Re: Newbie looking for advice

I'm not a driver my SIL is.
And from what I hear from him.
Well said

Al

"gringo" <gringo@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aSZeg.88618$Jk3.36010@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
B Fisher wrote:
I am thinking about buying a straight truck w sleeper (32,000 gvw) and
getting into the business as an owner/operator. I got my Z endorsement
in Feb, and I'm upgrading my license to a 'D'; I have an experienced
driver with an 'A' license who can drive with me for a while as a
trainer. I am based in Ontario. I was speaking with someone at Kennedy
Transportation Network in Mississauga last year, and I've been digging
around asking questions, to verify the numbers they gave me, re:
earnings/expenses; Various sources seem to be pretty close with their $$
figures, and as far as I can tell, it should be viable from a business
standpoint.

The $$ figures I'm getting from the recruiters look good (almost too
good). I'm wondering what the reallity is, and in general, the pros and
cons of the business. I've talked to people who love it, and some who
hate it.

Does anyone have any experience with Kennedy Transportation Network Ltd,
or carriers like TST? Do you have any carriers (Ontario) that you would
recommend working for?

Pros and cons of the business? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.



Respectfully, most of us will think it's dumb to invest thousands of
dollars in the trucking business until you've trucked for at least a year:
the equipment you save may be your own.
But the number one reason for waiting is that after two days on the road,
you may hate it.


Trucking is not an easy life, my friend. For the first three months
running team, it's unlikely you'll sleep much when the truck is
rolling--and if you're going to survive financially, you will need to keep
the wheels rolling.

After you get fairly proficient in the shifting, cornering with a 53'
trailer, and backing into docks, if you're like most rookies you will love
it to pieces for about the first year--and if you're like most rookies,
it'll take you at least a year to learn those skills. Trucking cannot be
learned from a book. The learning has to take place down in your bones.
For when a "situation" is developing out on the road, muscle memory has to
dictate your reactions.

No matter how well you take to the job of trucking, within three years you
will wish several times a month that you had never held a truck gearshift
in your hands. Why? Trucking is a way of life, not a job. Are you
married? On the road for weeks at a time, you will desperately miss your
family (and the sex). Are you single? It's rather difficult to establish
a lasting relationship with a good woman if you are never together.
Truckstop waitresses, trucking groupies (there's a few out there) and
women needing a tire changed alongside the road are reluctant to start a
relationship with a guy who is here today and gone tomorrow. And, if
you're smart, you won't mess around with the kind of woman who will strip
off her panties for a quickie with a stranger. The truth? Hundreds of
thousands of solo drivers (or those that team with another male) get on an
intimate first name basis with their palms. You ever hear the song, *Dear
Penis*? Maybe you're the type of guy who needs /only a paper towel and a
dirty magazine to get by/. I like the scent, taste and feel of a real
woman, however. Physically, it's easier for those of us who team with the
wife.

Are you married? If you have no kids at home and aren't too interested in
starting any, trucking together with someone you love is a great way of
life. The earnings are good, even for a company driver. And you'll enjoy
going out and getting to know this beautiful country of ours. But.

But, as I've said, it's quite difficult to remember all the reasons you
love trucking when you're so damned tired that your mind is falling asleep
while you're barreling down the road doing 75. When your grass is chest
high and your roof is leaking, you will, believe me, wish you could take
time off to take care of the home life. But to make a living in this
business, the wheels have to be turning. Then there's all the hours
you'll waste 2,000 miles from home, sitting in a truckstop, waiting for a
load; or sitting at a dock while the people in the warehouse are playing
grab-ass instead of getting the job done.

You think that most of what I've said will not apply to you, that you will
get yourself a dedicated shorthaul run that keeps you close to the home
field? It's possible. But unlikely, for the first year or so. Plus,
there's this: you'll be paid by the mile; shorthauls equal short
settlement checks.

My friend, take this advice to heart. Do not invest your hard-earned
money in equipment that you may learn to hate. Go to driving school. Go
to work driving someone else's truck. Then after a year or two, then and
only then, if you still want to become an owner/operator...go for it.
You would not marry a woman before your first date, would you? Get to
know this "woman" first.
== Gringo



--
*fas-cism* (fash'iz'em) n. A system of government that exercises a
dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state
and business leadership, together
with belligerent nationalism. -- The American Heritage Dictionary, 1983


.

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