i'm thinking of paying out of my own pocket to attend ait school here in las vegas and my question...is there any chance of just going into a local company after school and getting paid by the hour or do you pretty much have to go with the big companys like swift,werner etc.. for the experience?? if thats the case and you have to go over the road forget it!! after sitting back and reading posts and reading that some drivers have been out on the road for like 3 weeks and then have 2 days off..and all that for like $850bucks if that a week?? doesn't seem to be worth it to give up having a life..i'm currently in the limousine business and doing about $1100 to $1500 every 2 weeks plus tips...i would love to drive truck locally even vegas to california or arizona would be fine by me...but i just need weekends off..

 

Sure there are chances of getting on local right out of school, but many of the small companies that do local want you to have at least 1 year OTR experience. Pretty much they want you to get out there and pay your dues if you know what I mean. Also, keep in mind that there is a lot of competition for the local driving jobs. You will be battling against guys that have driven for 5+ years and want to be home more. If your in Las Vegas and want to do local look at U.S. Express http://www.xpressdrivers.com/rec-grad.html . They might have some opens on their local divison there. Good luck.

 

thanks for the reply..actually us express is my favorite so far to try and get on with..i'm not so much about the money, i just would like something steady and thats why i would prefer to go local and a nice hourly wage

 

If you are in the right place at the right time you can get a local job. Off the top of my head, Airgas, home depot, all of the bulk companies, the guys that go to the land fill. Get out and go into these companies and talk to them face to face and get a feel for what they wanted.

 

your best bet is to stay in the limo business .it is clean work and no one bothers you for the most part.and you go home every niter. you can also try buying your own van and get in with the front desk at hotels for short trips to restaurants and bars with groups of people. you can trying trucking part time see if you like it before you jump ship. done both a limo is a walk in the park compared to the b.s. in trucking. good luck to you

 

You're right, it's not. I heard one guy braggin' on the CB the other day about how he gross's $1000/wk @ .28 cpm. When you figure that he' running about 3500 miles a week to make that amount of money well...it's nothing to brag about. Then you hear about guys pulling for CR England, Werner, etc making .24 cpm - .26 cpm!?!?! You gotta be kidding me. My uncle made .19 cpm back in 1981 when Waylon Jennings was on the radio.

Folks just love working cheap/free in this biz. Never seen anything like it.

 

Yes you did.... when you went OTR before you went local :roll:

 

Yourlimomonkey,

If you want to do local in Las Vegas try Rinker Materials. They run a twelve hour shift according to the guys I have talked to who work for them that haul bulk (cement for the ready mix plants). You might also talk to Pan Western or any of the other bulk haulers. There is a lot of work in Las Vegas for a local driver if you know where to look. I would suggest going to either of the above companies and talking to them about the job opportunities for a driver fresh out of school before you spend the $$$. I started with Double Eagle Transportation right out of school, and it's local work. We haul into Vegas all the time from California, just look for the Magenta(Pinkish color) Pneumatics that are running around Vegas. You could also do Bottom Dump or Transfer Tuck work as well. I grossed almost $63K my first full year.

 

there is lots o jobs in vegas. a guy in our company at tacoma had to go to vegas to be with his family. he called the teamsters in vegas and they said if they could verify he had a cdl they would hire sight unseen.
he moved to henderson and took a job hauling garbage starting at 18.65 per hour. there is lots of dump trucks and mixers and i heard they pay 25$ an hour but dont know for sure

 

You'd be better off driving a trash truck in Vegas. They are making just under $25 an hour. Why would you even consider getting into trucking? Jeez, even the cab drivers make more than truck drivers. If you want to have a life I would pass on this trucking idea. There's just too much money to be made in Vegas without having to give up your life to trucking.