posted 10-21-2006 06:46 PM                      

quote: Richard Greco

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He was a trainer for a company named "Trans Am".

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quote:

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The best way I've found is to go to a place like Roadmaster... He did say some training companies...

Werner
Schnider
Swift
J.B. Hunt among others...

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quote: Richard Greco

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Also, have you heard of Southeastern Freight?

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quote: Richard Greco

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The nice folks at TSUSA.com told me that it isn't a great idea as a newbie to be driving tanker...also apparently many companies don't even recognize local experience in OTR consideration...

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Yes, that's right. On both counts.

quote: Richard Hamilton

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Tim, I have more miles behind the wheel of my car. Sorry, but my perception isn't skewed.

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And I bet I have many more than you do in a 4-wheeler... but you have ZERO miles in a big truck. So yes, you're perception IS skewed - you called a hard and fast statistic bullshit, because you were speaking only from what you've seen driving cars... and you assumed that truckers cause more wrecks. Are there jerk truck drivers out there? Certainly. I encountered them all the time as another trucker -- but there were MANY MORE jerk 4-wheelers, out there doing so many dangerous things around trucks.

quote: Will Kutler

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What these truck drivers love to do is play "leap-frog". While in a convoy they will leap around each other at about 55-60 mph!! And to make matters worse instead of letting the "leaper" pass, the leaper and leapee will stay side by side for several miles at about 55-65mph

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It has to do with inertia; momentum. Trucks cannot just slow down and pick up speed as rapidly as cars do. Rachel knows the score.

quote: Mike Blakesley

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Would it kill the passee to tap the brakes for one freaking second to let the other guy around, so all of us cars behind can get by?

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I actually used to do that, a lot. I paid for it in lost motion and getting back up to speed, but that's just me. The reason most of them don't, though, is because if the passer can't overtake, the passee will just get back in front of him again on the next hill. If you slow down going up a hill, you're screwed. You'll be down to 35 or 40mph before you know it. It's just safer to not have as many lane changes. There are huge blind spots.

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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I have only been driving in this profession for 26 years now... probably close to 2 million miles worth of driving. I would consider Tim to have been a short haul driver

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Mark, you forget that I also ran service for just as long... but I also have nearly 1/2 a million in a big truck. Believe me, I used to think the same way you guys did, UNTIL I started driving a truck. It's the difference between night and day; perceptions, that is.

quote: Chris Hipp

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Tim, what kind of cars do you notice are the worst drivers?

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Limo drivers. Bar none. 4-wheelers in general I noticed no distinctions, other than people on cell phones being totally unaware of anything.

posted 10-22-2006 12:26 AM                      

quote: Richard Greco

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Trans Am is a good company then?

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They checked out fine w/me, and I've also talked with a couple of their drivers over the years. Haven't heard anything bad, or any rumors. I just couldn't go that reefer route; too many grocery warehouses with the requisite lumper BS, and just another system that can crap out and cause you to be down. Reefer loads aren't as flexible on delivery times, either, if you run into trouble. Government regulations also dictate how long meat loads, for example, can stay on the truck.

TransAM does have autoshifts, though. So does CFI, PAM Transport, and Interstate.

Make a list of your absolute must-haves for a company, and cross-reference the pay rates, benefits, driver satisfaction feedback, equipment and maintenance, average miles per load, miles per year, etc. I don't give the initial cpm figures much weight, though, instead favoring things like driver support and benefits. A lot of companies win recruits by offering a high per-mile rate, but skimp on things like vacations, medical plans, or time-off schedules. US Xpress has consistently been about the 2nd highest pay of all the training companies, and they had an excellent driver support structure and dispute resolution. The equipment was always well-maintained.

In the end, though, there's probably not that much real difference in the various training companies. It all boils down to what you absolutely have to have, and what you can live without. Your dispatcher can also make or break the satisfaction factor. I had about 8 dispatchers over the course of my time trucking, and the last one happened to be the very worst. The one before him, though, was the best - and all the rest weren't bad. But that's purely the luck of the draw. (Night and weekend dispatchers are traditionally unreliable, because they typically handle 2x - 3x the drivers on their boards as day dispatch.)

Richard H..., not at all (note my 's). Thanks. I didn't mean to imply that what you've experienced isn't valid; only that there's a bigger picture.

As far as Mark's concerned, though, I did.