Are there any truckers on NT?

NO, NOT 'NATIONAL TRUCKERS', that Ustream related stuff..

I'm talking people with CDLs that drive trucks for a living..
Today I went to a local truck driving school and it's gonna cost around $4500 :X for everything..
Just wondering if anyone has had any experience in this area.. good or bad


thx

Not I but someone I know. From his experience.. The money is great however the hours weren't the best. He would have to wake up around 4 am and usually got off early afternoon. Like 3-5 pm. He drove mainly in NYC but also in jersey (where he lived.)
He said it was good exercise though. Lol

My pops is a truck driver

Moneys good. You don't have set hours
Usually wake up early crack of dawn and depending how many load traffic etc you might have a short or long day.

You can stand to make 2 up to 5 gs From a week to two weeks

I drive trains.

#nationaltruckers

2500 a week is the norm for me but I have to pay my own taxes

Wow, didn't know trucking was this lucrative.

This chick could get it all day:

yea trukers make good money but the hours are wack!

My summer job is driving with these truckers and sometimes it consist of waking up at 2 am a lot! but the latest is 6 am for a 7 am shift.

if you want the money do the state to state.thats what ive heard because big companies that just do in state trucking most likely wont give you

a lot of overtime my summer job will 30 plus in OT

In Hs i used to work on a loading dock for Talay trucking and rentals. Dock boys usually made about $15-20, and full time drivers got a salary of about $1200- 2500 a week. But they were constantly on the road. Usually doing trips all along the east coast. My grandfather drove a truck so after school id'e work on the loading dock from like 3-8, and during the summer i would truck with my grandfather. I traveled through a lot of states because of it. Pay is worth it because if you want to be optimistic you're getting paid good money to drive the country, however, the hours suck. Some stores want their shipment to be received at 1-2-3 in the morning, and others want it at noon, so it can be a lttle hectic.

There are ways you can go to trucking school without having to pay out of pocket.

Why are you going through trucking school?
Need a job? Hobby? What?

heard truckers make bank....wish my dmv record wasnt so messed up :/

Large Marge checking in....

The railroad can fill your pockets too. It's probably an even harder life than a long haul trucker or very close to the same. Once you get enough seniority to hold road jobs you can get that $2500 a week as well. The railroads and the trucking companies have to work together to make our countries run.

Don't overlook the railroads. Good pay and usually very good pensions.

Figured I might throw that in there for people who might not be able to drive truck or whatnot.

i got my cdl a year ago and its good but don't let the recruiters sell you a dream do your info about the company before taking the job and if you want to stay home daily you can always work for pepsi or coca cola i got a interview with coca cola next week

To add to the above ... do your research into how much you get paid per mile! Companies who hire a lot of rookie drivers pay pretty low compared to ones that only hire seasoned drivers. Even if you get on with a good company, you might get paid a lower rate being new.

Originally Posted by GP9Rm4108

The railroad can fill your pockets too. It's probably an even harder life than a long haul trucker or very close to the same. Once you get enough seniority to hold road jobs you can get that $2500 a week as well. The railroads and the trucking companies have to work together to make our countries run.

Don't overlook the railroads. Good pay and usually very good pensions.

Figured I might throw that in there for people who might not be able to drive truck or whatnot.

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How did you get your start? How difficulty is it? How important is location? Hours? What different entry level jobs are there in the railroad business?

I still might quit to get put on with csx

Originally Posted by primetime21

i got my cdl a year ago and its good but don't let the recruiters sell you a dream do your info about the company before taking the job and if you want to stay home daily you can always work for pepsi or coca cola i got a interview with coca cola next week

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how much do those guys make? i work at a restaurant so i always see them

You have to apply online for almost all of the larger railroads. Smaller ones you might be able to go into their office and speak directly to a manager about employment opportunities.
There will be a drug test and a criminal background check.

All of the larger railroads will hire you as a conductor/brakeman if you want to enter into the transportation department to be on the trains. It's all seniority based so when you hire on you'll be on the bottom of the list or close to it if you're near the top of your class seniority wise. When your turn comes up to be trained as an engineer (the 'driver') you do your training. But ... just because you might be a qualified engineer doesn't mean your seniority can hold an engineer job.

Once you qualify you bid the jobs that your home terminal has. There are switch jobs that stay in the yard, ones that leave the yard but stay in the city, ones that go a little ways out of the city or the road jobs that go from A-B where you layover and come home on a different train. Most places, the road jobs are where the seniority is. It depends what kind of pay agreements you have as different railroads have different ones. CN in the U.S. is all hourly so a job in the city pretty much pays the same as a job on the road. Other ones are flat rate and others are mile based.

Assigned jobs have assigned start times.

Pool jobs and the spare boards are all based on a first out basis. When your name is at the top of the list and you are available and qualified for the next run ... you go. If the guy at the top of the list is not available or not qualified, then the 2nd guy gets called.

It's on call work, 24/7/365. So you have to always have your phone attatched to your hip if you are not on rest.

When you come in from a trip you go to the bottom of the list for the pool you are in. In the U.S. when you finish a trip you are unavailble for a mandatory 10 hours, Canada it's 8. Different railroads have different agreements. In the U.S. on CN once that 10 hours is served, you're free game to be called so you need to know if you're close to the top of your list or still down toward the bottom. In Canada on CN we can take 14 hours rest off of a city job and 24 off of a road job.

Yesterday I was 8 times down my pool and I got called because I was the first available qualified person for this one run.

You will start work at all hours on any day of the week. You don't really know how long you will be gone for ... here it's usually 24-40 hours if all things run smoothly. No set schedule, all on call ... you will miss holidays, special events and family gatherings ... but so does a long haul trucker.

If you're interested, do some looking into the agreements of the railroad you are interested in.

I should mention that if your seniority can't hold a job in your home terminal there are 3 things that can/will happen.

1. You get laid off until you can hold a job. This one is very common for new employees.
2. They force you to another terminal in your district where there is a shortage of employees. When this happens, they pay for your accomidations and usually give you a small travel allowance and a decent food allowance ... check into that as different roads do it differently.
3. You take a temporary clearance to another terminal in your district where you can hold a job and work there until your seniority can hold a turn in your home terminal.

The railroads have more than trains. There are clerical ( transportaion reporting, yard masters etc.) , mechanical (freight car mechanics, locomotive mechanics etc.), customer service jobs, signal and crossing maintainers, track maintainers, intermodal employees who load containers, electrician, facility maintenance ... many departments.

Most railroads have their own or owner operator contract truck drivers too. Those guys will bring in trailers from stores and warehouses and take them to the rail yards to be loaded onto the trains or take them from the rail yards out to their destinations. They railroads work with the trucking companies to try and lessen the amount of long haul trucking as one train can take over 300 trucks off the road. That is so much better on the environment, it's safer and it's less congestion and wear and tear on the roads.

If you have anything else you'd like to know, just ask.

Originally Posted by AckDaQuick

There are ways you can go to trucking school without having to pay out of pocket.

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What are some ways to go about doin this?

government grants wia program 

Originally Posted by cs02132

Originally Posted by primetime21

i got my cdl a year ago and its good but don't let the recruiters sell you a dream do your info about the company before taking the job and if you want to stay home daily you can always work for pepsi or coca cola i got a interview with coca cola next week

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how much do those guys make? i work at a restaurant so i always see them

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$20.48/ hr plus benefits and overtime - union dues.   more info is in here http://www.careerleak.com/coca-cola/driver-375/ 

Originally Posted by HOVKid

This chick could get it all day:

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How much do the Ice Road Truckers make?