OTR truck driving info.

[RHestand]

I'm a retired general contractor, and I've worked in commercial construction for over 40 years.

I started my own const. company in 1978, then sold it and retired 4 years ago.

In the past year or so I've been getting a little restless and been thinking about what I might do.

Back as far as I can remember I"ve always wanted to try OTR driving, but I always made much more money in const. , so I stayed with the money. I have really enjoyed what I did over the years, but for several reasons, I don't want to do that any more.

I've got my retirement income so now the money is not as important as it used to be.

I'm thinking about getting my CDL, then going to work for one of the larger OTR companies for a year or so, then if I still like it, buy my own rig and maybe do it as an owner/operator.

I just turned 64 and I'm in good health, so I'm kind of looking at it as an adventure.

So what I need, is some advice and info. from some of you guys with practical experience, about good companies,good schools etc.

Any input on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Ray

 

[DonTX]

Well, I sorta did that same thing a few years ago. I did NOT want to be a company driver, so I bought a Kenworth and starting truckin!

I was a retired US Army officer so did not need the money either, just wanted the fun and excitement of it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would do it again if the opportunity arose, but my health will preclude that. Still got my CDL though.

You are wise to do a company driver stint first, but it is a lot different than owning your own truck for sure, and driving for a company will be far more profitable. I say go for it, what the heck, you only live once!

 

[Oasis-3]

Truck Driver

I worked as a boiler operator for 26 years always inside HOT HOT HOT in the summer and things with water for the boilers would freezz in the winter COLD COLD COLD.



Now as an owner operator I have an office with a view and the view is better in the summer time



Good Luck

Cliff

 

[hammersley]

Recommended companies to start with for

us OLD GUYS?????????? Also - I was looking and one guy told me that a lot of companies require you to unload as well,,,Hey - I'm not into the unloading bit --- am I to picky -I mean is it common to drive and THEN UNLOAD as well?????

 

[RHestand]

us OLD GUYS?????????? Also - I was looking and one guy told me that a lot of companies require you to unload as well,,,Hey - I'm not into the unloading bit --- am I to picky -I mean is it common to drive and THEN UNLOAD as well?????

For decent wages I wouldn't mind unloading, but not for $10 an hour. (Good exercise?)

Also, I think maybe loading, chaining, etc. heavy equipment, tractors, etc. on flat bed trailers might be challenging and make you use your noggin a little bit.

There seem to be a lot of companys looking for drivers.

Can any of you guys comment on The Good, The Bad, and The Uglys of the bunch.

Thanks,Ray

 

[DGerth]

Well,

After 8 yrs, my cousin sold his 10 trucks. He claimed that he'd lost enough $ and drank enough ant-acid to float a boat (large). He and I would not do it again for lots of $. How much $ do you have to loose? I'd rather go to Reno, better odds

and no DOT inspections. Buy a travel trailer, pull it with a CTD, stop when you want, where you want with whom you want, with no worries or head aches.

Good luck with whatever you do.

dg

 

[Loren]

Ray,



If driving a big rig is a money losing proposition (I don't know that), there are several Dodge diesel owners who use their pickups to haul RV's and similar trailers.



That might be an alternative that you can consider.



Good luck,

Loren

 

[DonTX]

I dearly love my diesel dually and pulling a 36 foot fifth wheel, but I got to tell you, it is NOTHING like being an over the road driver in a large car.

 

[bnbrown]

I have been looking into getting my CDL and signing on as a company driver. From what I have found so far you will need to have a CDL prior to signing on, a friend of mine was able to get his CDL through the co. he signed on with, but apparently the co. no longer offers that option. Some Co. s do offer their own school, England for instance offers a school, but you have to either pay up front or finance the CDL classes/testing and they will slowly reimburse you as you work for them. The Co. my friend worked for was Werner (out of Omaha, NE) and he highly recommends them, you need to have your CDL when you sign on with them, then you go through a training period (paid) and after you "graduate" their training program you get assigned a truck and start racking up the miles. I am looking mostly into working for Werner as they have a very new fleet, and have been told they pay fairly. My plan is to drive as a company driver for a year or two, see the sights... then try to either sign on with a local company so I can be home more, or get a job with state DOT.
I have thought about toting RVs or hot-shoting also... but the inital costs (many RV transport co. s require a newer truck, and if hotshoting a flatbed) not to mention insurance and the incredible wear and tear... Had a friend that did the RV toting back in the 80s, had worn out his pickup before he got done paying for it.
Here in CO all CDL tests are administered by 3rd party companies, and most of those companies have schools also. The local school is a 2 week course for $3500, it is all inclusive though, covers permit and license fees as well as all materials.
I am also looking into a CDL after reading the CDL Manual it looks like you are required to have a CDL if you are pulling a trailer over 10k gvw... all my trailers are over 10k. drove around CA for years without the proper License... but that is CA, nobody out there can actually keep up with the laws, also ran red dye fuel, I surely dont risk the fuel here and dont really want to risk getting tagged for wrong license either, all I need is to have to drop the trailer somewhere because an officer is having a bad day

 

[DonTX]

I actually towed house trailers OTR for years, then thought I wanted to work state (KS) DOT. The state job made me feel bad, so went back to more satisfying over the road (53ft dry van).

Many companies will let you train and get a CDL, that is a popular thing, last I knew Schneider was doing the training/driver thing, shop around if that is the way you want to go. Another easy CDL trip is to hire on as a school bus driver, they will train and license you, then move on to OTR trucks. There are of course truck driver training schools also. The whole licensing and learning thing is over rated, pretty simple really.

It is not as glamorous as you might think, and hard to get rich from it, but for me it was immensely rewarding in personal satisfaction and accomplishment, owning my own Kenworth W900L and making it go across the USA time after time. I would almost do it for free!

 

[bnbrown]

School Bus still remember riding one of those. . no way i would drive one

 

[RHestand]

I actually towed house trailers OTR for years, then thought I wanted to work state (KS) DOT. The state job made me feel bad, so went back to more satisfying over the road (53ft dry van).

Many companies will let you train and get a CDL, that is a popular thing, last I knew Schneider was doing the training/driver thing, shop around if that is the way you want to go. Another easy CDL trip is to hire on as a school bus driver, they will train and license you, then move on to OTR trucks. There are of course truck driver training schools also. The whole licensing and learning thing is over rated, pretty simple really.

It is not as glamorous as you might think, and hard to get rich from it, but for me it was immensely rewarding in personal satisfaction and accomplishment, owning my own Kenworth W900L and making it go across the USA time after time. I would almost do it for free!

In talking with Schnieder, they want their drivers to ave. 500 mi. per day. Giving this some thought, what kind of mph can you really ave. with one of these trucks? Mountain grades, DOT wt. stations, fuel stops, etc. has got to pull your ave. mph down quite a bit. 500 mi. might be a long day.

Can some of you experienced OTR guys comment on this?

Thanks for all the replies, Ray

 

[HBarlow]

I have NO knowledge of driving a big rig so cannot speak from experience but I do have three years of recent experience as an RV transporter who is subject to the same rules and laws.



I agree that commercial driving is an adventure. Most of the RV transporters I have talked to enjoy the freedom and wandering around seeing the sights. I enjoyed it until I got tired recently and with current fuel costs wasn't making as much money so I took the winter off. I took a leave of absence and may return in the spring.



You can learn a lot about commercial driving by keying related phrases into your search engine and reading all the websites. Many of the big commercial trucking companies are recruiting and offer various programs for obtaining a CDL and basic driver training. Some will either loan you the money for training, reimburse you for your own expense, or provide it in-house. I think they will all require you to sign a binding contract to drive for them for a specified period of one, two, or three years or you will have to repay the money or will not get the reimbursement.



You can pick up a free commercial driving handbook from most state's DMV office and learn almost everything you need to know. Federal hours of service rules are important and control most issues of commercial driving. I'm sure the big companies will expect you to drive 11 hours per day, 70 hours per work week, etc. You can easily make 500 miles/day driving 11 hours except in very bad weather or maybe in areas of the northeast where city traffic congestion might slow you down.



It is actually pretty easy to obtain a CDL without formal training. I read the Texas commercial driver handbook, paid the fee, and took the tests in a computer at the local DMV office. I borrowed a tandem axle dual wheel flat bed gooseneck trailer with a GVWR of 20k, hooked it to my Dodge, and took the driving test. All you have to have is a combination vehicle that exceeds a gross combined weight or combined weight RATING of 26,000 lbs. I easily obtained the Class A CDL but do not have an air brake endorsement. I didn't have an air brake equipped truck to take the air brake part of the test.



I didn't pursue the issue any farther because I didn't need the air brake endorsement but I suspect that I could have rented an air brake equipped rental box truck by showing my Class A CDL and taken the air brake part of the test also. I'd bet a rental agency wouldn't notice I didn't have the air brake endorsement. I passed the air brake written test with ease although I had never driven an air brake truck at the time. Anyone can do it.



Harvey

 

[bnbrown]

I imagine it wouldnt be that hard to make 500, I often make 1000 in a day, but no weigh stations, no DOT hours
500 is usually what I would do in a leisurely day with my CTD and a loaded stock trailer. Then of course I used to haul through LA (the so. CA one) some and Sacramento/Stockton. . and you go from making 500 miles in a day to just wishing the day would end... and happy to make 5 miles an hour. Course also spent 5 hours going no miles out in TX where I-10 and I-20? meet because a trailer had caught fire and the guy dropped it in the middle of a construction zone. Also spent 4 hours sitting on I-15 where it comes into NV from UT because a trailer load of Ammonium Nitrate had tipped on the hiway. . and of course his fuel tanks leaked into the mess too...
So I guess you never really know what you are going to get.

 

[CJ Johansson]

I can't really talk much about OTR trucking or working for a company, but I have driven a big rig (Pete 379 w/48' dropdeck & a dump truck) many thousands of miles. I spent a lot of time on the road this last year moving our ranch from Idaho to Montana.



Getting a CDL isn't really a huge deal. There's probably no need to go to a school just to get one if you need one to get hired. The schools are probably a good idea though as there's a lot to know.



CDL requirements may vary a bit from state to state, but in general CDLs are regulated by the federal gov't and all states have to comply with the federal testing. I'm sure some states add other stuff as well, you can find out everything you need at your local DMV.



Get the state CDL manual from your local DMV. It will tell you which sections you need to study depending on which licence and endorsements you want. Read it and study it, the test is more difficult than the regular driver tests. Seems to me it was a couple hundred questions, a lot were not obvious and required really knowing the stuff in the manual.



After you pass the written test you will have to take a skills test in the type of vehicle you are getting the license for. As was stated in a previous post, this may not need to be a big rig, but will have to have air brakes if you want that endorsement.



Many states use 3rd party testers, in other words, private contractors. Many of these will have trucks you can rent for the test, some may even give you some instruction before the actual driving test. I rented one from my examiner, an OLD Ford 8000.



The skills test will consist of a vehicle inspection and a driving test. I got dinged the most on the inspection, but maybe that's because my examiner's day job was working at a weigh station.



The driving test isn't too tough if you have experience hauling and backing trailers. Practice with as long a trailer as you can get, preferably what you will actually use for the test.



They will set up cones around the truck, have you pull forward until you are beyond the cones, then back all the way through the cones. You also have to do a backing turn into a set of cones set up to simulate backing into a loading dock/alley. You get scored on how well centered you are and how close you come to stopping before you pass the end cones. After that, you go out and drive around town, making sure you don't do anything unsafe, etc.



Probably the biggest thing I think a school would help with would be understanding all the driving time and permitting requirements. Crossing state lines gets you into a whole other realm of permits, etc. Of course if you're with a company they will cover that and will likely train you on a lot of those things.



-cj

 

[hammersley]

Here's the Schneider Site - lots of good info ...

Schneider National Transportation Jobs | Truck Driving Jobs | Inexperience Drivers



the prescreen test is interesting.....



http://www.schneiderjobs.com/pdfs/PWS.pdf



Look at the basket carrying (milk basket) with 60lbs in it..... 60 lbs isn't real heavy - but holding it in a milk basket sure doesn't look smart - who the H#$@ would carry something like that??????

 

[Moe]

Take it from me, go to an approved school and get every endorsement you can, including hazmat. The trucking industry wont hire anyone without having prior driving experience OTR. They will require you to take their training and then usually run coast to coast with a trainer for a time to get experienced enough to go on your own. You will have logbooks to fill daily and DOT inspections and then when you have reached your total hours driving,then you pull off and set for 10 hrs. Try going for a B class license and driving cross country tour bus. You dont make too much money, but the tips are good and you eat mostly for free and dont have to be hot or cold. MOE

 

[bnbrown]

Have to say that pre-screen test made me laugh... have to toss your duffle into the cab? I am just wondering how you could pass the DOT physical (which I have had done) and not be able to do those tasks, seems pretty basic... The weight in a basket is something special.

 

[13MWZ]

After a layoff in the construction buissness I hired on with Schneider. It was a good experiance. I was paid (but not well) for my training wich was done in house at the Dallas OC. They also took me to take my CDL test and let me use their truck and trailer. After that I was put with a trainer and pay was increased. Him and I shared the cab taking turns driving (me doing most of it) for about 2 weeks when I was sent out on my own where the real money started coming. The training was good and at a good pace. I had plenty of behind the wheel time both on highways, city streets, and places I didnt think a big rig could fit. I felt very comfortable in the saddle when they turned me loose.

The company it'self I think is GREAT for a first time driver, they are helpfull and are use to dealing with 'new' drivers. My only main gripe about them (besides the big orange trucks being govorned at 62 mph) was that since I was a company driver I couldnt choose my truck or customize it. On the other hand all fuel and maintenance costs were on them... . not me.

Unfortunatly after 6 months on the road Uncle Sam called and needed my help overseas. When I got back from my second tour I decided not to drive anymore. Not because of any other reason than I wanted a chance to settle down. I still miss driving and often think of getting my own rig and getting into the O/O gig.

My time on the road was a great one, I got to see parts of the country I never would have seen otherwise and I learned a lot too. Like that the folks up north aint as bad as I thought they were... ... and the ones in California are much worse than I thought they were. LOL, no offence to anybody from Ca.

 

[bnbrown]

LOL oh yeah... moved from CA a year ago. . they are as bad or worse than the rumors My real fear if I start going OTR is winding up having to drive either coast. I have been stuck in traffic in many major cities, Dallas, Houston, Denver, KC... would take that 10:1 over stuck in Los Angeles or San Francisco.