Wanting to get into the business and also want to thank all those who've replied to my other posts too as I have learned alot from them, I want to know if there is that much of a difference in the types of freight hauled, compared to the opportunities to work, the pay, the equipment, and hometime availability. I mean is there more drop and hook for reefer, like Stevens or Southern Refridgerated, meaning more miles and less time in a receivers' yard, or is driving flats better, though you do have to tarp and secure freight, which takes away from driving time.

Is the basic 53 footer what the majority of all drivers start out at and then go into different kinds of hauling? From what I've read it sounds like Flats pay better, have a more stable work time, getting drivers home on weekends more often, but are they that much in demand, versus say reefers that are just vans with ice?

Wondering as with all my research my personal feeling is that Flats is the way to go, even just starting out at 51 years of age.

Yes
No
Depends
Not necessarily
Sometimes
Depends
Could be.

Hope this helps. :wink:

not wasting words or candy-coating things are you REV

Rev.
Appreciate your response, but remember, this is a NEW TRUCK DRIVERS post, so you need to be just a little more specific for us wanna-be's and newbies......

Generally, if you run reefers you will spend MORE time at a shipper / receiver than any other type of freight that goes into a 53' box. Grocery warehouses are notorious for 4 - 6 hour waits to get loaded and then another few hours at the receiver to get unloaded. The lumpers are generally not paid that much, so they don't really care how long it takes to load / unload you.

Flatbeds, however, are different in the fact that the shipper usually wants the load on the truck and secured / covered properly as fast as they (and you) can get it. When you get to the receiver, they're happy to see you and will get that load off the truck ASAP. Very little waiting with a flatbed...at least compared to a reefer.

The vast majority of drivers do start off with a dry van just because it's less to worry about. Good examples being pre-cooling, checking the temps, checking / fueling the fuel tank on a reefer or how to properly secure a load of steel coils, watching for load shifts on a flatbed, etc.
With a dry van, you either pick it up already loaded or wait on a live load and then you're off - just have to worry about the load shifting a little bit, but not nearly as much worry as with a flatbed.

Flatbed companies are usually (but not always) better about being more stable, they do tend to pay better in almost all cases just because of the extra work involved, and they sometimes have dedicated routes that get you home far more often than dry vans or reefers do. At 51, if you're in relatively good shape, you can certainly try out flatbed and see how it is, but I would recommend getting your feet wet with a dry van first before you go throwing yourself into something more difficult.

AJ,
I appreciate the information and I'll keep it in the forefront of my mind when it comes time to make the company decision. I understand about the added work and potential difficulties of running flats, but I don't know, maybe it's just me in that I like to work and think running flats overall offers better opportunities for my family and myself. Maybe I'll change my mind after making a few runs, but I am also going to make sure I get some trainning at my school on flats and the differences between them and vans.

Thanks again...

If I drove a van I would be more worried about load shifts than flatbed. With a flatbed you can see if it is moving, with a van unless you get out and go back there you have no idea until you get to your destination and crack the doors open. With a flatbed, your strapping the load down, so your usually fairly certain that it ain't going anywhere. If you pick up a van that is already loaded and sealed you have no idea if it is going to shift around until you get going down the road.

I have a relative, about 55, who started out recently. He got his CDL, bought a truck and flatbed a month ago. Of course with his own authority he can do anything he wants, like be home when he wants and haul what he wants.
Tarping is the worse part, but sometimes it doesn't need to be done. Strapping and chaining are not rocket science either.

Mr. Ford,
You are completely on my same page as I felt that starting out it would be alot easier to keep an eye on the freight I was hauling and also depending on what kind of freight, may even have better sight-lines when it came to backing. Not thrilled about coupling on to a van that I have no idea what may be inside, other than what the manifest states, but hey, it could say egg rolls and I have 200 asian people in it....

Charged,
I never did feel that securing a load was like going to the moon, but I guess from what I read and see that there are alot of us out there with little common sense. I've tied stuff down on the top of cars before and made sure they were secure. The tarping can create a problem, especially if doing it on a windy day, but even that can be done with common sense so your equipment works with you and not against you.

Personally, I like the idea of running a flatbed and I hope that withing 3-6 months, I'm running one all over the midwest and getting home regularly to see my family....