Where to start?
 

Any direction that might be given to me will be greatly appreciated.

I will start this with I do have a clean and up to date CA CDL with doubles triples endorsements and past experience hauling heavy equipment and operating 10 yard dumps. I haven't driven for an employer in 4 years. I have no experience with OTR interstate driving. I'm 41 and I have a young family and I am out of work as in " no construction jobs" in my area. I am trying to find something that would have me home weekly, Is that possible? I live in Southern California North San Diego County. If so what company would be a good one to speak with. Having no OTR experience is going to hurt me?

If you want to go otr then it could be a challenge since you don't have any experience. There are companies that do heavy haul regionally. With road construction going strong right now I would think that you could find something pulling a dump or transfer and be home every night. You may check with some of the equipment rental companies to see if they need someone to pick up and deliver equipment. I would also check with some of the auctions and see if they could give you a few names of carriers who pick up from them. There are several national carriers that have terminals in Fontana. CRST, Landstar and a few others have terminals and you might check to see if they need people. If you go with Landstar you will work for an owner operator or fleet owner. There are several truck stops around Fonatana and Ontario. You could drive up and talk to drivers and see if they might point you in a direction. There are carriers who spend most of their time running I-5. Others do regional in the western states.

It is unusual for carriers to get new drivers home weekly. Without otr experience some carriers may want you to work with a trainer for a few weeks before turning you lose in your own assigned truck. Once you gain some experience you may find that it is much easier to get home time. One other thing you might look at is tankers. There are a lot of fuel tankers in California. Those people are usually home most nights. I would also check with your state employment office. Many jobs are listed with them.

There is no costuction work or road work around here. If there is you fall into a pecking order last to be hired last to get a load, that might be one load or two loads a week in some cases.

What about CRST?, do you know anything about them? I have seen CRST around for years but never gave them much thought. Also I ran across a company called System Transport. Have you ever heared of them?
Going up to Fontana sound like a good idea. I will have to check that out.

Thanks for your reply to my post GMAN.

I leased a couple of trucks to CRST Malone a number of years ago. That is their flat bed division. I did pretty well with them. I can't give you any first hand experience from their van division. They do have a large terminal in Fontana. It is near Cherry Street off I-10. If you are heading east on I-10 you get off at Cherry and take a right off the ramp. Go to the first light and take another right. There terminal is a few blocks on the left. It is just behind Landstar. CRST also have a flat bed terminal about a mile away. Their flat bed people are mostly owner operators. The Fontana flat bed terminal is privately owned by an agent. You may check with him and see if you could do local pick ups for him. Most of those who haul for him go around and pick up LTL's and bring them back to his terminal where he makes truck loads out of them. You could check with him to see if he could use someone to pick up around the area. There are owner operators who may need drivers, but you will likely need current otr experience to qualify. CRST's van division might be able to put you with a trainer for a few weeks to get you started again. You have to start somewhere. While you are there you could go by Truck Town. It is a truck stop at the same exit. You could see some of the carriers who are there and it might give you more ideas of who to contact. Three Sisters Truck Stop is also at that exit. They don't have much in the way of parking, but might provide more leads.

I don't know anything about System Transport. If you do go to Fontana and can't find what you need you could always go a few more miles east to the TA in Ontario. Actually, there are two TA's across from one another.

One other thing that I just thought of is the port in Long Beach. You could check with some of the container haulers. With the new restrictions in the ports some brokers and carriers have set up yards where they hire locals to pull freight in and out of the ports to their yard where it is put on carriers and owner operators trucks.

Good info GMAN, I have offten wondered about the container jobs. I laugh every time see a container trailer go by with Okie Wobblers for wheels, they look like a drunk guy put them on. I was a service manager for many years and can't stand to see a job done so poorly. I have a cousin who is a new driver out of Medford Oregon that picked up a job hauling glass from Or to Ca or vice versa on a flat bed. Is it harder to get on a flat bed then a box?
Alos what restriction are you talikng about on the ports?

Thanks again for your reply GMAN.

Some ports and scales have been cracking down more on those can haulers.

There are age restrictions on trucks that are allowed in California ports, at least in Long Beach. I believe it has expanded to the other ports, but I am not sure. Most ports now require drivers to have a TWIC card. It costs $135. If you have a hazmat endorsement on your CDL, you can get it for $105, I believe. Some ports also have their own card that needs to be purchased for an additional charge. Everyone likes to get in your pocket. I seem to recall something else that Long Beach requires, but can't remember right now. You may be able to go on line and check.

Most flat bed carriers require some driving experience. CRST Malone used to require at least 6 months driving before they would allow you to pull a flat for them. Each company has their own policy. There are only a few carriers that will train an inexperienced driver to pull a flat. There is a lot of risk putting an inexperienced driver in a flat. Some flat bed carriers will train you as long as you have a certain amount of driving experience.

If you don't get anywhere with what Gman suggests, then you may consider a dry freight job. If you're open to that, even for a while to get some recent OTR experience under your belt, you may consider May Trucking out of Oregon. They have an 11 western state division and then try Knight out of Phoenix. They have terminals all over and you can run regionally if you want. Just a couple ideas. GL

When I first started driving flats I drove for Melton.They are out of Tulsa,Ok.,but I hauled alot of loads in and out of Calexico.Hauled plastic gas pipe from Tulsa to Pico Riveria Ca.Systems Transport hauls alot of glass.I think they are out of Washington.You might check with Werner also.They have their flatbed division out of Phoenix Arizonia.Good luck with your job hunt.

Thanks Luzon, I just spoke with CRST this morning and they said they wanted to put me on a 48 state truck permanently. So yes I am looking for other options. Next after I am done here I'm going to check out "May Trucking and Knight" as you said. At this point I don't care what I am moving even if it's chicken scat lol. Thanks for your input Luzon. I will post what I find out.

Thanks chain binder, I will check them out.