HI

Im 48 years old and have a bad knee. I also have a couple of kids. I was wondering which type of trucking would be the least stressful on the knees and allow the most home time? Whats the chance of getting a no trouch freight gig and being home on weekends and possibly during the week as a Newbie driver?

thanks

 

As a newbie, chances are not great, but they are possible.
There are some pretty good companies that only require 1 year and have nice linehaul runs that you'd probably like, such as NEMF, Ryder, Estes.
All of these companies will also require you to have hazmat & doubles/triples endorsement.

Your best bet to find something "local" starting out is probably trying little mom & pop companies. The megacarriers dont offer anything like that..Well usually not...

Good luck.
Keep us posted.

 

HI Again

Can u recommend a company that would have the least freight handling for a New Driver with no experience? I also posted a thread about tankers. Definitely no freight moving there.

thanks

 

Unless you're lugging hoses. :?

 

If you don't have experience already, you're probably not going to get a job driving a liquid tank... nor would you want to. You might be able to get a job pulling a dry bulk tank, but I can't say for certain that you'd be able to. You'll have to ask someone who does dry bulk to answer any questions you have about that. And, as stated before, you get into a tanker, you're going to be lugging hoses.

Given the question you asked, you'd probably want to avoid flatbeds, refrigerated vans, live animal transport, and more or less anything related in any way to construction. It doesn't leave many options, and, even if you decide to operate a dry van, as soon as some regional or dedicated drop and hook, no touch freight route opens up, there's going to be a more experienced driver who's going to want it.

Honestly, in my opinion, if you want to get into driving, you're probably going to have to bite the bullet. Doesn't matter whether you run 48 or remain local, there are going to be times when you're going to be required to do more than just sit in the cab all day, aside from when you get out to drop your trailer. Even if you end up driving a 1 ton cargo van for a local courier, there'll be times when the packages you deliver aren't going to be particularly light.

 

You could get your passenger endorsement and drive charter buses. Your freight walks on and walks off.

 

If you can open a hopper OK look at hauling grain/fertilizer if you're in the right area. Well maintained doors usually ain't real hard to open.

 

hI

Is that a year round gig or just around harvesting time?

Do they hire new drivers for that?

thankss

 

Yeah, but then you have the 80% of products that get stuck in the trailer, which you have to climb inside and sweep out. Definitely not for someone with bad knees. Hopper bottoms are hard on the body, even if you are only hauling grain and fertilizer. Even grain will get stuck if it gets wet at all. I'm speaking from experience - I pulled grain wagons for 6 1/2 years.

 

I drive a tri axle dump truck. It is real easy. A loader loads the truck and you hit a switch to trap the load. Then you hit another swtich to open the tailgate. Then another switch to dump it. Aint no labor at all. Maybe stuff may stick in the body but if you have a vibrator it comes right out most of the time.