School

[Double L]

Well I got to take my entrance exam for the Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) on Monday. The director from Hickey was suppose to call me back and never did, grrrr. Also I go do an orientation for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) on Wednesday and I'm hoping the gooberment will pay for me to get my CDL.

[Barry]

Well I got to take my entrance exam for the Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) on Monday. The director from Hickey was suppose to call me back and never did, grrrr. Also I go do an orientation for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) on Wednesday and I'm hoping the gooberment will pay for me to get my CDL.

Good luck! I hope everything works out for you!

[Rob]

Well I got to take my entrance exam for the Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) on Monday. The director from Hickey was suppose to call me back and never did, grrrr. Also I go do an orientation for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) on Wednesday and I'm hoping the gooberment will pay for me to get my CDL.

They've sure paid for a lot of mine plus lodging, food, travel, entertainment, etc....

Rob

[Double L]

They may not give it to me because for one I'm 18 and going to school.

[Rob]

They may not give it to me because for one I'm 18 and going to school.

The age restriction will be the problem at this time.

Rob

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations...9016334800238ab

[Double L]

The age restriction will be the problem at this time.

Rob

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations...9016334800238ab

It should be 18! The school I'm going to accepts 18 year old's. They need also say 18 for instate driving only but it doesn't! Even if no one hires me I been thinking about buying a truck and going into business for myself.

[Rob]

It should be 18! The school I'm going to accepts 18 year old's. They need also say 18 for instate driving only but it doesn't! Even if no one hires me I been thinking about buying a truck and going into business for myself.

Purchase a medium duty truck without air brakes, license to 26,000#, (no more) and you will be good to go with a non CDL.

Rob

[Double L]

Purchase a medium duty truck without air brakes, license to 26,000#, (no more) and you will be good to go with a non CDL.

Rob

I think mama done dropped you on your head! I should know Wednesday if I can go through with the WIA or not.

[Rob]

I think mama done dropped you on your head! I should know Wednesday if I can go through with the WIA or not.

Naw, just "Bitch Slapped" me with a windup this time but I'm too large to get out of the way fast enough!

Rob

[ThaddeusW]

It should be 18! The school I'm going to accepts 18 year old's. They need also say 18 for instate driving only but it doesn't! Even if no one hires me I been thinking about buying a truck and going into business for myself.

You can obtain a class A CDL at 18 but are restricted to in state driving only. Once you are 21 you can go anywhere you please provided you trucks registration allows for it (DOT, Apportioned). Also depending on where you live you can drive a truck with air brakes so long as the GVW AND GCW does not exceed 26,000 pounds with a regular class D. The rules are different for each state but many share the same set of rules.

If you have a Class B then you can drive a strait truck up to the states allowed GVW for strait trucks. If you tow a trailer with a class B the trailer's GVW cannot exceed 15,000 (might be different for IL) and GCW not exceed the GVW set for the strait truck. For example if you ar driving a dump truck with a legal 80,000 GVW you can tow a trailer up to 15,000 so long as the truck and trailer do not exceed 80,000 together.

If the trailer Exceeds 15,000 then you need a Class A but are still limited to the states GCW laws.

[RowdyRebel]

You can obtain a class A CDL at 18 but are restricted to in state driving only. Once you are 21 you can go anywhere you please provided you trucks registration allows for it (DOT, Apportioned). Also depending on where you live you can drive a truck with air brakes so long as the GVW AND GCW does not exceed 26,000 pounds with a regular class D. The rules are different for each state but many share the same set of rules.

If you have a Class B then you can drive a strait truck up to the states allowed GVW for strait trucks. If you tow a trailer with a class B the trailer's GVW cannot exceed 15,000 (might be different for IL) and GCW not exceed the GVW set for the strait truck. For example if you ar driving a dump truck with a legal 80,000 GVW you can tow a trailer up to 15,000 so long as the truck and trailer do not exceed 80,000 together.

If the trailer Exceeds 15,000 then you need a Class A but are still limited to the states GCW laws.

In Illinois, Class D is only good up to 16,000 pounds. Anything between 16,001 and 26,000 needs a Class C license, and anything over 26,000 a Class B.

It doesn't matter WHAT classification vehicle you are driving, if you are pulling a trailer with a GVWR of more than 10,000 pounds, you need a Class A license...even if it's just behind your pickup truck.

CDL's restrict 18-20 year olds to intrastate only (can't cross state lines) so basically you'll be forced to stick with a local gig...maybe get your feet wet with some limited road stuff if you can find something running between E. St. Louis and Chicago (without crossing any state lines, of course). On your 21st birthday, you can drive anywhere your little heart desires...so long as your cab card is apportioned for the state your heart desires to run in

[Double L]

CDL's restrict 18-20 year olds to intrastate only (can't cross state lines) so basically you'll be forced to stick with a local gig...maybe get your feet wet with some limited road stuff if you can find something running between E. St. Louis and Chicago (without crossing any state lines, of course). On your 21st birthday, you can drive anywhere your little heart desires...so long as your cab card is apportioned for the state your heart desires to run in

That is the joys of living in near East St. Louis actually Illinois, is less deadhead as far as picking up a load to head out is concerned and flatbed freight is the main thing around here besides dry van. At least I have that to my advantage.

[RowdyRebel]

That is the joys of living in near East St. Louis actually Illinois, is less deadhead as far as picking up a load to head out is concerned and flatbed freight is the main thing around here besides dry van. At least I have that to my advantage.

You probably don't want to buy a truck right now. Prices are good...a buyers market as a LOT of truckers are losing their trucks....but rates suck, which is WHY those truckers are losing their trucks and WHY there are so many trucks on the market for so little money. Being limited to only intrastate, you'll have that much more difficulty keeping paying freight on your truck and your truck rolling down the road.

Heck, maybe even get a job driving a mixer 'til you turn 21...or possibly check out jobs driving wreckers too. With wreckers, they may start you out in light duty stuff, but if you prove yourself competent and you have a CDL, you can probably get them to start training you into the heavy duty wreckers. At least that way when you are trying to get on with an OTR company and the recruiter asks you if you have any T/T experience, you can ask them if the T/T's you've pulled behind your wrecker count. After all, once you can successfully navigate your way around in a 400" wheel base wrecker, towing a 275" wheel base tractor, hooked to a 53' trailer without tearing anything up, driving the 275" wheelbase tractor pulling the 53' trailer is a piece of cake.

[Double L]

You probably don't want to buy a truck right now. Prices are good...a buyers market as a LOT of truckers are losing their trucks....but rates suck, which is WHY those truckers are losing their trucks and WHY there are so many trucks on the market for so little money. Being limited to only intrastate, you'll have that much more difficulty keeping paying freight on your truck and your truck rolling down the road.

Heck, maybe even get a job driving a mixer 'til you turn 21...or possibly check out jobs driving wreckers too. With wreckers, they may start you out in light duty stuff, but if you prove yourself competent and you have a CDL, you can probably get them to start training you into the heavy duty wreckers. At least that way when you are trying to get on with an OTR company and the recruiter asks you if you have any T/T experience, you can ask them if the T/T's you've pulled behind your wrecker count. After all, once you can successfully navigate your way around in a 400" wheel base wrecker, towing a 275" wheel base tractor, hooked to a 53' trailer without tearing anything up, driving the 275" wheelbase tractor pulling the 53' trailer is a piece of cake.

Hmmm good point there!

[Double L]

I'm looking instead of getting a degree in management is get the certificates in management and entrepreneur which is 19 credits total instead of 66 credits for the degree. Sure the degree means more but I've already done 4 years worth of business classes including word, excel, resumes/portfolios, business law, correspondence, electronic calculator, filing, and transcription. Those skills are valuable and learned a lot from them which was actually college level work. The management certificate covers Human Relations in the Workplace, Principles of Management, Human Resource Management, Small Business Management, Marketing, and Ethics in the Workplace while the entrepreneur certificate covers Entrepreneur Basics, Entrepreneur: First Year, and Business Plan Basics. Now those are the skills I need and haven't learned yet. What can I say I may be crazy but I'm smart!

[HK Trucking]

You probably don't want to buy a truck right now. Prices are good...a buyers market as a LOT of truckers are losing their trucks....but rates suck, which is WHY those truckers are losing their trucks and WHY there are so many trucks on the market for so little money. Being limited to only intrastate, you'll have that much more difficulty keeping paying freight on your truck and your truck rolling down the road.

Heck, maybe even get a job driving a mixer 'til you turn 21...or possibly check out jobs driving wreckers too. With wreckers, they may start you out in light duty stuff, but if you prove yourself competent and you have a CDL, you can probably get them to start training you into the heavy duty wreckers. At least that way when you are trying to get on with an OTR company and the recruiter asks you if you have any T/T experience, you can ask them if the T/T's you've pulled behind your wrecker count. After all, once you can successfully navigate your way around in a 400" wheel base wrecker, towing a 275" wheel base tractor, hooked to a 53' trailer without tearing anything up, driving the 275" wheelbase tractor pulling the 53' trailer is a piece of cake.

Actually, anyone that has a good local job such as that would be crazy to give it up to go OTR.

[RowdyRebel]

I'm looking instead of getting a degree in management is get the certificates in management and entrepreneur which is 19 credits total instead of 66 credits for the degree. Sure the degree means more but I've already done 4 years worth of business classes including word, excel, resumes/portfolios, business law, correspondence, electronic calculator, filing, and transcription. Those skills are valuable and learned a lot from them which was actually college level work. The management certificate covers Human Relations in the Workplace, Principles of Management, Human Resource Management, Small Business Management, Marketing, and Ethics in the Workplace while the entrepreneur certificate covers Entrepreneur Basics, Entrepreneur: First Year, and Business Plan Basics. Now those are the skills I need and haven't learned yet. What can I say I may be crazy but I'm smart!

Unfortunately, "book smart" only gets you so far. If you want to own your own truck, you are either going to have to know how to work on it yourself or pay someone else to work on it for you. Have you taken a class for that? When you are starting out, the only "human resources" you will be managing will be you and...ummm....you. Can you tolerate working for yourself? I can honestly say that I'm the worst boss I've ever worked for. Heck, I made myself drive a truck with no AC all last summer because fuel was too danged expensive...having AC would have only encouraged idling on those hot summer days while waiting to get loaded or unloaded instead of shutting the truck off, getting my lawn chair, and finding a spot under a shade tree. Besides, there were much more pressing issues during that first year, and I wanted to make sure I could pay for anything that came up. Here it is a year later...the AC STILL isn't fixed....and it's heating up yet again. Fuel is SLIGHTLY cheaper...for now...but my chances of getting the boss man to fix the AC are still not looking very good. He pays me on salary...said it was easier for him to have the bank auto-pay a set amount each week rather than figuring out a percentage of the work I did. The bad part about that is that the boss man knows exactly what my personal bills are and set my salary only slightly above that. Most weeks, I don't even average $10/hour when you factor in that he expects me to maintain and repair the truck on top of just driving the derned thing.

When sitting behind the wheel of a truck, all of that business software you know how to use won't mean much at all. I've been using Works (free with most of the computer's I've ever bought...excel and word cost money) to set up a simple spreadsheet to track my loads and pay on those loads, miles, and fuel usage. Beyond that and some sort of mapping software (I use DeLorme Street Atlas USA) to help locate where it is you are heading and pick the most efficient route to get there, you really don't even need a computer. You could keep the same info in a notebook (although end-of-month and end-of-quarter tallies would take longer) and a map book to do the same thing....that's how they USED to do it before computers. Still gotta have the map book to make sure the route you WANT to take is actually a truck route though...and it shows where the chicken houses are so you can avoid them if you need to as well...extra fuel burned running extra miles is always cheaper than an overweight fine when you roll across scales you should have known you were going to come across. Sure, it's best to run legal...but that doesn't always happen.

Honestly, most of what I know I learned on the job...not in any classroom. I've been driving one sized vehicle or another since I turned 18. Delivered flowers for many years during summers and when I was home on break from college. Taught people how to ride motorcycles as an MSF instructor for a few years too. Drove wreckers for a while...then got my CDL and drove a dry van for a couple years. Went back to college to finish up my degree (my last semester, I had decided it was more important to go out riding my motorcycle than it was to go to class....oops) and drove a school bus for the semester. Pulled a dry-bulk tank regionally for the OTHER company in this area for a few months until a gig hauling logs came my way. That was fun...LOVED it...probably learned more on that job than I did in all the others combined...in maintaining the trucks, dodging scales, and most importantly DRIVING the truck! When you can take a semi down a 2-track, 1-lane dirt road off into the woods, get turned around, and get out, you can take a truck just about anywhere. Besides that, it sort of had something to do with my Forestry degree I made the mistake of being expendable, though, and one day the boss was pi$$ed and looking to take it out on someone. Truck boss stood up for me, though...told the company owner "Don't ever ask me to hire another driver....finally found a good one and you're making me fire him" and within 6 months, the truck boss had quit. Anyway, started flat bedding....first company didn't last too long before they tried leaving me sitting in Laredo on a weekend I told them when they hired me that I needed to be home. I ride the Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade in Chicago the first Sunday every December...and my mom postpones the family's Thanksgiving Dinner until the day before the ride when she knows I'll be there. I gave 'em their truck, rented a car, and went home. Started with another flatbed outfit a week later....stuck with them a year until I applied at Beelman. Got hired on in the tank division, and after a year there I knew I had found a good place...started looking for my own truck. It was something I had known I wanted to do for a while...just wanted to find a company to lease onto first so that I knew I'd be treated well and could make decent money. I had been talking to as many O/O's leased to them as I could....finding out as much as possible about how they are paid, how they are treated, etc. so that I'd have a pretty good idea what I would be getting myself into. Almost another year went by before I FINALLY found the truck I ended up with, and I leased back on with them just as I had planned to. Truck had a wet-kit, but since I had been on tank and knew the revenue I'd be making (dumps was an unknown), I decided to have a PTO mounted for the blower and the wet kit removed. I did, however, have the foresight to have a second PTO mounted up on the 6-bolt side of the transmission (easier to do with a Mack than any other transmission) so that I could mount up the hydraulic pump myself if I needed it. Tanks slowed down, and I re-installed the wet kit and got it working. Moved to dumps so I could keep working, and as the ONLY truck in Beelman's fleet that is set up to do both dump AND tank, I've been called upon several times now to cover loads....usually decent paying ones...when they need a load covered. Any trailer they have I am set up to pull...even the RGN's (I put a return line on when I installed my wet kit.)

Most of what you'll need to know you will learn on-the-job. That and a little foresight and a LOT of common sense and you might make it out here. I'm still learning. Heck, a guy could be out here for 50 years and STILL not know everything there is to know about trucking. A college education and $1.25 might buy you a cup of coffee at the truck stop.

I'd suggest getting your feet wet as a company driver first. Sure, it looks fun and exciting, but this job ain't for everyone. I hope you can be successful. Heck, I wish EVERYONE could be successful, but that just isn't reality. If trucking isn't what you are cut out for, would you rather find out as a company driver where you can turn in the keys and walk away to do something else? Or as a truck owner with a banker calling you looking for a payment as the repo man is outside hooking to your rig?

You are young. You are engaged. Now is the time you should be thinking about ensuring for your future family's security...not taking unnecessary financial risks. Get a truck repo'd and then try buying a house...ain't gonna happen. If things had turned out differently with my own g/f and she had moved up here 4 years ago instead of starting school, I doubt I'd be a truck owner today. We're engaged now too...something that happened AFTER I had the truck and was working and making money with it. I'll have had it a year and a half before she gets up here and even thinks about picking a date...and hopefully I'll still have it. Things have gotten EXTREMELY tight....mostly because of all of the maintenance stuff (tires, brakes, etc.) that I knew needed doing but was putting off while it was busy last summer. All that's done now, so HOPEFULLY my accounts will stop declining in balance and start climbing upward again. With any luck, I'll have a little cushion built up again before she gets here.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want you to give up on your dreams....just know what you are getting yourself into BEFORE you jump into it. If you dive off the high dive BEFORE you check the pool to make sure there's any water in it (and HOPEFULLY checking the temperature of that water), you could be heading for disaster....or at least a very rude awakening. If you want to own a truck as more than just a hobby...if you want to make a career out of owning and driving a truck....start out driving someone ELSE'S truck to get an idea on what all is involved. Drive it like it is yours...keep track of fuel, miles, loads, maintenance, etc. If you work on a percentage of gross, it's easy enough to figure what 100% of the gross was and then figure the percentage they pay O/O's (if the company has any). Keep track of EVERYTHING related to that truck....tires...brakes...etc.

It also doesn't hurt to pay attention to how each truck you drive is set up. What make/model is it? What engine is under the hood? What transmission does it have? What rear axle gear ratios are in it? What size tires does it have?

With that information, you can start comparing....comfort....convenience....ergonomics....driveability....can it pull a load up a hill....does it get stuck more than it ought to....reliability issues....etc.

From there, you'll have an idea on what kind of truck you will want to buy....which make/model did you like driving the best? Which engine/transmission/rear gears worked the best for what you intend to do with the truck? For example, if you are going to run mostly light-weight freight OTR, running a lot of highway miles without too many hills, you can go with a higher rear end gear (3.08-3.55) to keep engine RPM's down while cruising on the highway for better fuel mileage....but if you are pulling a lot of 80,000 loads locally or up and down a lot of hills, you may want to run lower rear gears (3.90-4.35). If you are doing strictly local work with a lot of off road, you will want even lower gears than that. Keep in mind tire size affects the way it pulls too. A truck with 11R24.5 tires and 4.17 rear gears like my truck will pull just the same turning the same RPM's at any speed as a truck with LP24.5's or 11R22.5's (same rolling diameter...just a different rim size) and 3.95 rears....which will pull the same turning the same RPM's at any speed as a truck with LP22.5's and 3.73 rear gears.

Basically, you have to make sure the truck you are buying is set up for what you want to do with it....but leave enough options open in case your situation changes you can adapt to keep your truck working and making money for you.

Like I started off saying....there's a LOT you need to learn before buying a truck that you just won't learn in school. You gotta get out here in the real world and experience some of these things to find what YOU like and what YOU don't like. From a driver's perspective, what works for me may not work for you...and a truck set up the way you want it is going to help you out big time. I don't mind driving a truck that pi$$es me off, as long as I'm not the one paying for it....IF I'm treated well by the people who ARE paying for it. If I'm making the payments on a truck, though, I want to be 100% happy with the way it drives and the way it pulls, because let's face it...I'm a real SOB to work for . You won't know how to set it up for yourself, though, until you've actually driven a few and compared your likes & dislikes about each one.

OK...that was a long and rambling response to what I've been reading. Again, I don't want to discourage you from chasing your dreams....just want you to know what you are getting into BEFORE it's too late. Buying my own truck was my goal, and I'm happy I did it. Sure it increased my stress levels...put a bit of a strain on the finances this past winter...but overall it's been a good experience. I hope you have a good experience too when you get around to buying your own truck. You just need to understand that your chances of having a good experience will be greatly increased if you know what you are getting yourself into LONG before you make that purchase, so that you limit the number of "unexpected surprises" that come your way.

[Double L]

Unfortunately, "book smart" only gets you so far. If you want to own your own truck, you are either going to have to know how to work on it yourself or pay someone else to work on it for you. Have you taken a class for that? When you are starting out, the only "human resources" you will be managing will be you and...ummm....you. Can you tolerate working for yourself? I can honestly say that I'm the worst boss I've ever worked for. Heck, I made myself drive a truck with no AC all last summer because fuel was too danged expensive...having AC would have only encouraged idling on those hot summer days while waiting to get loaded or unloaded instead of shutting the truck off, getting my lawn chair, and finding a spot under a shade tree. Besides, there were much more pressing issues during that first year, and I wanted to make sure I could pay for anything that came up. Here it is a year later...the AC STILL isn't fixed....and it's heating up yet again. Fuel is SLIGHTLY cheaper...for now...but my chances of getting the boss man to fix the AC are still not looking very good. He pays me on salary...said it was easier for him to have the bank auto-pay a set amount each week rather than figuring out a percentage of the work I did. The bad part about that is that the boss man knows exactly what my personal bills are and set my salary only slightly above that. Most weeks, I don't even average $10/hour when you factor in that he expects me to maintain and repair the truck on top of just driving the derned thing.

When sitting behind the wheel of a truck, all of that business software you know how to use won't mean much at all. I've been using Works (free with most of the computer's I've ever bought...excel and word cost money) to set up a simple spreadsheet to track my loads and pay on those loads, miles, and fuel usage. Beyond that and some sort of mapping software (I use DeLorme Street Atlas USA) to help locate where it is you are heading and pick the most efficient route to get there, you really don't even need a computer. You could keep the same info in a notebook (although end-of-month and end-of-quarter tallies would take longer) and a map book to do the same thing....that's how they USED to do it before computers. Still gotta have the map book to make sure the route you WANT to take is actually a truck route though...and it shows where the chicken houses are so you can avoid them if you need to as well...extra fuel burned running extra miles is always cheaper than an overweight fine when you roll across scales you should have known you were going to come across. Sure, it's best to run legal...but that doesn't always happen.

Honestly, most of what I know I learned on the job...not in any classroom. I've been driving one sized vehicle or another since I turned 18. Delivered flowers for many years during summers and when I was home on break from college. Taught people how to ride motorcycles as an MSF instructor for a few years too. Drove wreckers for a while...then got my CDL and drove a dry van for a couple years. Went back to college to finish up my degree (my last semester, I had decided it was more important to go out riding my motorcycle than it was to go to class....oops) and drove a school bus for the semester. Pulled a dry-bulk tank regionally for the OTHER company in this area for a few months until a gig hauling logs came my way. That was fun...LOVED it...probably learned more on that job than I did in all the others combined...in maintaining the trucks, dodging scales, and most importantly DRIVING the truck! When you can take a semi down a 2-track, 1-lane dirt road off into the woods, get turned around, and get out, you can take a truck just about anywhere. Besides that, it sort of had something to do with my Forestry degree I made the mistake of being expendable, though, and one day the boss was pi$$ed and looking to take it out on someone. Truck boss stood up for me, though...told the company owner "Don't ever ask me to hire another driver....finally found a good one and you're making me fire him" and within 6 months, the truck boss had quit. Anyway, started flat bedding....first company didn't last too long before they tried leaving me sitting in Laredo on a weekend I told them when they hired me that I needed to be home. I ride the Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade in Chicago the first Sunday every December...and my mom postpones the family's Thanksgiving Dinner until the day before the ride when she knows I'll be there. I gave 'em their truck, rented a car, and went home. Started with another flatbed outfit a week later....stuck with them a year until I applied at Beelman. Got hired on in the tank division, and after a year there I knew I had found a good place...started looking for my own truck. It was something I had known I wanted to do for a while...just wanted to find a company to lease onto first so that I knew I'd be treated well and could make decent money. I had been talking to as many O/O's leased to them as I could....finding out as much as possible about how they are paid, how they are treated, etc. so that I'd have a pretty good idea what I would be getting myself into. Almost another year went by before I FINALLY found the truck I ended up with, and I leased back on with them just as I had planned to. Truck had a wet-kit, but since I had been on tank and knew the revenue I'd be making (dumps was an unknown), I decided to have a PTO mounted for the blower and the wet kit removed. I did, however, have the foresight to have a second PTO mounted up on the 6-bolt side of the transmission (easier to do with a Mack than any other transmission) so that I could mount up the hydraulic pump myself if I needed it. Tanks slowed down, and I re-installed the wet kit and got it working. Moved to dumps so I could keep working, and as the ONLY truck in Beelman's fleet that is set up to do both dump AND tank, I've been called upon several times now to cover loads....usually decent paying ones...when they need a load covered. Any trailer they have I am set up to pull...even the RGN's (I put a return line on when I installed my wet kit.)

Most of what you'll need to know you will learn on-the-job. That and a little foresight and a LOT of common sense and you might make it out here. I'm still learning. Heck, a guy could be out here for 50 years and STILL not know everything there is to know about trucking. A college education and $1.25 might buy you a cup of coffee at the truck stop.

I'd suggest getting your feet wet as a company driver first. Sure, it looks fun and exciting, but this job ain't for everyone. I hope you can be successful. Heck, I wish EVERYONE could be successful, but that just isn't reality. If trucking isn't what you are cut out for, would you rather find out as a company driver where you can turn in the keys and walk away to do something else? Or as a truck owner with a banker calling you looking for a payment as the repo man is outside hooking to your rig?

You are young. You are engaged. Now is the time you should be thinking about ensuring for your future family's security...not taking unnecessary financial risks. Get a truck repo'd and then try buying a house...ain't gonna happen. If things had turned out differently with my own g/f and she had moved up here 4 years ago instead of starting school, I doubt I'd be a truck owner today. We're engaged now too...something that happened AFTER I had the truck and was working and making money with it. I'll have had it a year and a half before she gets up here and even thinks about picking a date...and hopefully I'll still have it. Things have gotten EXTREMELY tight....mostly because of all of the maintenance stuff (tires, brakes, etc.) that I knew needed doing but was putting off while it was busy last summer. All that's done now, so HOPEFULLY my accounts will stop declining in balance and start climbing upward again. With any luck, I'll have a little cushion built up again before she gets here.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want you to give up on your dreams....just know what you are getting yourself into BEFORE you jump into it. If you dive off the high dive BEFORE you check the pool to make sure there's any water in it (and HOPEFULLY checking the temperature of that water), you could be heading for disaster....or at least a very rude awakening. If you want to own a truck as more than just a hobby...if you want to make a career out of owning and driving a truck....start out driving someone ELSE'S truck to get an idea on what all is involved. Drive it like it is yours...keep track of fuel, miles, loads, maintenance, etc. If you work on a percentage of gross, it's easy enough to figure what 100% of the gross was and then figure the percentage they pay O/O's (if the company has any). Keep track of EVERYTHING related to that truck....tires...brakes...etc.

It also doesn't hurt to pay attention to how each truck you drive is set up. What make/model is it? What engine is under the hood? What transmission does it have? What rear axle gear ratios are in it? What size tires does it have?

With that information, you can start comparing....comfort....convenience....ergonomics....driveability....can it pull a load up a hill....does it get stuck more than it ought to....reliability issues....etc.

From there, you'll have an idea on what kind of truck you will want to buy....which make/model did you like driving the best? Which engine/transmission/rear gears worked the best for what you intend to do with the truck? For example, if you are going to run mostly light-weight freight OTR, running a lot of highway miles without too many hills, you can go with a higher rear end gear (3.08-3.55) to keep engine RPM's down while cruising on the highway for better fuel mileage....but if you are pulling a lot of 80,000 loads locally or up and down a lot of hills, you may want to run lower rear gears (3.90-4.35). If you are doing strictly local work with a lot of off road, you will want even lower gears than that. Keep in mind tire size affects the way it pulls too. A truck with 11R24.5 tires and 4.17 rear gears like my truck will pull just the same turning the same RPM's at any speed as a truck with LP24.5's or 11R22.5's (same rolling diameter...just a different rim size) and 3.95 rears....which will pull the same turning the same RPM's at any speed as a truck with LP22.5's and 3.73 rear gears.

Basically, you have to make sure the truck you are buying is set up for what you want to do with it....but leave enough options open in case your situation changes you can adapt to keep your truck working and making money for you.

Like I started off saying....there's a LOT you need to learn before buying a truck that you just won't learn in school. You gotta get out here in the real world and experience some of these things to find what YOU like and what YOU don't like. From a driver's perspective, what works for me may not work for you...and a truck set up the way you want it is going to help you out big time. I don't mind driving a truck that pi$$es me off, as long as I'm not the one paying for it....IF I'm treated well by the people who ARE paying for it. If I'm making the payments on a truck, though, I want to be 100% happy with the way it drives and the way it pulls, because let's face it...I'm a real SOB to work for . You won't know how to set it up for yourself, though, until you've actually driven a few and compared your likes & dislikes about each one.

OK...that was a long and rambling response to what I've been reading. Again, I don't want to discourage you from chasing your dreams....just want you to know what you are getting into BEFORE it's too late. Buying my own truck was my goal, and I'm happy I did it. Sure it increased my stress levels...put a bit of a strain on the finances this past winter...but overall it's been a good experience. I hope you have a good experience too when you get around to buying your own truck. You just need to understand that your chances of having a good experience will be greatly increased if you know what you are getting yourself into LONG before you make that purchase, so that you limit the number of "unexpected surprises" that come your way.

I agree I prefer real world experience over sitting in some classroom. I myself like a challenge and I know I can work for myself just fine, so it'll be great. I always wanted to be my own boss and I grew up around trucking all my life so why not combine the two and start my own one fleet operation, I did some office stuff (file log sheets and fuel receipts) I worked in shops washing trucks, did a few PM's on trucks, did some flatbed work, and a little bit of driving (If you count the yard). I had a little bit of experience with about every aspect of trucking except I didn't drive. I'm a very organized person and I keep track of EVERYTHING and I'm very anal about being organized and keeping track of stuff. I'm so organized that I file things by date, name of business, and location which makes figuring out my costs more accurate. Microsoft Office came free on this laptop and I also plan on using QuickBooks business software to keep track of my expenses.

[RowdyRebel]

I agree I prefer real world experience over sitting in some classroom. I myself like a challenge and I know I can work for myself just fine, so it'll be great. I always wanted to be my own boss and I grew up around trucking all my life so why not combine the two and start my own one fleet operation, I did some office stuff (file log sheets and fuel receipts) I worked in shops washing trucks, did a few PM's on trucks, did some flatbed work, and a little bit of driving (If you count the yard). I had a little bit of experience with about every aspect of trucking except I didn't drive. I'm a very organized person and I keep track of EVERYTHING and I'm very anal about being organized and keeping track of stuff. I'm so organized that I file things by date, name of business, and location which makes figuring out my costs more accurate. Microsoft Office came free on this laptop and I also plan on using QuickBooks business software to keep track of my expenses.

Like I said, though...make sure the truck you buy is the truck you want to drive. Only way to know that for sure is to drive a few out in the real world and compare spec's so you can narrow your search down to what will work for you. The only thing I compromised on was the wheelbase of the truck...it had the engine, transmission, rear gears, tire size, year, make, and model that I had figured I wanted based on what I liked/disliked about trucks I had previously driven....and it was a rare low-mileage find (it was an '01 with 260K miles) in pretty good shape overall....so that was one compromise I was willing to make.

If you've never actually hauled anything on the road in a a truck, you are either allowing someone else to tell you what you want, or you are just guessing at what you think would work. If you are going to allow someone else to spec' your truck, you may as well let them pay for it too so you can figure out if you are happy with their specs before you are stuck with a payment.

In my search, I had more than one salesman ask me if I "really needed" that gearing...or that transmission...or that engine...or that make/model/year...or that tire size...or that suspension. They were trying to talk me out of finding what I knew I wanted, and talk me into buying what they had on their lot that they were trying to get rid of. You have to know WHAT you want before you can know to ASK for it...and you have to know WHY you want it that way before you can convince the salesman that your specs are non-negotiable.

...and remember, what looks good on paper doesn't always work out in real life. It doesn't matter if it's an architect designing an elaborate building, a financial genius crunching numbers, or a truck buyer spec'ing a truck.

I know you are itching to be your own boss, but I would HIGHLY recommend spending at least a couple years behind the wheel of someone ELSE'S truck to gain the real-world knowledge that only comes through experience.

[other dog]

I'm looking instead of getting a degree in management is get the certificates in management and entrepreneur which is 19 credits total instead of 66 credits for the degree. Sure the degree means more but I've already done 4 years worth of business classes including word, excel, resumes/portfolios, business law, correspondence, electronic calculator, filing, and transcription. Those skills are valuable and learned a lot from them which was actually college level work. The management certificate covers Human Relations in the Workplace, Principles of Management, Human Resource Management, Small Business Management, Marketing, and Ethics in the Workplace while the entrepreneur certificate covers Entrepreneur Basics, Entrepreneur: First Year, and Business Plan Basics. Now those are the skills I need and haven't learned yet. What can I say I may be crazy but I'm smart!

gee...and I thought I knew it all because I learned " i before e except after c", and e=mc squared.

[other dog]

Unfortunately...,

...that was a long and rambling response...

damn!.. woulda took me all day to write that!

[Double L]

Like I said, though...make sure the truck you buy is the truck you want to drive. Only way to know that for sure is to drive a few out in the real world and compare spec's so you can narrow your search down to what will work for you. The only thing I compromised on was the wheelbase of the truck...it had the engine, transmission, rear gears, tire size, year, make, and model that I had figured I wanted based on what I liked/disliked about trucks I had previously driven....and it was a rare low-mileage find (it was an '01 with 260K miles) in pretty good shape overall....so that was one compromise I was willing to make.

If you've never actually hauled anything on the road in a a truck, you are either allowing someone else to tell you what you want, or you are just guessing at what you think would work. If you are going to allow someone else to spec' your truck, you may as well let them pay for it too so you can figure out if you are happy with their specs before you are stuck with a payment.

In my search, I had more than one salesman ask me if I "really needed" that gearing...or that transmission...or that engine...or that make/model/year...or that tire size...or that suspension. They were trying to talk me out of finding what I knew I wanted, and talk me into buying what they had on their lot that they were trying to get rid of. You have to know WHAT you want before you can know to ASK for it...and you have to know WHY you want it that way before you can convince the salesman that your specs are non-negotiable.

...and remember, what looks good on paper doesn't always work out in real life. It doesn't matter if it's an architect designing an elaborate building, a financial genius crunching numbers, or a truck buyer spec'ing a truck.

I know you are itching to be your own boss, but I would HIGHLY recommend spending at least a couple years behind the wheel of someone ELSE'S truck to gain the real-world knowledge that only comes through experience.

I will admit I'm hard headed and I got an idea of what I want as far as spec goes, I want at least 500 horses with a 13spd and 3.55 rears. I can live with a flat top or mid roof sleeper. I really don't need the room of a condo sleeper at all because I don't plan on carrying much just clothes, laptop, food and tools but the tools will go under the bed so that is no big deal along with other maintenance stuff. I gave this a lot of thought and have been for the past oh 4 years or so.

[Double L]

gee...and I thought I knew it all because I learned " i before e except after c", and e=mc squared.

Not sure how to take that comment but it'll be classified as a smart ass comment.

[other dog]

Not sure how to take that comment but it'll be classified as a smart ass comment.

not at all, that's just what I learned in school.

[Rob]

Not sure how to take that comment but it'll be classified as a smart ass comment.

I learned even less.

Rob