companies loan the money and he gets it back his first few months on the road. His interpretation - the companies give him the money and he gets to keep it on top of his starting salary.
(This is the biggie) How likely is it that he could get a short haul job or at least a dedicated route that would get him home on the weekends right out of the gate? We were long-distance for two years before our marriage and I have some health problems. I really don't want to have to sacrifice three out of four weeks of the month with him.
Realistically, what is the starting salary? The representative told him 60,000 for long-haul and 40,000 for short haul but my research indicates that the numbers are more like 37,000 for long-haul and 27,000 for short haul.
What else could he do with a CDL besides drive trucks? Could he drive tour buses for example (he was in tourism in his home country)? If he got sick of driving trucks, what other jobs could his experience translate into?
(This is more minor) During CDL, would I be able to see him? Or is it basically no contact for 4-6 weeks?
Thanks!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."