I will say that driving OTR, I slept as well as i ever have in my life. Something about the constant sound of the refer running and the vibrations.

How do I become a truck driver like on the reality show 'Shipping Wars' ?


Seems like it might be a fun thing to do with the wife

Step 1: get CDL.

Step 2: buy a truck.

Step 3: create profile on U-ship.com

Step 4: kill yourself.

Not bad so far. Like anything there is a adjustment period I'm still getting used to. Don't think it's something I could do for the next 10 yrs
Etc, but I'm just trying to get some experience so I can run local stuff and be home more. Sort of paying my dues at this point.

Roger that, atleast you're putting that cdl to good use and making money with it.

Not much luck finding a day position I guess? they're definitely much, much harder to find than otr, most want 2-3 years experience to even consider you.

I totally lucked out, got on with the biggest farm family in the area, these people are friggin loaded. They have the farm side that I'm driving for now, and a local (statewide and more once in a while) transport side that they'll let me into once I gain some experience.

Who are you taking it up the ass...er driving for? :D

Lol. TMC transportation

That would bother me quite a bit. I can sleep anywhere but not in a moving vehicle.

It's like 40k a year to start OTR from my understanding. I almost did it. Was going to team with my wife. For me, I'm glad I tripped into what I did because I've heard some horror stories.

A real go getter can do waaay better than 40k a year even just starting out.

Husband-wife teams can make BANK, but they better be cool with being right next to one another 24/7... and oh yeah, their are plenty of horror stories out there... trucking isnt some easy job at all, particularly that otr stuff, you dont have to be a brain surgeon but you better have a surplus of common sense to be successful.

Map reading or being atleast reasonably comfortable with gps technology.

Timing your arrival with the delivery time which includes a fair bit of math with miles to go, mph, fuel consumption, factoring in breaks/unknowns.

Maintenance.

Knowing what to do in emergencies.

Dealing with certifiably INSANE people/traffic in city areas, they'll literally risk everyones life just to get ahead of you and save 5 seconds to their destination.

Knowing what bridges/routes you can take with a given weight on, knowing what overpasses to avoid, getting around detours.

Mountain driving in terrible conditions.

OMG, I get dizzy thinking about all the stuff otr drivers have to deal with... the go getters earn every single penny of that 100+k a year.

That's a lot of great info for anyone thinking about getting in, and all accurate just from what I learned as I started that process Before landing where I did.

Its like any market, some jobs are just way better than others even if the work is roughly the same... my instructor at school knew a guy that made over 100k a year and all he did was drive from Springfield, Il to some town near Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo once a day and swapped trailers with some guy.

That was it... dude was home in bed every stinking night, didnt have to go into the heart of any city and made 100k a year.

Talk about a gravy run.

Another Channel 19 joke -

What do the orange construction barrels and Schneider trucks have in common?

They likely both have two dirtbags in them.

:LOL:

Damn. Dream trucker job.