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When you start looking for a new career on the internet or in your local paper, it seems that truck driving jobs are more commonly posted than other careers. In our growing economy there is a growing large demand for truck drivers.

Did you know you could earn a lot of money working as a full time truck driver. In this field, depending on the company you may be able to find a preferred work schedule too. Transportation and trucking companies come in all sizes. Just depends on the type of market they want to serve.

Driving a truck… is it difficult? Before you get hired, you will need some kind of experience and a clean driving record. You can gain your initial experience through a truck driving school. They provide you with the necessary education and training as well as possible providing job search assistance.

These days it does not matter where you are but you are definitely going to see a truck. They utilize or local city streets and national interstate highways. It is no secret that our national economy is dependent on the transportation and trucking industry. Imagine if all truck drivers stopped working what it could do to our economy. It could get messy!

At the beginning of a truck drivers shift, there is some work to be done before they hit the road. This includes an inspection of their vehicle to make sure it is in safe condition and ensuring that there is enough fuel to begin their day. If there is a repair need, they should contact the appropriate person to make the repairs or determine if it could be deferred.

Before any truck driver starts driving down the road, they need to know where they are going and the route to be used. A check of traffic conditions and even weather should be considered. You can save time, money and fuel by having a proper route selected, especially avoiding traffic congestion.

In the trucking and transportation career field, there are several types of truck drivers. The more common positions include long haul driving, local drivers, teams, specialty, small trucks and tractor-trailer to name a few. The type of vehicle you want to driver and where you want to drive it to be a decision you should make before sending out resumes.

Besides the compensation for the work you perform, there are other reasons to consider this type of work. Namely because most trucking companies will also provide health/life insurance and retirement plans. Every companies compensation plan and benefits will differ, so be sure to review them carefully.

Take a look at a new web 2.0 style job board to help you find truck driving jobs [http://www.jobcab.com/truck-driver-jobs] all over America. So if you are looking for truck driver jobs [http://www.jobcab.com/truck-driver-jobs/truckdriving/cdl/about]. This is where you will find them.

Author: Justan Bosley
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Ok, now regional truck driving jobs are a great option for many people. With regional jobs you are usually out 5 days a week and home on weekends. Now understand something: the freight you will be hauling is usually not predictable. Yes, there will be some customers that your company will have that will provide steady freight from one place to another on a rather predictable schedule.

But the vast majority of it will not be. They will do their best to keep you moving during the week and get you home on time for the weekend but this is not always going to happen. Generally you can expect to get home sometime between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. You will then be home around 36-48 hours. Often times you will bring a load home with you that will deliver on Monday morning, hopefully somewhere fairly close to your home.

Here’s an example:

Say you live in Indianapolis, IN. After driving and making several deliveries all week, you may find yourself delivering a load on Friday morning in Nashville, TN. You then pick up a load Friday afternoon in Nashville that will deliver Monday morning in Chicago, IL. You pick up the load and head for home. You get home 7 a.m. Saturday morning. You live about 3 hours from Chicago, and the load is scheduled for 8 a.m. Monday.

You KNOW morning rush hour in Chicago is a nightmare so you want to arrive before 5 a.m. Your best bet is to leave late on Sunday evening, maybe 10 p.m., drive two hours, sleep at a truck stop outside of Chicago, and get up at 4 a.m. to arrive at the customer by 5 a.m. You can get a nap in for a couple of hours at the customer before they begin unloading you. Job well done. You were home from 7 a.m. Saturday until 10 p.m. Sunday. That is very, very typical of your home time schedule on a regional fleet.

As far as pay goes, there isn’t too much difference between over the road trucking and regional anymore. Over the past 10 years or so a lot of warehousing and production companies have divided up the country into regions in order to supply their customers with product faster and to save money on shipping charges. So instead of hauling auto parts say from Texas to Michigan, the factory may relocate part of its production to Indiana. Now the haul is much shorter.

This has opened up many more opportunities for regional driving jobs. The demand for regional jobs has increased significantly, and trucking companies have found a way to attract more drivers with the promise of very good pay and better home time.

The equipment for most regional jobs is about the same as most over the road jobs. You can expect fairly new vehicles that are very well maintained. The level of equipment will vary a bit more in this category though. Some companies will try to push older, less reliable equipment on drivers with the excuse that you will make great money and be home more often.

This is something you must decide for yourself as a truck driver. Test the market. There will be a number of companies in your area that offer the chance to be home each weekend. Sometimes you will have to make a trade-off between higher pay with an older truck or a little less pay with top notch equipment. You should not have to compromise on safety or reliability though.

Ask thoroughly about their maintenance program. Look at the trucks they have parked in the yard. If you see things like loose mirrors, cracked windshields, missing mud flaps, etc then obviously they aren’t spending the time and money on maintenance that they should. I’ll talk more about this later.

As far as job duties goes, there are a few more options when it comes to regional. In some cases you’ll be asked to drive the truck and nothing else. You will simply get paid by the mile like over the road drivers do. Keep in mind that sometimes the miles you get each week can vary tremendously from week to week or from one company to another. Ask about their average weekly mileage per driver. Other jobs will involve a significant amount of unloading. In fact you may make the bulk of your money unloading as opposed to just driving. If you are asked to unload trucks you should be able to make quite a bit more money per week than if you were just driving. This seems obvious, but with some companies it certainly is not the case. Do your homework.

I drove regional for several years. I actually made just as much money as I used to as an over the road driver, and when I took a regional job that involved a significant amount of unloading I made $15,000 per year more than with any over the road job I had ever had.

Regional is also an interesting mix of traveling and home time. You get the fun of living on the road and seeing the sites all week long, but then you get to enjoy your home time each weekend. You will be able to maintain a relationship, a home, a vehicle, and a social life while still making very good money. You wont be traveling as far from home as you would be while driving over the road.

Generally you’ll cover an area within a radius of about 1000 miles from your home. Over the road you may have the opportunity to drive coast to coast. But even an area that large provides an interesting variety of places to go to which keeps it fun. I personally loved over the road when I was younger, but once I decided I wanted a home life regional was the perfect solution. Again, it just depends on what suits you the best.

Brett R. Aquila is a 15-year veteran of America’s highways, logging over 1.5 million safe miles. He is trying to help Newbie truck drivers to be successful in their trade, through a dose of reality. Please visit Truck Driving Jobs for more information

Author: Brett Aquila
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Choosing to buy a tonneau cover to help you in your truck driving job, can be a major outlay, but the money it can save you makes it worthwhile. As most of the trucks on the American market today, come without any protection of the cargo box, you’ll be well advised to consider adding an extra protection to your Mack, Ford or Volvo… The major benefits of having a tonneau cover, why on the job are: – can increase you gas mileage, saving money at the gas pump, – protect items carried in your truck bed, – protect the investment in your truck itself.

One of the first ways a tonneau cover can help save money is in gas mileage. With the seemingly endless increases in diesel and petrol prices, most people are looking for a reasonable way to reduce their cost at the pump. A tonneau cover creates a sleek, aerodynamic look and feel for your truck, cutting down on wind resistance and increasing the vehicles miles per gallon.

A second way that a tonneau cover can pay for itself is by protecting the items you carry in your truck bed. One of the reasons we buy pickup trucks is for the ease of hauling they provide. However, the openness has its drawbacks, namely anyone walking by can see what’s in your truck and take it. The great advantage of buying a tonneau cover is that it fixes this problem, when on a job. With or without a locking cover, simply the act of making stuff out of sight makes it more difficult for thieves to run away with whatever you might be hauling. The cover itself also acts as a deterrent to would-be thieves because they have to move or remove the cover to find out and get to what is in the truck. In addition to protecting from thieves, the tonneau cover protects the items you are hauling from the elements. Nothing is more frustrating than buying a load of cement or garden mulch and having the rain start before you can get your new purchases in out of the truck. With a tonneau cover, your supplies aren’t ruined by the rain or blown out of your truck on a windy day.

Finally, a tonneau cover protects your money earned on the truck driving job. The cover protects the bed itself from the elements that cause rust and body damage and provides a sound, professional look for your truck. It helps the truck looking nicely and prevents weather damage to its body. Often, one of the first things to look its age on a pickup truck is the bed. Keeping it covered keeps it cleaner and prevents stray chemicals and weather from rusting out the truck bed. A cover can even help protect your truck from the intense and potentially damaging rays of the sun.

Choosing to protect and enhance the investment made in a pickup truck with a tonneau cover makes sense of many levels. After all, your truck driving job depends on the reliability of the equipment. It can help save money with improved gas mileage and can protect your vehicle from damage from the sun, wind and rain. Perhaps most importantly, a tonneau cover can protect the things you bought your truck to haul, from groceries to tools, the weather and would-be thieves can be thwarted by a simple truck bed cover.

Truck driving job is what interests Sam Ness, including its little known secrets that can improve truckers’ pay and working conditions.

Author: Sam Ness
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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All types of drivers expose themselves to risks when on the road. For this reason, proper training is very important before a person should be allowed to go behind the wheel. Other than strictly following traffic rules, a driver also needs to be alert at all times while maneuvering his vehicle.

Truck drivers are not exempted from risks when doing their jobs. As they’re handling larger vehicles, they need to be extra careful when on the road to avoid truck accidents. They’re also responsible for maintaining the trucks they drive to keep it in good running condition every time they transport different types of bulk materials and heavy equipment to their destinations.

One of the risks that truck drivers safe is developing health problems. Health is often ignored by many drivers who operate large trucks that they only stop and think when they’re already too weak to drive. Common issues encountered are back and neck pain, ringing of ears, ulcers, fatigue due to lack of sleep, high blood pressure and hemorrhoids. These result from prolonged sitting and driving for long hours at irregular shifts.

When the body and mind are affected by stress related to truck driving, this is where road accidents are bound to happen. As a person is not in his normal state, there’s a chance that all his senses are not working well which may lead him to underperform while driving.

In the United States, for instance, 20 percent of truck accidents including those involving tractor trailers are caused by sleepy drivers. Many drivers don’t get enough sleep as they work in shifts and drive as fast as possible to get to their destinations on time. This is dangerous not only to the trucks but even to the drivers themselves.

Another risk here is being unable to see the smaller vehicles beside and behind the truck. These are known as blind spots which have also been the cause of many truck accidents in the past. The smaller vehicles are at a disadvantage most of the time when running near a truck and when crashes take place, they’re the ones that suffer the most damage with the driver and the passengers sometimes physically injured or worse, killed.

Using the mobile phone whether answering a call or texting while driving can also lead to accidents. A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute showed that heavy truck drivers who were texting were 23 times at high risk of a crash or near crash. Texting was found to cause a higher risk than calling somebody using a mobile phone. Due to these findings, the Institute recommended the banning of texting in moving vehicles. This recommendation is actually now being implemented in 14 U.S. states.

In the U.S., some 3.4 million drivers work for the trucking industry as of 2006. However, a shortage of truck drivers is foreseen in the near future as the old ones retire and fewer drivers are being hired.

If ever you get into an accident involving trucks, do consult a truck accident lawyer right away. Truck accident attorneys can help you with the legal process including filing claims.

For information on truck accident lawyers, visit Gallagher Law Firm, Louisiana lawyers and attorneys who specialize in personal injury, car and truck accidents, divorce, maritime law and more.

Author: Kalyan Kumar
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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A lot of people got laid off at the end of 2008 and in the early part of 2009. A lot of the people who were affected couldn’t find work and ended up in the unemployment lines. Some people made the decision to instead get new training from a local truck driving school. Our focus here is to help those that attended a truck driving school find a great truck driving job.

It should be noted here that not all trucking jobs are created equal. Many trucking companies over promise and under deliver. Especially when it comes to freight and total miles allocated to the driver. This can create tremendous differences in driver pay. We aim here to point out the things that are going to matter to you in your new career.

Here are a few ways you can find a great truck driving job:

Lets discuss the issue of driver pay. Just like statistical information can be shaped to highlight something in a positive light; so can driver pay? For example if one carrier offered to pay you $0.32 per mile and gave you 2200 miles per week, you actually make less than taking a job with a carrier that only pas $0.26 per mile and gives you 2900 miles per week. When it comes to driver pay look at what your NET checks will be, not your pay per mile. Ask any veteran truck driver and they will tell you trucking is all about the miles.

Another topic that will help you find a great trucking job is the type of equipment you drive. Your truck is your tool and also your home. Some carriers replace equipment more often then others. When considering a job ask how often the fleet trucks are replaced. Newer trucks can be more fuel efficient, and have less wear and tear damage on them. There is nothing worse for a truck driver than being stuck in a small town waiting for a simple repair to be made.

Finding a great trucking job can also be found by looking at the individual carriers customer base. The rule of thumb here is that large freight customers will only use reliable carriers to get their goods from A to B. Large customers usually don’t want to plan on breakdowns in their supply chain so they tend to only contract with reputable carriers. When you get a truck job with a carrier that has contracts with large shippers that will usually mean job stability and more freight for you.

These are just a few of the things you should consider when choosing a truck drivers job. The driver pay comparison and the carriers customer base will help you make more money over the long haul while the type of equipment you will be driving can sometimes come down to a life and death situation.

BIGrigdave

Web Sales Coordinator with CR England Trucking Inc, If you or someone you know is looking for information about truck driving jobs please visit us at http://www.CREngland.com.

Author: Dave Ferrara
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Use this list and you will certainly find truck driving schools that are high quality. The path to finding a top notch school can be a tricky one to navigate. Many sad stories about trucking schools that have broken laws and are now closed, or in danger of closing have been echoed recently in many news papers. Many of these schools could have been avoided if these suggestions were considered.

1. Finding Truck Driving Schools on the World Wide Web

These can be found using a search engine like Bing, Google or Ask.com. The search results you get will tell you something. If you feel like you have reached an actual school, then your looking good. You’ll notice very little advertisements on the home page. If you get the feeling like you have reached a web site that was set up to advertise for the benefit of many other schools, then your probably right. Your dealing with an advertiser. Not someone that is going to train you. A little more attention to detail is needed. You should be watching out for yourself on these types of site. Ultimately, they are at the top of the rankings for good reason so you may still find a quality truck driving school here.

2. How About the Yellow Pages.

This can be a great way to find a truck driving school. You can even search the yellow pages on the internet. The nice thing here is that the companies listed in the yellow pages have to pay for their ad space. That will usually rule out the fly by night operations.

3. Find Trucking Magazines and Other Printed Media Publications.

Like the yellow pages, schools that advertise in magazines have paid for advertising space. This again rules out the fly by night operations. Also, the advertising terms can be shorter, so the chance of seeing a printed ad and then finding out the company has closed up shop is unlikely.

4. Advertisements or Training Truck Logo’s

Almost all truck driving schools will put signs on their training equipment. Also, you can watch the training process in action. This is also an absolutely excellent way to spot a few things about the truck driving school itself. Consider the condition of the training equipment. The condition of the equipment can be a sign of how well the school takes care of its students. Also, Is the equipment out dated? Most major carrier use late model equipment. It will be a tough transition if you’ve learned on an old truck.

5. Career Centers and Workforce Service Locations

This is probably the least used but can be the best option for finding a quality truck driving school. Workforce service centers specialize in helping people find employment. They also know where you can go to get the training you need for the job you want. Workforce service centers only work with legitimate truck driving schools that have a positive reputation in the community, making this an excellent resource for finding a truck driving school.

BIG rig dave

Web & Sales Coordinator with CR England Trucking Inc, If you or someone you know is looking for information about Truck Driving Schools please visit our truck driving school site at http://www.GoToTruckDrivingSchool.com

Author: Dave Ferrara
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In part one of our series, Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part I: Factors That Effect All Companies, we talked about different factors and considerations which will affect your experience at any company you go to work for.

In part two of our series, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part II: You and “Your People” Are The Most Important Factor”, we talked about surrounding yourself with the right people, understanding factors that affect the freight you’ll be getting, and things you can do to put yourself in the best position to succeed.

In part three, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part III: How Your Family and Lifestyle Will Affect Your Choice”, we considered your personality and lifestyle. Are you married? Do you have children? Do you love adventure? How long would you like to be away from home? These questions all figure into the process of choosing the right truck driving job.

In part 4, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part IV: Advantages of Large Trucking Companies”, we of course talked about the advantages of working at a large trucking company.

In part 5, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part V: Comparing Large Trucking Companies To Small Ones”, we compared working for companies of different sizes.

Now, in part 6, we’ll talk about a couple of different types of jobs you’ll find out there and how each will affect your life on the road.

Basically, you’ll find five different types of trailers you can pull – dry vans, refrigerated (reefer), flatbeds, doubles, and tankers. Since we’re focusing more on new or inexperienced drivers, we’re not going to talk about doubles right now. Most companies that pull doubles require more experience, so for the vast majority of you that are reading this series, those jobs really won’t apply to you just yet. So let’s cover the other four and talk a little bit about the lifestyle you can expect from each. In this part we’ll cover dry vans and refrigerated, in part 7 we’ll cover tankers and flatbeds.

Dry Vans Carriers

Dry vans are the most commonly found trailer out there. They are a big, empty box – plain and simple. No temperature control or anything like that. There are more dry van companies than any other type of company, and therefore you will find the broadest range of opportunities in this area. Because of the large variety of companies pulling these trailers, they are also the most difficult to define in any general way – there is such a broad range of jobs and lifestyles within this category.

Dry van jobs tend to offer the greatest range of opportunities for those who would prefer regional, dedicated, and local runs versus long-distance, over the road jobs. A large number of these companies, especially the bigger companies, have local, regional, and over-the-road divisions within the company. This, of course, is one of the reasons I prefer the larger dry van companies. For instance, maybe you decide you want to run over the road and you’re gone three weeks at a time. Well, a year later you meet your dream girl and you want to get home more often to see her. In many of the larger companies, it isn’t too hard to switch over into a regional job that gets you home on the weekends, or possibly even a local job that gets you home every night.

Most of the time you won’t be unloading trailers. There will be times you’ll have to do a little bit of manual labor, and how often that will be depends upon the individual companies themselves. But as a general rule, you won’t be touching much of the freight. And you’ll be hauling anything and everything. From diapers, to sulphuric acid, to dog food, to magazines. If you can put it in a box and move it, then you’ll be hauling it!

Refrigerated Carriers

Refrigerated companies can haul either temperature sensitive freight, or dry freight, and you will usually get some of each from time to time. Being able to haul both types of goods gives refrigerated companies more versatility with their freight. But make no mistake about it – they make better money with their temperature sensitive freight, so that’s their primary focus.

Having worked for a refrigerated carrier before, the first thing I think of is grocery warehouses and farmer’s markets. Oh Lord help me! Grocery warehouses are a nightmare! At times, so are farmer’s markets. In all of my years of driving, these places were always puzzling to me. The grocery industry is different than the rest of the companies you will pick up from and deliver to. They have a different structure altogether. To make some broad generalizations – their workers are often union guys, they don’t like truck drivers very much, and they couldn’t care less if you sit in their parking lot for two days waiting to be unloaded. Some of them actually prefer making you sit there and wait – they think it’s funny! You think I’m kidding? Besides having delivered to dozens and dozens of these places, I’m friends with a couple of guys that work for a local grocery warehouse and they’ve told me hundreds of stories about tormenting the drivers. It’s their favorite form of entertainment! So don’t say I didn’t warn ya!

With most of these places, you’ll usually have a choice – you either unload the truck yourself, help someone unload the truck, or pay someone to do it. Your company will generally pay for it, but man, what a hassle these places are! A total nightmare. And sometimes you’ll have no choice but to help unload. You either help them unload, or you don’t get unloaded at all!

My recommendation if you’re going to go with a refrigerated company is to go with a very large carrier, or work directly for one of the grocery chains themselves – like Kroger or Wegman’s. The large ones will at least have contracts setup with the lumpers (the company that unloads the truck), so you won’t be hassled as much and the process of paying them is much easier. But if you work for a small carrier, the grocery warehouses and farmer’s markets are going to be tougher to deal with.

Another difference when it comes to hauling refrigerated goods is the average length of haul. Refrigerated carriers tend to haul goods longer distances than the other types of trucking companies. Much of this has to do with California, and the west coast in general. California is one of the richest produce capitals in the entire world. A huge portion of the vegetables you eat come out of this state, and almost all of the refrigerated companies pull produce out of there. There are year-round growing seasons in parts of the state, so the freight keeps flowing all the time.

Oregon, Washington, and Idaho also grow tons of produce – especially fruits, onions, and potatoes. A lot of the produce from the west coast gets hauled to the east coast where those types of fruits and vegetables do not grow nearly as well. Then, once you’re on the east coast, your company will try to work you back to the west coast for more of that wonderful produce. So the average length of haul for a refrigerated company is longer than for the other types of trucking companies.

You also tend to have more multiple-stop loads when hauling for a refrigerated company. Often times you will either make several different pickups, several different deliveries, or both. What tends to happen is that you will either be picking up a variety of produce that will all deliver to one company, or pickup one huge load of one type of produce and deliver a little bit to each of several companies. You will get paid extra for the extra pickups and deliveries, and the amount will vary based upon the company you work for.

So as you can see, there are a number of differences between dry van and refrigerated carriers. In general, if you’re looking to stay closer to home and get home more often, the dry van companies will be the better choice. If you’d like to see as much of the country as possible, then the refrigerated companies will be the better choice. As always, do the research to find the company that seems best suited to your lifestyle, and stay with that company for at least one year so you can really get to know them and whether or not they’re the right choice for you.

In part 7 of this series we’ll discuss flatbed and tanker jobs, and how they differ from dry vans and refrigerated. Thanks a lot, and take care!

About The Author

Brett R Aquila
15 Year Truck Driving Veteran
Owner – http://www.truckingtruth.com – the largest, most honest, and informative site on the web for those considering becoming a truck driver. We have tons of resources on our site, including:

• Trucking Articles
• Trucking Driving Blogs From Many Different Authors
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• And Much More!

You can even make money with your own blog on TruckingTruth! We have several authors and are always looking for many more! So if you’re considering becoming a truck driver, TruckingTruth is the place to go. You will not be disappointed!

Author: Brett R Aquila
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In part one of our series, Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part I: Factors That Effect All Companies, we talked about different factors and considerations which will affect your experience at any company you go to work for.

In part two of our series, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part II: You and “Your People” Are The Most Important Factor”, we talked about surrounding yourself with the right people, understanding factors that affect the freight you’ll be getting, and things you can do to put yourself in the best position to succeed.

In part three, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part III: How Your Family and Lifestyle Will Affect Your Choice”, we considered your personality and lifestyle. Are you married? Do you have children? Do you love adventure? How long would you like to be away from home? These questions all figure into the process of choosing the right truck driving job.

In part 4, “Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part IV: Advantages of Large Trucking Companies”, we of course talked about the advantages of working at a large trucking company.

Now in part 5, we’re going to talk about some of the disadvantages to working for a large trucking company, and discuss what life is like at a small company.

Ok, so large trucking companies must have some disadvantages, right? Of course they do. At a large company you are simply a number, not a name. You hopefully will get to know a few people working in the offices like your dispatcher, his or her boss, and maybe one or two middle managers like a terminal manager or operations manager. If you get to know that many people… and by get to know I mean they actually recognize you by name or truck number, you’ve probably done either an excellent job or a terrible job over a period of many months, or maybe even a couple of years. It’s tough to stand out when there are thousands of drivers at one company. So if you like that personal attention and family-type atmosphere, a large company is not going to provide that for you.

Because of this, you will find it very difficult to get any special consideration for anything. Doing a great job for a couple of years is going to get you an automated thank you letter and maybe a patch for the company jacket you had to buy from your own company store when you wanted one. On the other end of things, you may find yourself in a unique situation, and nobody will take the time to understand your side of things. They don’t have the time, and frankly many of them don’t really care. I’m going to go deeper into this subject in a moment with a few stories related to this theme.

Smaller companies, in my opinion, don’t have too many advantages over the larger ones from a driver’s perspective. You will definitely get to know everyone in the office, and they will certainly know you. Often times if you live nearby your main office, the people in your company will even get to know your family and the families of the other employees. This family atmosphere is nice in a way, but you also have to be aware of a couple things.

For one, just like in any tight group of people, everyone tends to know everyone else’s business. Maybe you don’t want everyone at work knowing about an operation you’re going to have, or the tough times you’re having with your marriage, or the trouble your kid got into at school. Maybe you got a well deserved raise, but now the other drivers are envious and raising a fuss. Or maybe your excellent performance is being rewarded with more miles and a nicer truck, which again causes problems with the other drivers. As you can probably tell I’ve been in these type of situations before and I’m not really too fond of them. Having co-workers as close friends is not always an easy thing to maintain, especially if there is any type of competition between employees when it comes to pay, equipment, or freight.

The other concern with regard to company size is how much your company will count on you. At a large company, if you’d like to take some time off, nobody really cares. I’ve taken MONTHS off at times and simply been told, “Ok, just turn your truck in to the terminal and let us know when you’re ready to return and we’ll get ya goin again.” But at a really small company that’s not likely to happen. You may be one of ten drivers in the whole company, so if you take time off, they just lost 10% of their fleet! The smaller companies rely on you much more so than a big company does, so you don’t have nearly as much flexibility.

One time I worked for a small company pulling food-grade tankers. There were only eleven drivers in the company. I ran really hard for them and before too long, they came to expect a bit too much from me. Things got to the point that I was running an average of about 4500 miles per week. That’s a ton! As time went on, the owner of the company expected more and more of me. It was getting ridiculous. Finally I stayed out on the road for almost six straight weeks, averaged about 4500 miles per week (totally illegal – you can’t log that many miles legally), and when I returned home he booked a load for me to haul two days later. Six weeks on the road, two days at home, and I have to leave again? I don’t think so. Well, he told me I could either run the load or be fired. I had been there a year, and I had a perfect safety and service record. I was also second amongst the drivers in average miles driven per week, but I guess that wasn’t good enough. Turns out the owner was in serious financial trouble and I found out the company closed just a couple of months later.

So it turns out that he was desperate to get all the money coming in that he could get to save the company. But he had a good thing going with me and ruined it. Not only that, but he put on my DAC report that I abandoned his truck, which was not true at all! But since he went out of business, he couldn’t respond to my claim that he falsified the report, so I didn’t have any trouble moving on to the next job. A little advice – don’t make the mistake of running that hard. Don’t run so hard that you’ll damage you mind, your body, or your license. Think long-term and make smart choices. I was really young at the time, was making a lot of money running that hard, and wanted to push myself to see what I could do. Well, what I did was make myself sick. I wore myself down, got burned out, and spent about 3 days in bed with some sort of flu/cold/whatever virus at one point. Remember, long term success means planning for the long term and making smart decisions all the time, not just some of the time.

So just be aware of the fact that small trucking companies will count on you far more than large companies will. There will be advantages and disadvantages to any company you work for. Keep in mind that It’s always somewhat of a compromise when you’re choosing where you’d like to work. It’s just a matter of finding what works best for you.

In part 6 of this series we’re going to discuss a couple of different types of truck driving jobs – dry van and refrigerated carriers!

About The Author

Brett R Aquila
15 Year Truck Driving Veteran
Owner – http://www.truckingtruth.com – the largest, most honest, and informative site on the web for those considering becoming a truck driver. We have tons of resources on our site, including:

• Trucking Articles
• Trucking Driving Blogs From Many Different Authors
• Truck Driving Schools
• Free Truck Driving Schools
• Truck Driver’s Forum
• Truck Driving Jobs
• Companies With CDL Training
• Advice, Tips, and Stories
• And Much More!

You can even make money with your own blog on TruckingTruth! We have several authors and are always looking for many more! So if you’re considering becoming a truck driver, TruckingTruth is the place to go. You will not be disappointed!

Author: Brett R Aquila
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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This is part one in a multi-part series on choosing a truck driving company and being happy and successful in the industry. I will be adding a new part each day or two for the next week or two so stay tuned!

As you are likely aware, there are easily tens of thousands of trucking companies nationwide. There are some as small as one truck and some that have tens of thousands of trucks. There are local, regional, and over the road companies, and some that are a combination of two or even all three. There are tanker, flat bed, reefer, dry van, dump, and a multitude of other types of trucks you can drive. There are companies that specialize in one type of truck, and some that have a combination of several different types.

So with all of these choices presented to you, how do you know where to go next with your career? To tell you the truth, it’s not that hard. Here are some of the key points we will be focusing on in this series that will help you choose the trucking company you would like to work for. Once you can answer these questions you will be able to narrow your choices down to a much smaller pool of trucking companies and then you can pick the one that seems right for you.

• How often would you like to get home?
• What areas of the country would you like to run in?
• What would you like your work duties and lifestyle to be like?
• What size company would you like to work for?

Let’s start this series by debunking a few myths and giving you some generalizations and insights into all trucking companies, the trucking industry in general, and you as a driver and what you can do to put yourself in the best position to be happy and successful. Without understanding these factors, all of the rest of the above questions will not help you be happy and successful at any company you choose.

The Elusive “Best Trucking Companies” and the Mythical “Perfect Trucking Company”

Let me make one important generalization first. There is no such thing as the “perfect company” or the “best company to work for”. To be more precise, you could label a company “the perfect company for me” or “the best company for me”, but there are no “best trucking companies” or “perfect trucking companies” for everyone. At times I have worked at companies that I would not have recommended to other drivers, but I absolutely loved working there! I really had it made! And then at other times, some of the best trucking companies I have ever worked for were just a nightmare for a small percentage of the other drivers. Why? There are a number of reasons for this.

The Trucking Industry Is Very Dynamic

For starters, trucking companies and the trucking industry itself is very dynamic and the competition is fierce – both within your own company and between the companies themselves.

Competition and Politics Within Each Trucking Company

Different Divisions Working Together, or at Times, Working Against Each Other

Trucking companies, especially the larger ones, are often times comprised of many different divisions that all must work together, but at times by nature must work against each other. For example, many companies have dispatchers and load planners. The load planners will generally decide, with some input from the dispatchers, which trucks get assigned to which loads. The dispatcher’s main job is to handle all communication with their drivers and convey information to the load planners about the driver. The dispatcher can “campaign” for certain loads for certain drivers. Maybe one driver has had 4 straight runs in the northeast, so he/she can let the load planner know that it’s time to give that driver a run to a different region. Or maybe a certain driver has been running really hard and isn’t feeling well, but can still handle a short run for the day. The dispatcher can let the load planner know this. As you can see from this example, the two divisions – dispatchers and load planners – must work together for the good of everyone.

On the other hand, you have the logbook department. Man, I cringe just saying “logbook department”. It’s like the principal’s office of the trucking world. You never just go there to say “hi” or see whassup. You go there knowing bad things are about to happen to you!

Anyhow, the drivers, dispatchers, and possibly the load planners – depending on the structure of the company – are mostly looking to get as many miles as possible. For some of them, that means cheating the logbook at times – many times for some drivers (innocent look on this writer’s face). So the logbook department by nature must keep the dispatchers and drivers in check. Even though the more miles you run the more money you’ll make, you still have to abide by the Federal Rules and so the logbook department must at times work against what the drivers and dispatchers would like to do.

Competition Within The Company

Most drivers get paid by the mile. So the more miles you run, the more money you make. Often times, dispatchers and load planners may get paid bonuses or commissions based on the number of miles their drivers are getting, or at least the efficiency at which their drivers are executing their loads. Things like on-time service and deadhead (empty) miles factor heavily into their final rating. So everyone is looking to make all the money they can make by generating the best statistics for themselves.

Well, this naturally breeds competition within a company. Dispatchers are jockeying for the best loads for their drivers and the load planners are trying to run things as efficiently as possible. In the meantime, drivers are pushing their dispatchers for the best loads they can get. Well, there are only so many “desirable” loads to go around – so who gets the best ones? It depends on a number of factors:

• Efficiency - the load planners want to keep the deadhead miles to a minimum
• Reliability – dispatchers and load planners want to make sure the hardest running, safest, and most efficient drivers get assigned the most important or most difficult freight so that the chances of on-time, safe service are as good as they can be
• Individual Driver Circumstances – They have to take into account how many hours a driver has available, how the driver is feeling, what types of loads the driver has been getting recently, and whether or not the driver is due for hometime soon, amongst other factors
• Politics - unfortunately this is one of the realities of truck driving – or life in any company. Whether or not the driver gets along with the dispatcher, and whether or not the dispatcher gets along with the load planners will be a factor in determining who gets what loads. Should this be a factor? Ideally, no. But it is. That’s the reality – and an important one. If you refuse to accept this reality based upon your ideals, then you’ll soon find out the hard way just where your ideals end and the realities of the job take over.

So as you can see from these few examples, competition, cooperation, and politics can play heavily into your success and happiness as a truck driver in any company. The next topic I will cover will discuss what the driver can do to help his/her chances of finding success and happiness within any company you may be working for, including how you will be affected by the people you surround yourself with, how important it is to get to know the right people, and the proper attitude and expectations a driver should have.

Any and all comments are very welcome and appreciated! If you’ll tell us what you think, we can improve our site and the content we produce for you! Thanks!

About The Author

Brett R Aquila
15 Year Truck Driving Veteran
Owner – http://www.truckingtruth.com – the largest, most honest, and informative site on the web for those considering becoming a truck driver. We have tons of resources on our site, including:

• Trucking Articles
• Trucking Driving Blogs From Many Different Authors
• Truck Driving Schools
• Free Truck Driving Schools
• Truck Driver’s Forum
• Truck Driving Jobs
• Companies With CDL Training
• Advice, Tips, and Stories
• And Much More!

You can even make money with your own blog on TruckingTruth! We have several authors and are always looking for many more! So if you’re considering becoming a truck driver, TruckingTruth is the place to go. You will not be disappointed!

Author: Brett R Aquila
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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