Are You Right for Trucking?

If it seems as if more and more big and small rigs fill the highways every year, it's not just your imagination - over 9 million Americans drive tractor trailers (2004 statistic) for a living both long and short haul. If you'd like to be one of them, here's how.

Instructions

STEP 1: Complete high school or obtain your GED. Although not a formal requirement, most trucking companies (with about one-third of all jobs in this field) strongly prefer to hire high school graduates.
STEP 2: Maintain a clean driving record. Excessive moving violations and/or any Driving Under the Influence (DUI) convictions can disqualify you from trucking.
STEP 3: Obtain a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) to drive trucks over 26,000 lbs. or any size truck that transports hazardous materials. Getting a CDL requires applicants to pass both a written and driving exam to prove their ability to operate a commercial truck.
STEP 4: Prepare for and pass the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) exam of the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition to a written test, truck drivers must pass a physical exam, including vision and hearing screenings.
STEP 5: Pass the FMCSR physical exam every two years to maintain your qualification as a commercial trucker.

Tips & Warnings

Many private schools offer training to prepare potential truckers for the CDL exam, which includes a period of driving under the direction of a licensed truck driver.
Contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles for specific instructions on how to apply for a commercial driver's license where you live.
Keep in mind that the life of a truck driver can be lonely, with countless hours spent on the highway for long stretches of time.
All employers must now conduct pre-employment and periodic drug testing of truck drivers. Failing a drug test can result in immediate termination.
Information provided by: www.e.how.com

Expediting IS Trucking

Surface transportation encompasses several categories of trucking; one of the fastest growing and most women friendly segments of trucking is Expediting. Carriers that specialize specifically in freight that picks-up and delivers door-to-door, with exclusive use trucks, on a schedule determined by the customers, are known as expedite carriers. There are many dozens of expedite carriers in the United States and nearly all of them use leased owner/operators driving tractor-trailer, large and small straight trucks and cargo vans. Many of the expedite drivers came to expediting from other forms of trucking, but a very large percentage of expediters are second career professionals or empty nest couples seeking a new lifestyle. The option to drive a variety of truck sizes is appealing to many of the women expediters who are lured to the road but don't feel comfortable starting out in a large tractor. Many of them soon learn that women are prevalent in trucking and they are capable of any and all of the job requirements performed by their male counterparts.

Two of expediting is well known owner/operators are Linda and Bob Caffee of Missouri. Linda always rode along with her husband, Bob, while he was employed as an OTR driver for a line haul carrier. Although she held a dormant class A CDL, Linda resisted Bob’s constant encouragement to relinquish her company-authorized passenger status and could join him as a co-driver. She did not feel comfortable behind the wheel of the big truck and dreaded the day she might have to share driving duties in Bob’s class 8 tractor dragging a 53' trailer. During a visit to the Expedite Expo Trucking Show, Linda and Bob were introduced to expediting. The couple spent two days talking with expediters, expedite carriers and looking at a large assortment of expediter trucks. After the truck show Bob had little trouble convincing Linda that they could obtain and drive a smaller straight truck and earn a larger joint income as team expediters than they enjoyed in Bob’s tractor.

Soon thereafter, Linda and Bob, they purchased a 40' class 7 straight truck with a 96" sleeper and, after researching the business on www.expeditersonline.com, they entered into a lease agreement with FedEx Custom Critical. Along with many of their expediting colleagues, Linda and Bob have come to realize that:

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;

Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;

Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;

Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.

As owners of their own businesses, expedite owner/operators are independent contractors that set their own financial goals, determine their own work schedules and accept or reject load offers that conform to their personal, as well as their business credos. They generally travel about 100,000 - 150,000 loaded miles and log on-duty about 255 days annually. Unlike line haul truckers, expediters do not have established routes, they do not drive every day, they have no terminal or warehouse. All communication with the carriers’ representatives is via telephone, satellite device such as a Qualcomm unit, the U.S. Mail or TripPak. An expediter’s typical load is a piece of equipment necessary to repair a downed assembly line, or back ordered parts needed to satisfy a customers just-in-time routine. Expediters also carry a large amount of sensitive, expensive or delicate material for which a customer prefers door-to-door service and time specific pickup and delivery.

The most difficult aspect of expediting, that former line haul truckers have trouble accepting, is the usual wait between load offers. Expediters might be pre-assigned on their next load or they might have to wait a day or more for their next offer. They soon realize that the financial rewards justify the wait and they learn to enjoy the downtime during layovers, like the Caffees, by visiting local sights in any of 49 States and all of the Canadian Provinces. Reading, movie watching and visiting with friends and family are also favorite pastimes.

Authored by: Linda Caffee