My Catch-22 On Long Island
 

Hey Folks -

I really feel like I'm in a bind here...

I have had my Class A with Hazmat, Tanker, Doubles / Triples and Metal Coil endorsements since this past March. I did not graduate from a school - I took a half dozen private lessons and took the road test. I have zero OTR experience and I have about 200 hours of local experience. I am a safe and conscientious driver with nothing recent enough on my driving record to concern any employers. Despite my limited wheel time, I have driven some cool equipment from carnival rides with all sorts of peculiarities to a 70' combination mobile video production studio to standard boxes.

In my reality I am a skilled driver who has not driven everything but is capable of driving anything. In addition to my big rig wheel time this past season, I have three years of commercial driving experience pulling heavy (16,000 pound) ball hitch trailers with about 1,000 local runs to date. While I understand that means jack as far as rig experience, it has given me significant experience in dealing with driving situations and close-quarter maneuvering.

So how do I get a job? :cry:

As the thread title indicates, I am on Long Island, New York. I am willing to drive locally or OTR, day or night and I will drive just about anything just about anywhere. All I want to do is get in the driver seat! I currently have occasional gigs with the video rig described above and it feels SO good when I'm in the seat doing my thing!

I am highly enthusiastic about my new career. I 'take the extra five minutes' to make sure I, my equipment and my load get to where they're going safely.

I know one of the suggestions will be to try and hook up with an O/O to get that magic 6 - 12 months of OTR experience. Where do they list their openings? All I find on Craig's List is BS listings that don't respond when I email them and national carriers that won't take me without experience. Searching on Google only comes up with nationals. So, if anyone knows specific companies on Long Island, please PM or post them!

As I said, I am also fine with OTR. Are there any companies that will work with my extremely limited local wheel time?

Thanks in advance...

Congratulations on getting your CDL without having to go through one of the schools. As you have already found, it can be difficult to get a job in this industry without proven experience. Local experience doesn't count with most otr carriers.

I would suggest that you check with some of the major training carriers who service your area. They may put you with a trainer for a few weeks before turning you loose with your own truck. Once you get a year or two experience behind you it won't be so much of a problem. Another suggestion would be to check with some of the container hauler carriers. The pay may not be the greatest, but it is a way to get some experience.

I have seen a couple of drop yards on the island. You may start making notes of carriers whom you see on the roads and give them a call. If you can get by a truck stop there are trucking magazines with dozens of carriers who advertise seeking varying levels of experience.

One other thing. There is a jobs section on this website. You can fill out an application and it will automatically be matched with carriers who are looking for those with your experience. If you have a clean MVR and work history I am sure you will find a company that will be able to use you.

There's alot of garbage in NYC and it's all trucked out to __________, some of the company's must be in or near NYC check with them and cocentrate on the smaller ones. Good luck to ya!

you check with garshaw? (might have spelled that wrong) check the scrap companies. if you are a real hard worker check with j. kings. on forrows rd.