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Useless
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 3176
Location: Canyon Lake, Tx.
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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I sure do miss Josh!! (Ardmore Farms Forever)
Anyone ever hear why he left CAD!! |
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larz0142
Joined: 29 May 2007
Posts: 125
Location: Tampa
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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| The funny part is I've worked in the resturant biz.60hrs a week and seen my kids 1 day a week..Left that to sell....lol 65 hrs a week still making "no money" to make the big bucks in sales you need to work 6-7days 70 plus hrs..What's not being told in this original post is how many husbands left to get away from their wives.Not telling about the 3 different girlfriends in two different citys that his wife found out about then left his tail..I don't care about how bad your life is,was,or going to be,you are not me and I'm not you.Yes I get to sleep in by bed every night but what kinda bed is it for my wife if I can't sleep...Too many bills, what's that noise,no son slow down on drinking so much milk..I know that some truckers are by design whiners.Shut up we don't care and maybe you are the reason this profession is going down hill.The ones that tell you don't do it are the ones that want to show you their pay checks.The same thing I told people in the pizza parlor is you chose the job shut up and clean the grease trap or find some other place to bi**h at.. |
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mirangermanll
Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 5
Location: Watertown, MI
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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One things for sure, even when this post was posted (Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:18 am)- when I was still thinking of going OTR, because of several factors- the idea of going OTR as of about 5 months ago got ash-canned because of some serious health/financial/home problems in my family (my dad has the early/mid stages of Alzheimer's, just for starters).
So- it looks like I get stuck (for awhile, at least! ) driving local gigs.
Oh well!
Some day ...
maybe when I'm old and gray!
-charles |
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AbenInNashville
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 34
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| This is the first time I have seen this post since I have been looking at the boards. I have to say that everyone has there own stories and opinions. I look at working as a company driver as being a symbiotic relationship. They work for me more than I work for them. I do have 3 children under 16 and a wife who count on me. I performed for them for a short period of time and explained to the company that I needed to be home or my family was in ruins. I now run a dedicated route and am home every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Add in every holiday. Average take home pay is $750/wk. If I tell you what company I work for, you would say you smell :dung: Look, I read what everybody wrote and I have to say that over time we make our own destiny's. You can only learn from your own mistakes. If I would have taken all the advice given on this board, I would be making less and not providing as well for my family as I am now flipping burgers. I would be stressed out and not there emotionally for my family as I am now. |
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Cluggy619
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 839
Location: Denton, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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AbenInNashville wrote: This is the first time I have seen this post since I have been looking at the boards. I have to say that everyone has there own stories and opinions. I look at working as a company driver as being a symbiotic relationship. They work for me more than I work for them. I do have 3 children under 16 and a wife who count on me. I performed for them for a short period of time and explained to the company that I needed to be home or my family was in ruins. I now run a dedicated route and am home every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Add in every holiday. Average take home pay is $750/wk. If I tell you what company I work for, you would say you smell :dung: Look, I read what everybody wrote and I have to say that over time we make our own destiny's. You can only learn from your own mistakes. If I would have taken all the advice given on this board, I would be making less and not providing as well for my family as I am now flipping burgers. I would be stressed out and not there emotionally for my family as I am now.
Your doing good, and your happy. That's all that matters, no matter what company you work for. :D |
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dtryanxpress
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 95
Location: STL
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| Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| fastfood jobs pay $7 an hour... :? |
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abc123
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 94
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| what was the average pay per mile back in 1990 when fuel was .90cents a gallon, does anyone know or remember? |
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Fozzy
Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 2460
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| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:09 am Post subject: |
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| In 90? I say around .24-26 cpm |
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copious
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:49 am Post subject: |
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It's taken a few days to get through all the posts in this thread... but it was well worth it. Before reading it, I was really excited about getting into trucking. Although in the back of my head, I knew there were some negative aspects to trucking, I chose to disregard them. But, the first, and rather long post, almost made me want to forget about getting into trucking all together.
However, after reading through all 9 pages of posts, I started to feel better about it. Everyone has their own opinion, and as others have stated, there is no "perfect" job (I've had several jobs, and none are perfect, some are more tolerable though). I'm 34 and despite having post secondary education, I've never had a decent paying job. I could go back to school and get more education for a potentially high paying job, but that means not working for a while and instead, SPENDING money. I've seen enough people with PHDs and degrees driving taxi cabs or working in a restaurant, so decided that wasn't an option.
A few months ago I got a job driving a school bus, for which I did not need post secondary education, only a good driving record. The company trained me and got me my school bus license. Definitely not the greatest paying job and those split shifts take up so much of your day it's hard to find a second job. It did, however, open my mind to driving commercial vehicles again and make me consider, at first, driving a city transit or coach bus, but then preferred the idea of not so much dealing with the public, and once again considered trucking. I don't mind being alone, though driving with someone else could be nice. Even at the lower end of the pay scale, it will most certainly be more money than I make now, and I REALLY need to start making some good money. I'm not sure if I'd do this forever, but at least a few years to give it a fair chance and stash away some money which I've not been able to do yet.
At first I thought OTR would be fun. Get to see the USA and Canada while getting paid to work. I even took a 2.5 hour truck driving lesson (to try out trucking) and the instructor told me she loved OTR, but after 4 years, she had seen almost every state and province and it was no longer as fun. I thought the same would work for me. She was about my age, and had a house, nice car, and by the sounds of it, a decent standard of living thanks to the money she made trucking (OTR, regional, local and teaching it) But... like someone else just wrote, family/health issues can change your priorities. I'm not married, and have no kids, but my parents are getting on and their health is deteriorating. It would be really wrong to leave them alone, although they said not to let that sway my decision (but I know they're just saying that so they don't feel like they're being a burden on me - I know they'd much prefer me around - that's why they convinced me to move to their city a few years ago). Luckily one of the truck driving schools gave me hope that it may be possible to get a local driving job right after finishing trucking school. That would be great. Maybe I'll do OTR later, if at all, but right now I'm just working on saving up for trucking school, or seeing if I can get a government grant.
Thank you to all who posted here. Over the last few days, you've helped me decide that this is NOT the right time to get into OTR. I'll stick it out for a local job. It sounds like they're out there, even for newbies, you just have to look around. (well, first things first... I need to take truck driving lessons first, THEN look for a local driving job) |
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Jackrabbit379
Joined: 22 Oct 2005
Posts: 4741
Location: Wichita Falls,Tx
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| It's good that you have picked up some good points, copious. There are some good posts written throughout this thread. Follow your heart. Be sure to think throughly about what you want to do, regarding this profession. You can make a good career, yet, if it's not for you, you can fall apart. Hope everything works out for ya. Best of luck! |
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abc123
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 94
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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| some drivers driving history is not so good, so many might bash a company on this forum but this company no matter how bad it pays for a mans bills and food for his family, everyones situation is different |
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copious
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:55 am Post subject: |
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abc123 wrote: some drivers driving history is not so good, so many might bash a company on this forum but this company no matter how bad it pays for a mans bills and food for his family, everyones situation is different
I'm beginning to realize that. I also think that being able to drive a truck will never leave me stranded for a job. Not everyone can drive a truck. Plus, even the lowest paid trucking job is more than I make now, so I'd be grateful for that. |
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Orangetxguy
Joined: 23 Jan 2007
Posts: 1637
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:52 am Post subject: |
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Fozzy wrote: In 90? I say around .24-26 cpm
Maybe the LTL jobs were paying that sort of rate. OTR was closer to .175 to .195 cpm, for Newbies, at least on the West Coast. 3+ years experience might have gotten you .225 cpm. In 1990 my hourly rate was $16.60 an hour, OT after 8, plus $1.00 an hour shift differential. Non-union. |
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BORN2DRIVE
Joined: 31 May 2007
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:43 am Post subject: |
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Hey Copious,
Not to discourage you or to be negative. But, I just finished trucking school in March. I tried OTR for about a month with a big company and realized it wasn't for me. However, I did not want to get out of trucking because I like driving and also have a tuition to pay. So, I started searching hard and heavy for a local driving job. My experience was if you don't have the experience they just don't want you. I finally got on with a local company just last month but, it was because that a guy I've known for many years works and drives for them and he got me hired. I'm just saying that unless you know somebody it's going to be very hard to land a local gig. BOL |
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copious
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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BORN2DRIVE wrote: Hey Copious,
Not to discourage you or to be negative. But, I just finished trucking school in March. I tried OTR for about a month with a big company and realized it wasn't for me. However, I did not want to get out of trucking because I like driving and also have a tuition to pay. So, I started searching hard and heavy for a local driving job. My experience was if you don't have the experience they just don't want you. I finally got on with a local company just last month but, it was because that a guy I've known for many years works and drives for them and he got me hired. I'm just saying that unless you know somebody it's going to be very hard to land a local gig. BOL
Thanks for sharing that. I've heard it's hard to get into local without experience, but the trucking school I want to go to assures me there are a few companies in my area that have taken students right after finishing the course. They got local driving jobs and they say there is still a need for that. If worse comes to worse, and it meant either no work or OTR, then I'd have to settle for OTR, but only until I could find a local job. Not to worry - you haven't discouraged me! I do appreciate hearing these things actually. It really helps. Just looking forward to driving a big rig... I'm just itching to get behind the wheel again (that 2.5 hour lesson a few weeks ago really whet my appetite)! |
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