Hauling A Van Or Truck Can Be High-risk

In part one of our series, Picking A Truck Driving Task Part I: Aspects That Impact All Companies, we discussed different aspects and considerations which will affect your experience at any company you go to work for.

In part two of our series, we discussed surrounding yourself with the ideal individuals, comprehending elements that impact the freight you'll be getting, and things you can do to put yourself in the very best position to prosper.

In part 3 of our series we considered your personality and way of life. Are you wed? Do you have kids? Do you enjoy adventure and traveling throughout the country? For how long would you like to be away from home?

The next huge factor to consider will be the size of the company you decide to work for. I have worked for business with over 5,000 trucks and for companies with as few as eleven. It's a big cultural difference. In part four we're going to go over the benefits of working at among the bigger trucking business. In part 5 we'll cover the downsides of working at a bigger company, along with the benefits and disadvantages of operating at a small trucking company.

The larger companies have a huge quantity of resources offered. They have lots and tons of different types of freight and driving opportunities. They typically have local jobs, devoted tasks - where you stay with one consumer or run one route all the time, regional jobs, and over the road. Some of them have different types of trucks in their fleets, consisting of dry van, reefer, tanker, and flatbeds. They have a lot more flexibility when it pertains to home time, and they will typically permit you to move freely in between different divisions within the company when you feel a chance presents itself.

Bigger business also have accounts set up with customers, lumpers, service center, towing business, motels, bus business, and truck stops. These accounts usually allow you to stroll in the door, tell them who you work for, and get what you require looked after without doing a thing. Repair work, towing, showering, getting bus tickets when required, and getting or providing freight becomes much faster and easier under this system. To me, this was constantly a really huge deal!

Big trucking companies likewise have a big swimming pool of devices to use. A variety of tractors to select from and a huge variety of extra trailers offered make life much nicer for the driver. With the extra trailers you get to do a lot of "drop and hooks" where you pull into the client, drop your trailer, grab a various trailer, and leave. You don't have to wait around to be packed or unloaded. Since most jobs pay by the mile, this is truly big. so the time you invest relaxing waiting to load or discharge is unsettled, lost time. You want to keep rolling as much as possible, and drop and hooks can help you make a lot more cash in a lot less time. Drop and hooks likewise offer you more flexibility as far as when you make your shipments and pickups.

Many clients who offer drop and hook pickups and deliveries will give you a deadline to pickup or provide, however usually you can arrive as early as you like. Often times they are even open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So if you have to get a load that's being in a trailer in downtown Chicago, you don't need to aim to push through heavy traffic traffic to find roadside service near me come to a particular time. When traffic is light, you can go in late at night or genuine early in the morning. Or possibly sometimes you would be able to get there way ahead of schedule, however you would really love to take a nap for an hour or 2, or sit down for a good meal initially. Well, go all out! As long as you arrive ahead of the due date everyone is happy. Believe me, you're gon na like having this kind of flexibility. It's terrific when you're simply tired and you discover your next load is a drop and hook that can pickup anytime. "Oh, thank God!", you're thinking as you pull over, jump into the sleeper, and crash out for a number of hours!

To continue with this theme, bigger companies have the tendency to have a long list of benefits. I have actually worked for business that had things like complimentary household therapy, big luxurious chauffeur facilities, games, cinema TVs, restaurants, free 24 Hr medical phone lines where you can talk and call to nurses confidentially about any medical concerns you may have, discounts on travel accommodations, top of the line health insurance, 401k and direct deposit, complimentary high speed cordless networks, shower centers, marriage counseling, and on and on and on. I should say, sometimes it crosses your mind that perhaps it would be better if they would simply pay you a little bit more rather, but you know how that goes. The advantages actually boggle the mind though, and extremely nice sometimes.

So as you can see, there are a lots of advantages to working at a big company. But these big trucking companies do have their downsides for sure. In part 5 of this series we're going to talk about the drawbacks of operating at a big company, as well as the advantages and drawbacks of the smaller companies. Until then, make sure!