Re: OTR drivers: Are there good or great companies to wor...

Posted by trucker40 on October 08, 2009 at 12:27:07 from (68.91.94.239):

In Reply to: OTR drivers: Are there good or great companies to work for? posted by Cetane on October 08, 2009 at 10:51:44:

Well this is the wrong time of year to start driving unless you can get good runs to the south and stay down there a while.Also you want to run for a small company if you can.You need to go to the same places for about 6 months so you get an idea of what driving is like.A big company will treat you like a number,make you mad,and run you into the ground,then try not to pay you right.Most people quit before they have 2 years experience for some of the reasons I mentioned or they run over somebody and kill them,or something happens that scares them real bad and then they wont drive a big truck any more.Some people wreck trucks and run into everything and stay with it.
At a small place,especially one that has the same loads every week,you might like it better.Some are good,some arent.Actually,until you get your own truck or a company you really like,its not a very good job to be honest about it.By the time you figure your expenses,and how long you are away from home,and the damage from the nasty food and no sleep,you would be far better off to get a job almost anywhere else.Even McDonalds or Wal Mart,and you will live longer.If you just have to drive a truck,OTR,go for it.Make sure you know to look for mountains on the routes they send you,and for sure ask how to go up and down them.Most people will be happy to help you,but nobody can read your mind so you have to ask.CB works or a truck stop close to the mountain.Do not get on the mountain and get your brakes in flames,because the only thing you can ask for then is people to get out of your way and hope you make it.Plus if the bears see you they can write you some tickets for that,if you live.Look at the weather channel every day.Remember where the snow storms and hurricanes are and go away from them.If you get in one while you dont know what you are doing,you can cause a huge wreck.It happens all the time,especially the first 2 weeks it snows.That gets lots of rookies off the road,sometimes for good.You do not want to wreck,especially in your first 6 months of driving,because it can make it hard to get another job driving again.Definitely dont go to New York City,Los Angeles,downtown Chicago,until you can handle traffic.That could be years.Dispatchers dont usually know anything about driving a truck and they will send you anywhere and tell you its a piece of cake.Yeah well,the dispatcher is going home every night,dealing with a few minutes of traffic,and driving a car.What looks like an inch in an atlas has taken all day for me to get through before.Sometimes you just cant get there from here,especially if there is a hurricane between you and where you are supposed to deliver.Im a country boy and it took a while before I would even go to a big city.Also I always ran mostly in the Midwest.The East coast is no place for a midwesterner usually.You may be different,but I dont like going East of the Mississippi river anywhere North of Kentucky and East of Kentucky can get on my nerves too.I dont like Florida either because its mostly orange juice out of there,so usually means wait.It is nice in the winter though to run across the bottom of the US to Lousiana.Texas can be bad.For as big as it is,it has little big truck parking.They have some big shot attitude in some places like truck drivers are scum and they want to abuse them.Some places are alright.Arizona,New Mexico,Colorado,stay on the Interstate.Stay out of Wyoming in a snow storm,just stay out until you get experience because the weather can change real quick and you have that blowing snow and high gusty winds that really mess up guys with no experience.So from Wisconsin you can run in these states,Minnesota,Michigan,Iowa,Kansas,Illinois,Indiana,Kentucky,Tennessee,Pennsylvania,Ohio,West Virginia,Virginia,New York state,North and South Carolina.There are mountains that can kill you in a lot of those states,so take notice.Georgia,Alabama,Mississippi,Louisiana,Missouri,Oklahoma,Texas,North and South Dakota.Arkansas has dangerous roads going north and south,not so much east and west,stay on the interstate.
Now you can handle anything you have to handle.If you get a route on your first run that goes over Sandstone mountain in West Virginia Or maybe Virginia,you can handle it,if you as truckers how to do it.You stop at the top,theres a place to pull off.Look at your brakes and adjust them up if they need it.You dont want any higher gear than what your truck will run about 45 or 50 MPH in 5th or 6th maybe.You want your jake brake on high,you start off and up shift to your 5th or 6th gear quick,flip the Jake on,when you get to 50,hit the brakes,drop your speed to 40,up to 50,drop to 40,all the way down.Do not under any circumstances take it out of gear on the grade to shift or you might not get it back in,and almost instantly will be going too fast.Best thing to do is go to the side and stop if you can if you get scared.You can go down lots of mountains too slow,but you only go one time too fast.The closer you can come to what I just told you in a company,the better you will be.Others will tell you more.If you dont like a company,quit,go somewhere else.Driving a truck is hard enough.They are not going to consider you at all,especially a big company.If you are going to run and take years off of your life for them,dont be miserable doing it.Half of doing a job is working for people you like.Every day you drive is more experience for you.That doesnt mean you need to go to New York city or Los Angeles,or even Chicago the first month.Stay out of those places as much as you can and you will be way happier and drive lots more years.Ive seen lots of guys go to New York city come home and quit driving a truck.Chicago is not bad if you go to the suburbs,but its still bad if you have to go through it most of the time.Its the traffic.Its bad.If you arent used to the traffic like that it can really get on your nerves.

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• Re: OTR drivers: Are there good or great companies to wor... trucker40 12:55:43 10/08/09 (0)

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