I have never thought of my sleeper as a prison. Most sleepers are pretty comfortable. You aren't going to have as much room as you would in your own bedroom, but it is adequate. You would be surprised how much stuff you can put in most sleepers. Most otr carriers get drivers home about every 2-3 weeks. If you live near their primary travel lanes you may be able to get home more frequently. Starting out, some carriers may try to keep you out longer. Once you get through your training period you will probably be able to get home more frequently. If you want to get home frequently, then you should discuss this with any carrier with whom you are thinking about going to work. I would plan on staying with a carrier for at least 1-2 years. The longer you stay with a carrier the greater your opportunity to work for the better companies and the higher your pay. Carriers are not going to give top pay to someone who is expected to stick around for a few months. Some have a cap on the number of jobs you have during a 2-3 year period. I don't hire anyone who has had more than 3 jobs in 2 years.

 

Hey G,
I have seen the inside of some of the new sleepers and they actually look a lot better than sleepers of old. I'm sure I could get used to it. By prison I actually meant being in such a tight space for long periods of time if you get stuck waiting repeatedly. In your opinion, what do you think are some of the better carriers for new drivers? If I end up having to work OTR then I would definitely want to find someone that I could stay with for a year or two, or longer if the company actually takes care of it's guys. I'm getting into a trucking career for stability. Learn the ropes, play by the rules, drive safe and professional, and keep a job. The idea of bouncing around from job to job has never really appealed to me.

Thanks G for the input.

-Butch

 

Prison is actually a common training ground for OTR drivers. Strange that you would make such a correlation, Butch. Yes, imprisonment is probably a fair comparison to 'cool beans' OTR trucking.

Simple Butch! Local driving is not only where you are apt to find the better carriers, but the good paying, steady jobs.

Pray tell that you can avoid OTR sentencing guidelines. If you find an OTR carrier that you stay with for a year..........or two, let us know. You will be known as the Mark Spitz/Michael Phelps of the OTR industry.

Let's hope that it all works out that way, Butch. If you end up OTR, you'll find out soon enough about the whole 'play by the rules,' 'drive safe,' ruses that cut-rate OTR carriers blabber on about only to satisfy insurance requirements and to pacify the DOT.

Anytime Butch! Always happy to help.

Gary

 

Care to elaborate? Anyone can come on here and say they clear 1200 a week. Who do you work for? What kind of freight? Company driver or O/O? I'm sure alot of us are curious.

Contrary to popular opinion it isnt all bashing. Some of it is personal opinion and sharing information with others who are interested. When it turns into personal attacks then it is bashing. As in calling someone a shmuck for example. Why do you and others take everything so personal? Do you know how many times someone here has said lazy union workers? Doesnt bother me. I know who I am. For you guys to get so sensitive tells me deep down inside you guys know there some truth to all the OTR opinions. Here's an idea. If you're not interested in a topic dont click on it. There are hundreds of threads about Werner, Swift, USA, CRE, Prime etc, etc. You know what? I dont read any of them. I could care less. Headborg has 500 pages about Schaeffer Choronicles and I've never read one post. I also dont go to the O/O section, again I dont care. I also dont read about what truck stop everyone is sleeping at. What you guys do is your business. I'm glad your happy. Hopefully your as happy as I am cause I'm pretty damn happy. But when someone starts a thread about LTL, fuel, foodservice, dumps or other local work I'm going to talk about it and I'm going to talk about my opinion of OTR. I'm entitled to. And its not bashing so get over it.

 

It can get a bit cramped if you are in a truck for extended periods of time. It helps to get out of the truck and walk around or go into a truck stop and sit in the drivers lounge for a while to break up the monotony.

I have heard some good things about Roehl, Millis and a few other carriers who hire new drivers. Swift and Schneider catch a lot of flack, but I think both are good companies. You don't become that big without doing more things right than wrong. I have met some Swift drivers who are doing very well. I think the biggest complaint are their slower trucks. I prefer going a little faster, but the idea is to make a good living. I met a guy with Swift who told me he made $57,000/year and he had only been with them for about 2 years. I believe he worked a dedicated account for them. Most people will not stay with a carrier long enough to see the larger paychecks. They are always chasing that penny raise. As to which company would be best for someone starting out? That would depend on where you lived and what you want. If I were starting out and needed a company to start my career I would probably look first at Millis and Roehl. There seems to be less negative posts that I can recall from these two carriers. I would check with several of them to see which one is the best fit. You need to find where they run and when they can get you home, if that is important to you. What works for me might not work for you. Take your time and talk with several carriers before making a decision. Keep in mind that you don't have to stay with any carrier permanently, but the longer you do stay will enable you to move to the better companies.

 

[quote="Evinrude"][quote="Island"] Island wrote Some questions for you sir

(1) When you first started trucking ,did you think you were contributing to the bringing down of wages?

No, I was unaware of the way trucking treated there employees.

As usual you answer a question that was not asked.I'm not concerned with whether or not you knew how drivers were treated. What I want to know is what makes you so special that you could had a right to go into a profession as a newbie when it would help to bring down wages when apparently you have a problem with other people doing the same? I hope the question is clearer. I can't make it any more clearer than that

 

GMAN, what do you know about Watkins-Shepard? I may have to go back to work due to failing investments that have provided my income for the last four years since I retired from the IT world. I am 54 years old. At this stage of life, I would not want to have to be with a trainer for several weeks before going out on my own. From reading threads about Watkins-Shepard in this forum, I know that they send their new drivers out solo immediately following completion of their driver training school, so that appeals to me.

Also, what brand of tractors does Watkins-Shepard have? How are their sleepers for comfort?

Are there any other training companies that send new drivers out solo immediately following driving school?

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

That's a good one Quarter cab guy! But, you "misunderestimate" me! I would never consider surfing while intoximacated! Too dangerous! Besides, I need to be able to "control" my PARKED vehicle while drinking! :shock:

 

:wink:

 

Belpre: What does what I'm going to make on the account matter to you? It doesn't matter to me. If I make $300 a week on it thats fine, if I make $900 thats fine also. You can't get it through your uneducated head that not all of us are concerned with income. You guys say all the time "well I dont care if you guys work for nothing" but yet ya always bring that comment up all the time so ya must care about it.I don't know why you think your so damn better than everyone else. Not everyone wants your job but your so egotistic you think they do. You have NOTHING that I want. You, LBJ andmackman have to take turns giving eachother pats on the back because like GMan said you guys are all insecure about yourselves.
Why did you do OTR for year with with CRST if it was so damn bad? Lets see here I think CRST starts teams out at .34 cpm so you were driving for what .17 cpm??? :roll: You call OTR drivers homeless millionaries so I guess you were a homeless millionarie also. But thats right your special your not like everyone else. Even new people to the board are tired of your guys shit and they see right through it also.

Go ahead dig through all my old posts it don't bother me any I'll stand behind everything I say. Yeah, that driver did tell me that about the account. Does that mean its true? I don't know. But I went over there last week and met with the Operations Manager and talked to other drivers on the account. Some of them said their pay was kind of low but others were doing pretty good on the account. It depends on whether you view the glass as half full or half empty. So you go ahead a go through life with your pesstimistic attitude. Better hope you company has good pretty good prescription drug coverage because you need alot of depression medication my friend.