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GT I wasn't trying to step on any toes or compete as I respect you and the job you do. I have several friends who have been and one who still is a Sysco driver. My favorite neighbor has been in the warehouse there for 28 years and he is an awesome person and has a great life. Mike from what I have heard by speaking with railroaders that work for CSX, the railroad pays great, but the hours suck for many years! That was the reason I left my cushy UPS Feeder job for carhaul. To get a mostly mon-fri(sat at noon occasionally) day job. It really depends on you and what your priorities are as to which job is best for you. If your priorities are like mine are, they change as you age. I use to think that the bigger my paycheck was the happier I would be, but being off on the weekends and sleeping at night is now more important than my W-2. I still like to earn a good living, but I don't feel the need to make every dollar possible. I now pick trips that take me past my favorite hotels and breakfast stops more than the ones that pay the most. What I thought would be awesome job's when I was in my early 20's do not have the same allure in my late 40's. That said I did try to get a carhaul job many times in my early 20's and I never even got a phone call for an interview. Thankfully carhaul has been mostly what I thought it would be, but it too is a JOB and it occasionally sucks and definitely is not for everyone, but it is a good job for me! Times have changed and I think you would have a shot, if that is the route you choose to take. The best thing about life is that if you pick something and it turns out different than you thought it would , you can try something else. Good Luck!
 
Banker,
I think I will go to the Jack Cooper Terminal in Sheffield, Ohio and see what they have if they want me at all.
You know my current job I took it as a start and like it's only ever been okay, but it doesn't really truth be told do it for me and to be honest if something else came along earlier hauling beer was never really anything I wanted to do.
Anyhow there is bigger and better fish to fry out there. I was talking to some senior drivers Wednesday morning and basically what I got out of talking to them was there is no future where I work and the money is mediocre for the work we have to do and there is no future in it nor is it really sustainable and some of the things we do at my company I absolutely hate like mixed wine at a certain super market chain, I do not like that at all, I really don't. I know every job has ups and downs, but well it's a little harder to miss pick a Ford Econoline Van not that it has never happened, but you know it's kind of hard to miscount automobiles.

I hope the training at Jack Cooper is better then where I work. The actual job training at my work was just barely enough to get you started and the rest was fly by the seat of you're pants, you'll figure it out maybe...
 
MikeJ said:
Banker,
I think I will go to the Jack Cooper Terminal in Sheffield, Ohio and see what they have if they want me at all.
You know my current job I took it as a start and like it's only ever been okay, but it doesn't really truth be told do it for me and to be honest if something else came along earlier hauling beer was never really anything I wanted to do.
Anyhow there is bigger and better fish to fry out there. I was talking to some senior drivers Wednesday morning and basically what I got out of talking to them was there is no future where I work and the money is mediocre for the work we have to do and there is no future in it nor is it really sustainable and some of the things we do at my company I absolutely hate like mixed wine at a certain super market chain, I do not like that at all, I really don't. I know every job has ups and downs, but well it's a little harder to miss pick a Ford Econoline Van not that it has never happened, but you know it's kind of hard to miscount automobiles.

I hope the training at Jack Cooper is better then where I work. The actual job training at my work was just barely enough to get you started and the rest was fly by the seat of you're pants, you'll figure it out maybe...
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If the local terminal tells you they are not and will not be hiring don't let that stop you. I will call them next week and see what they say. I think I remember sometime in the recent past that they were but I could be wrong.
 
The carhaul training is very thorough usually 3-4 weeks and they will not cut you loose on your own until you feel comfortable. It would be very easy to load the wrong vehicle as people do it, but not if you do your job exactly the way they train you. Sometimes the unit will be parked in the wrong bay but if you check the vin number every single time you will catch the mistake early and not take the wrong unit 500 miles down the road. I am a creature of habit and I try to always follow the same routine. This helps me to screw up less.
 
I kind of narrowed it down to a couple different things, LTL line haul, gasoline tanker (my dad liked that one) or maybe car hauling I never thought about car hauling before.

Are the car dealerships hard to get in and out of? How does all that work? Usually it seems most car dealerships not all, but some are fairly large and you know they have space for deliveries when they need them.

Like to older dealerships do they have you unload from the street after all it's a car it can be driven where it needs to go. I mean it kind of has to be after all.
 
Yes you are right about the dealers. Most have it where you can pull on the lot and circle the bldg to unload and leave. Some you unload on a wide shoulder in front. Very few expect you to unload in traffic on a busy road, which some drivers will do but not me. I will unload on a side street or slower traffic city street but if I have to risk my life to deliver their units they won't be getting them. I will instead either back in off the road or pull in and back out. Some have complained that they don't allow trucks on their lot and I didn't follow instructions, but when I explain in a professional non-combative manner that I will under no circumstances risk my life to deliver a car, they change their tune. 99.9 percent of the dealers I have gone to provide you with a decent safe place to unload. I always call first to ask which entrance to use and where to park, when I am going some place new. Most days someone will show up while I am unloading to check them in, but calling the receptionist first usually gets someone to show up by the time I am ready for them. I personally have had good experiences at nearly all the dealers. Some people will nit pick but when they find out that I am willing to spend 20-30 minutes buffing a minor scuff to get a clean delivery receipt, they tell me to go on and not worry about it. The paint on cars is tough and usually a scuff will come off. I try to have a conversation with most receivers even if I am in a hurry as I feel this helps me in the long run. The most notorious receiver that I know of has a bad reputation with drivers from many states. The first time I went to him I was warned about him. One of my units had a very minor scratch on the plasic piece under the bumper that I noted before I laoaded the unit. I was ready for him and he caught it and said to me, you probably didn't catch this scratch so I will let it slide this time. I showed him my delivery ticket where I had already written this up and I insisted that to cover both of us we should write it up. I feel like I earned his respect and now I have a good relationship with him and don't mind delivering to him.
 
Well I drove by the Jack Cooper Terminal they are hiring so I'll have to fill out that paper work. Also I filled out an application today to work for a garbage truck company doing front load commercial dumpsters. That's pretty much what I do on my days off. I did fill out another application to work at Gordon Food Service, but I am not expect anything to come of that.
 
GFS isnt anything to brag about, jack cooper and cassens are. hell, i noticed over there in cleveland all the cement truck driver got union stickers on their trucks, go apply over there, thats a decent job, and when it sucks to work in winter, dont worry about it, you wont have to!
 
GFS is a good company to work for. I didn't have any complaints. But lately with some stuff that I've noticed and dealt with look for a union gig
 
GFS called me today for another phone interview usually those don't go anywhere. I never thought about cement truck.
 
MikeJ said:
I kind of narrowed it down to a couple different things, LTL line haul, gasoline tanker (my dad liked that one) or maybe car hauling I never thought about car hauling before.

Are the car dealerships hard to get in and out of? How does all that work? Usually it seems most car dealerships not all, but some are fairly large and you know they have space for deliveries when they need them.

Like to older dealerships do they have you unload from the street after all it's a car it can be driven where it needs to go. I mean it kind of has to be after all.
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I drove a Gasoline tanker for a few months, worst job ever, paid by the load, morons smoking around your drop, and your boots and clothes will reek of gas. After I quit I had to throw my boots and a bunch of clothes away.
 
bigblk said:
I drove a Gasoline tanker for a few months, worst job ever, paid by the load, morons smoking around your drop, and your boots and clothes will reek of gas. After I quit I had to throw my boots and a bunch of clothes away.
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When Lazlo said "If crash a gas tanker I get fried" That kind of persuaded me.
 
I'm not really sure what your ultimate goal is, but where I'm from we have a bunch of guys in carhaul (we have a major auto manufacturer close by) and they all love it, I can't think of one who has quit they all like it. I have thought about going to it myself several times but I keep I have it pretty good where I'm at.
 
i wouldnt go out of my way to drive a gas tanker, if you want to look at dangerous tanker jobs, look at praxair, air products, air liquide,univar, linde, etc.....

have you went down to local 407 and talked to a business agent? they might know of a great job that you never thought of. either way,i would go talk to those guys, they will know more about the local industry than the avg driver on the street..
 
johndeere4020 said:
I'm not really sure what your ultimate goal is, but where I'm from we have a bunch of guys in carhaul (we have a major auto manufacturer close by) and they all love it, I can't think of one who has quit they all like it. I have thought about going to it myself several times but I keep I have it pretty good where I'm at.
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I'm not sure what my ultimate goal anymore is either it has change some. Actually though I'm going to go and call the Jack Cooper Terminal and see what they have to say. Everybody says that is the way to go so I'll put a couple irons in the fire and see what happens.
 
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