Going from an 18 wheeler to a 6 wheeler.

dwight777 · Apr 20, 2004

Hi. After being an OTR driver (CLass A Dbl/Trpl Tlr and Tanker Hazmat) for several years as a company driver, my wife and I have decided to get into expediting after planning and thinking it over for the past two years. This past Easter holiday I talked with our in-laws that have been doing this for a few years and they are genuinely happy. This will be primarily be a solo operation until my wife obtains her own CDL.

After reading posts about several companies, we noticed that both Conway Now and Landstar are not mentioned very often. We have already talked with Panther II and as a solo we will be restricted to East of Mississippi

YUCK At least with Conway Now and Landstar we can go all over. Has anyone been with Landstar and does their Loadboards operate as promised?

We are looking at buying our own truck and have found several used ones that we are interested in and will be rolling within the next couple weeks. We even thought about buying a new one but I prefer to remain out of debt.

This forum has been a great help and any advice is greatly appreciated.

pelicn · Apr 20, 2004

Welcome! :7

Hubby (Nightshift) and I are in similar circumstances. He's an OTR Company driver now, and I am starting class May 3. We are planning on teaming as well, but not the truck purchase yet.

Question for the "experienced ones here" :7

Should we contact companies or O/O first? From what I've read, the companies have to approve you first, but is it a waste of time applying to the comapnies without knowing who you might actually end up running for? (I hope that made sense) :9

dwight777 · Apr 20, 2004

I really do not know the answer to that but I'm sure the other guys would know.

I have only driven for companies before and not an O/O.

We're planning on driving around in the Tri State area of FL AL GA and maybe even TN checking out trucks (either used or new) until we find the right one starting next week.

The info on trucks has been a great help as well as reading posts about the other companies.

Good luck on your new adventure!

vernon946 · Apr 22, 2004

dwight777,
You are pretty well describing the way we started as my wife didn't want to drive flatbeds.

We looked around for a used C truck, then got her liscensed by renting a U-Haul truck for the driving portion. We've been doing this together for 7 years now, and expect to continue as long as we both stay healthy.

We're partial to FedEx CC, and they let you run all over.

Vernon in C2197

BigRed32771 · Apr 24, 2004

I'm not out on the road yet, so don't have a great deal of info but....

While visiting a local guy who builds class 8 expedite trucks (new and used), we rean into a couple who drive for ConwayNow. They were trading in their Class 7 w/ a 96" sleeper for a used Class 8 with factory 70" sleeper. The wife of the team said that they had driven for a couple other companies before Conway, and said they were very happy with them. The truly got to cover the country (west coast) and had even made two runs to Alaska.

For me the downside is that Conway wants (I believe) at least a years OTR experience, and my wife and I have just gone to school to get our CDL's. This does limit us initially in our choices of who to run for. But I've filed that info away, and if I'm not getting out of the midwest very often driving for someone initially, when I've got that experience I'll probably give Conway a call.

Doug