You won’t know what to make of the numerous sorts of employment accessible in this field if you’re new to a vocation as broad, difficult, and risky as trucking. Many options will leave you with a lot of unanswered questions:
- What distinguishes refrigerated from the dry van?
- Is transporting a tanker or flatbed a good career choice right after graduation?
- Which goods pay the highest rates?
- What are the terms of employment for the various categories of goods?
The list is endless. In this section, we’ll focus on the categories of dry van, refrigerated, flatbed, liquid tanker, dry bulk tanker, and doubles/triples. What choices are accessible to newcomers, and how do they each haul? Let’s look at it.
Refrigerated and dry van freight
Since these are the most prevalent forms of freight accessible and need no specific training, rookies often start carrying dry vans or refrigerated freight. Haulers need roughly the same skill set, and their work responsibilities are fairly comparable.
I like to see individuals begin in either of these two groups. I wouldn’t went so far as to say you shouldn’t begin by transporting any other kind of goods, but in a job that’s already really risky and tense, you need to think carefully about how much more stress you want to put on yourself right away.
Most dry van and refrigerated jobs involve the driver exerting little to no physical exertion. With most big carriers, you rarely have to unload freight unless you work for a specialist firm or are part of a unique division.
Because you don’t have to handle almost 50,000 pounds of splashing liquid as you do with a liquid tanker or worry about securing your cargo as a flatbed driver does, learning the ropes with a dry van and refrigeration is the simplest. Also, unlike when transporting doubles and triples, you won’t have to worry about controlling two or three distinct trailers simultaneously.
These two kinds of goods pay fairly similarly as well. The greatest distinction between these two freight forms is the freight’s constancy throughout the year and the home time. The norm for refrigeration firms is for their drivers to work for three to four weeks before returning home for three to four days. There are often several different possibilities for home time with dry van firms, including weekends off.
Also, dry van freight has significantly greater seasonal variation than refrigerated freight, mostly because of the holidays. The vast bulk of goods moving to retail establishments is transported by dry vans, and their sales change dramatically throughout the holidays. Food goods are a common cargo for chilled carriers, resulting in a more stable freight volume throughout the year.
Flatbed
Several flatbed firms teach students for their CDL or take students directly out of truck driving school, much as with dry vans and refrigerated carriers. Is it a smart idea to start with a flatbed, though?
I like it when someone begins in a refrigerated or dry van, but I’m not opposed to the proper kind of individual beginning on a flatbed. However, be aware that the learning curve will be longer, the hazards will be somewhat greater, and the physical demands of most flatbed tasks may be highly demanding. You may often find yourself strolling around on top of a loaded trailer, which is perilous given that it’s a long distance to fall—especially on your head!—and the tarps may weigh more than 100 pounds.
Since the businesses that often transport and receive flatbed freight are sometimes only operational during the weekdays, flatbed providers frequently can bring you home every weekend. Hence, if having quality time at home is vital to you, I’d suggest either a dry van or a flatbed.
How about payment? Does all of this additional labor and danger result in higher salaries? Perhaps a little. But I will said this: if you don’t like what you’re doing, you won’t earn enough additional money to justify performing the work. Most flatbed drivers wouldn’t do anything else since they like transporting flatbed freight. The additional money is not the reason they are not doing it. They do it because they like the particular mental and physical difficulties this line of work presents. They also like the diversity of fascinating goods they transport and the locations they get to go to.
Bulk Dry Tanker
Dry bulk tankers transport dry products like sand, wheat, and sugar. These trucks may be as safe as a dry van or flatbed since the freight doesn’t swirl like a liquid. With dry bulk tankers, more physical labor will berequired since you will often be in charge of unloading, which entails connecting hoses and venting the tank.
While the amount of home time offered by dry bulk firms may vary, you can often go home at least on the weekends. While there aren’t many of these positions available, those that do exist are worth considering for newcomers.
Chemical Tankers
Well, I don’t like the notion of a new driver carrying a liquid tanker, and most liquid tanker firms won’t employ one. Managing 50,000 pounds of splashing liquid while operating a vehicle is risky and requires significant skill and finesse.
But, if it’s a food-grade tanker, the work is fantastic. The dangerous substances that chemical tankers transport raise the stakes to a new level. Food-grade tankers transport dairy goods, orange juice, and honey.
In addition to requiring considerable physical labor, operating a liquid tanker often involves attaching hoses and using a ladder to vent the tank on top of the trailer.
Triples And Doubles
Disregard it! I object to seeing newcomers dragging doubles and triples. I know a few drivers who began carrying doubles during their first year on the road, but I believe it’s a poor idea. I’m somewhat surprised that there are businesses out there that would employ kids right out of college.
Due to handling a dolly that must be pushed about and utilized to join the two trailers together, the task entails some physical labor. However, most individuals don’t have any trouble with the physical requirements.
Doubles and triples are very risky, although maybe not for the reasons you would think. Most of the time, they’re very manageable and even spin in a far smaller arc than a lengthy single trailer. The challenge with doubles is stopping them. Businesses that transport doubles often only have one drive axle instead of two on the tractor, which reduces your traction on icy roads and maybe a major pain when stopping. Also, since the back trailer is lighter, it may be easier for the brakes on that trailer to lock up on icy roads.
A rookie shouldn’t, in my view, contemplate hauling doubles or triples. The required experience for this kind of work is one year.
Conclusion
With a dry van, refrigerated, and even quite a decent range of options with flatbed firms, you’ll have a broad list of chances as a newbie. Nevertheless, don’t ignore dry bulk. There are many wonderful options available.
While I think most individuals should begin their careers in a dry van or refrigerated, if you’re the kind of person who enjoys a challenge and you believe you have what it takes to be a flatbed, then by all means, go for it. I would start with a dry van or refrigerated one if you’re seeking the safest, surest route into trucking.
