?s about Getting back to OTR Trucking after 10 year break

[dtfer415]

Hi All, I haven't driven rigs for over 10 year and lining up some work for Sept. Here are some basic questions I have about compensation etc.

1. A company I'm in contact with is willing to pay me 25% of gross contract and says I'll make $2500+ 1099 if I'm driving the max 70hrs/week and doing 500-600 miles a day. its dry van hauling -no loading -OTR. 2016 Tractor w/ sleeper, micro, fridge. Is that about average compensation?
2. If I were to do flatbed hauls heading into winter Oct/Nov -could I make more?
3. There is a lot of demand for drivers so its a bit confusing as to where/who to apply to/accept.
4. I did most of my commercial hauling in good weather/summer. What challenges do you expect I'll have come Nov/Dec weather. Chains on the passes. I have about 3 yrs driving experience but mostly good conditons. (that said I grew up driving vehicles on snow/sand etc.) thoughts about types of trucking to avoid if I'm wanting to ease into winter. E.g. would flatbed hauling in winter be a lot of work for a rookie flatbedder?
5. Does anyone know about hauling to/from Alaska -does it pay better. I'd love to learn ice hauling - but is the comp worth the difficult conditions.
6. Any tips on best truck stops to overnight at -I want to get some excercise each morning -will I be running on crappy remote frontage roads if I want to go for a run on downtime?
7. Will most rigs have the power supply for me run my laptop with two monitors. I'd like to have my laptop and full 27' monitors with me but will there will be 110A/C outlets in most sleepers.

Thanks for your thoughts,
-Older Greenhorn.

 

[Grumpy Grandpa]

Your post asks alot of questions, however, it also leaves unanswered questions.

I of course do not know you, so, my questions (if I were able to ask them) would be... why did you stop driving after 3 years? Basically what caused you to take a 10 year break? What has changed in your circumstances that has lead you to pursue truck driving again? In the past 10 years have you allowed your CDL to lapse or have you have you kept it active and your acquired skills fresh by driving locally? I don't need the answers, but, you do.

I make the following statements as an OTR Trainer with more than a few years experience.

Most of your more reputable companies won't hire a driver who has been away from the Industry without the driver first being seated with a trainer to regain (brush-up on) skills that have been dormant for awhile. This is anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks (calculated in hour of training not days or weeks). This is not uncommon and it is a paid OJT (normally $75-$125 a day). This is generally for 3 reasons, Insurance, DOT Requirements and to preclude possible law suits for lack of training (accidents).

Over the past several years I have had several drivers as students who, like you, took a extended break from being an OTR Driver. For the the most part they failed to ask the question I posed to you; everyone of them Initially did not understand or think they should have been placed on my Truck as a Student.... after a couple days they realized that they needed the training and the opportunity to get their skills back in shape and learn some new ones. On at least 2 occasions after completing everything the drivers remembered why they stopped driving to begin with and choose to go home again. In both cases they were exceptional driver, in both cases they were very similar to what you have described of yourself. Truck driving is like riding a bike you never forget; if you don't ride for awhile (years) when you start again you tend to be wobbly and might fall... the same is true for driving a truck, however, unlike on the bike when you fall the Damage to Person & Property is far greater!
Be sure it's what you want to do and do yourself (and your family) a huge favor and find a company who will make available to you some good trading (no matter how good you were or think you are... extra training won't hurt.

In the past 10 years there have been a multitude of changes to the Transportation Industry and there are more to come (another Reason to align yourself With a company that has a good training program). There is a constant debate whether the changes are good or bad In truth it doesn't matter whether they're good or bad the changes need to be understood and observed. If they are bad then we need to get them changed until that happens were stuck with them.

Power source: most of your companies either have an inverter or will allow an inverter to be put on the truck that easily power your computer, monitors and upto a 1000 watt microwave. That is a normal solution.

I wish you well and hope your future is bright.

Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk

 

[RoadTime]

Yes along with what grumpy said, my 1st thought is to find someone that will even hire you 1st without recent experience, then worry about the rest. You may get lucky and find someone, but most reputable places are going to require some form of a re-training process. I actually was in the same situation last year, when I decided to go back to T/T after +10 years away.