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ajritter04
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 89
Location: Albuquerque, NM
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject: Fuel vs LTL - Opinions? |
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I currently have 2 offers and working on a third and I am looking for some opinions on pros or cons to each of them.
#1 is with a local LTL outfit..pay is $14 / hour, M - F, 7am to whenever I get done. Benefits after 6 months. Older equipment...like late 90's Internationals and what looks like old Overnite trailers that UPS didn't want. Most of the equipment looks pretty shoddy.
#2 is a fuel hauling place out of Bloomfield, NM that has a terminal here. Pay is $16 / hour, M - F, 7am - 5pm, newer Kenworth T300's. They deliver fuel to smaller independent gas stations, local cal dealers, and ranches / farms. They also deliver bulk oil to car dealers and places like Jiffy Lube. Immediate insurance.
#3 is one I'm working on with another fuel company...they haul the 53' transports and server most of the Albuquerque Sunport (airport), Diamond Shamrock, and Phillips 66 stations. Not sure on the schedule, pay is $175 per load, in-state routes only, mostly within about 200 miles of Albuquerque. Equipment varies, I've seen Kenworth W900's, Freightliner Columbia's, International Eagles...just a bunch of random trucks..they're all fairly new.
I tried OTR with Swift, but I have 2 kids, one of whom is autistic, and a wife at home. OTR was definitely not for me. Worked for Pepsi for 8 months but was having back and leg problems and had to leave due to that.
So far, I'm leaning towards #2 because of the set schedule and hourly rate. Although, LTL is probably safer than fuel......
Choices.
:lol: |
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Orange Andy
Joined: 26 Sep 2007
Posts: 137
Location: San Joaquin Valley Calif.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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So far #2 looks best, but what about #3?
If those runs can be made in 10 hours or less, and the company offers benefits, this one may be worth looking at. That would be equivalent to 17.50/hr.
Good luck in your search. |
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ajritter04
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 89
Location: Albuquerque, NM
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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Companies #2 and #3 both off comparable benefits. Both of which are available upon date of hire.
And from what I've been told by #3, most of their runs can be done well within the HOS regs. |
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Mackman
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 2439
Location: Concordville PA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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| go with #2 you can never beat an hourly paying job. CFM will be by shortly to back me up on this. You get paid for everything fueling the truck pre-post trips. and time and 1/2 over 40. I would go with #2. I try that getting paid by the load stuff with Venezia and it was a joke. There is a reason why they are paying you by the load and not by the hr. |
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Mackman
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 2439
Location: Concordville PA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| so which one you takin??? |
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Templedawg
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 284
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| you are still going to be hauling alot of hazmat in LTL, so neither is probably safer than the other. I would think #2 sounds the best to me. I used to be hourly in LTL P&D before going to linehaul, you can't beat getting paid by the hour to drive a truck. You look for traffic to sit in, instead of pulling your hair out over backups. |
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bigrigdriver
Joined: 27 Sep 2007
Posts: 13
Location: Bellingham, WA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:41 pm Post subject: Re: Fuel vs LTL - Opinions? |
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ajritter04 wrote: I currently have 2 offers and working on a third and I am looking for some opinions on pros or cons to each of them.
#1 is with a local LTL outfit..pay is $14 / hour, M - F, 7am to whenever I get done. Benefits after 6 months. Older equipment...like late 90's Internationals and what looks like old Overnite trailers that UPS didn't want. Most of the equipment looks pretty shoddy.
#2 is a fuel hauling place out of Bloomfield, NM that has a terminal here. Pay is $16 / hour, M - F, 7am - 5pm, newer Kenworth T300's. They deliver fuel to smaller independent gas stations, local cal dealers, and ranches / farms. They also deliver bulk oil to car dealers and places like Jiffy Lube. Immediate insurance.
#3 is one I'm working on with another fuel company...they haul the 53' transports and server most of the Albuquerque Sunport (airport), Diamond Shamrock, and Phillips 66 stations. Not sure on the schedule, pay is $175 per load, in-state routes only, mostly within about 200 miles of Albuquerque. Equipment varies, I've seen Kenworth W900's, Freightliner Columbia's, International Eagles...just a bunch of random trucks..they're all fairly new.
I tried OTR with Swift, but I have 2 kids, one of whom is autistic, and a wife at home. OTR was definitely not for me. Worked for Pepsi for 8 months but was having back and leg problems and had to leave due to that.
So far, I'm leaning towards #2 because of the set schedule and hourly rate. Although, LTL is probably safer than fuel......
Choices.
:lol:
Easy choice...NUMBR ONE!!! Old Equip+Low pay=DREAM JOB. :lol: |
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fuelman
Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 54
Location: southern california
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:31 am Post subject: |
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The fuel job is great, been doing it a year now.
One thing to ask yourself before taking the fuel job, are you the type of person that pays attention to detail and maybe even a little bit anal about your work?? Lot of guys get let go from the fuel gig do to costly errors to the carrier. The LTL job might not be there afterwards!!
Best of luck, let us know which one you took. |
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ben45750
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 1759
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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I haul fuel too and love it. There is a lot more to hauling fuel than just driving a truck and it will be difficult at first. There is always a demand for fuel, LTL freight is seasonal and can slow down. I worked for 2 different LTL company's before hauling fuel and the fuel job is always consistent. I went through several layoffs with the LTL so it can be tough during the hard times.
BOL |
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teamster
Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 152
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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ben45750 wrote: I haul fuel too and love it. There is a lot more to hauling fuel than just driving a truck and it will be difficult at first. There is always a demand for fuel, LTL freight is seasonal and can slow down. I worked for 2 different LTL company's before hauling fuel and the fuel job is always consistent. I went through several layoffs with the LTL so it can be tough during the hard times.
BOL
You will have slow times with fuel also. I did it for 2 years and it always died after Christmas until March or April- unless your company is short on drivers. |
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roehl16
Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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| i have 8 yrs exp pulling a box. company named florida rock tank lines out of jacksonville fl hiring in atl area. home every night. they pay %!!! not to sure about that but my ol lady just lost twins and my aunt who had a big hand in making me the man i am has been sick. time to be home!! any advice from yall fellow truckers out there?? |
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all18wheels
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 217
Location: sacramento
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| Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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#1 sounds like a cheap company by the way you described it.
#2. instant benefits and paid by the hour. m-f day shift. sounds like a dream trucker job to me. hows the overtime option?
on # 3 how many loads can you do per day? can you pull as many loads as you can handle. |
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ajritter04
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 89
Location: Albuquerque, NM
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| Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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Since I originally posted this, I decided to abandon trucking entirely.
I've since enrolled myself into a local college and am trying to decide on a major.
I figured if I were going to "invest" 2 years of my life into something, it would make more sense to get a degree in something rather than spend that 2 years working for a megacarrier just so i could earn 10 cents more a mile. |
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ColdFrostyMug
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 703
Location: New England
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| Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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ajritter04 wrote: Since I originally posted this, I decided to abandon trucking entirely.
I've since enrolled myself into a local college and am trying to decide on a major.
I figured if I were going to "invest" 2 years of my life into something, it would make more sense to get a degree in something rather than spend that 2 years working for a megacarrier just so i could earn 10 cents more a mile.
Smart move! Trucking is a dead-end job unless you se habla espanol!!!!! |
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mike3fan
Joined: 04 Aug 2006
Posts: 1717
Location: michigan
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| Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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ColdFrostyMug wrote: Trucking is a dead-end job unless you se habla espanol!!!!!
says you :? |
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