So.....What are you?

[Big_Dave]

I own my truck and I'm leased to a small company out of the Twin Cities. The company I'm leased to does LTL work in all 48 states.

My truck is licensed for 38 states. I don't run the N.E. I pull a dry van, either 48' or 53'. If it can fit in a dry van and isn't Haz-Mat, we'll haul it if the rate is right. I got decking bars and logistics straps down to a science. ;)

We have about 55-60 O/O's leased on and 13 company trucks, 7 of them day cabs for local P&D, 6 sleeper trucks for regional work.

[P379XL]

I own my truck and drive for no one but myself, and thats only when my unemployed butt has the money for outrageously priced gas. I am legal for all 50 states, but I will probably break down on the way to most of them. I am in fact not a driver, but the future of America...scary eh?

[HSLD]

I'm an O/O running reefer / dry, Texas only. I could probably make more elsewhere, but I'll trade making the big OTR bucks for the wages I want, covering the operational expenses and being home. :D

HSLD

:wtf: me nolike refeer or dryvan i only want nice quite flatbed me no likie walls on trailer

[dljtruck]

I too am a member of the dying breed called a Owner/ Operator. I run mainly in state..with ocassional trips to surrounding states. mostly haul Livestock and other AG type things with my convertahopper..feed, grain, bags or bulk.would post a pic of the old IH but don't know how to. love what i do...can't imagine doing anything else..but would like to be able to make a good living for the hours i put in. take care all&be safe. Dennis

[nitestar]

Been a driver for over 35 years. O/O twice. union once.
I am a die hard Flatbedder.
There are about 50 trucks leased to the company I am with. Some do vans and 1 does Droms, about 4 are flatbedders.
we are registered for all 48 and some Canada. Not Alaska though.
I ( we, team) pull company trailers. I haul Military freight and 99% is explosives.
I try real hard to not go north of Richmond Va north bound in the NE corridor.
I usually run to the NW. Cal & Washington from Oklahoma, Texas Ark,
.
ALL loads must be tarped, so I have one made of air bag material for reduced weight. LOVE IT.
I usually deadhead about 450 miles for my load out of the house after time off.

[Pipester]

And I'm an 'ole fart that retired last fall and have hqad extensive experience in Heavy Haul specializing in Oilfield and Pipeline Construction.


:fishing: :fishing: :fishing:

I've been around trucking for 45 years now and although it has changed drastically since deregulation, there are some people out there that can still make it on their own and some of those are on this site.

Some drivers choose to drive Company trucks and they have a good gig going, heck some even win trophies and mutton with the truck !!! :D :D :D

I read a lot of posts that come from an owner operator on this site and on TN. He gives out great advise to those who ask without being a smartazz and there is no doubt that if even one owner op has learned from it, it's worth it.


Thanks for the invite Dave, I'm sure we won't see a bunch of whiners on this one.

If you want to check out my last ride, check out this site.


www.hankstruckpictures.com/pipex.htm


Oh..I should have mentioned ...thanks for the Canadian portion. It's been a long while since I crossed the border with trucks (about 19820 but if I can help anyone with information about trucking up this way ( or to Alaska) give me a shout. :fishing:

[Harry]

I HOPE I DON'T ASK FOR TO MUCH, BUT I SAW YOUR PICS AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THEM IN OUR PHOTO GALLERY. WOULD YOU MIND TO LOAD THE PICTURES UP. :)

[White Dog]

I tried the Owner/Operator thing once, and failed misserabley. So I stick to driving for small companies, and/or Owner/Operators for small companies.

The wife supplies Health Insurance etc... through her job, so I can consentrate on money.

I have had more jobs than a human being should be allowed to have; but I don't let anybody screw me in any fasion.

My current job is with an O/O leased to a small company----this guy is a total "nut case" so I've made arangements with the company to drive one of their trucks (on 05/15/05)-----same pay, same freight, same "no-force" dispatch system. I will just no longer have to deal with the fruit cake that owns the truck I'm driving. :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:

I haul dry freight (for mainly 2 customers going out), and what-ever they can find that pays half way decent comming back.

I like dry freight, but have pulled reefer, flat, and hopper also.

Got 12 years in the business (over a million miles), and have run in all 48 states.

Since I run "no-force", you will not see me in the north-east (my map stops at Pittsburg), otherwise, I don't care where I go...but I prefer west of the Mississippi.

It is no secret I hate trucking, but there is nothing in my area that pays well enough for me to leave it. My youngest kid graduates High-School in 2007, and I can sell the house and move then, and put trucking behind. Until then; I'll be trucking away :p

[CD]

Company Driver!!

Pulling a flatbed for a small outfit in SW Oklahoma. Currently on a dedicated sheetrock fleet that gets me home 3-4 nites a week and every weekend!! :D

Took a 18 month hiatus from flats to go pull a food grade tank,but realized that flatbedding is where I belong.

I enjoy the company truck thing(no stress just drive) and have only had those silly delusional thoughts of going O/O a few times(running the numbers usually cures me for awhile) :wacko:

If you see my Lilac freightliner running up/down US287,be sure to gimmee a shout :classic:

I'm the wife of a driver. Currently he drives local for a company. But we are looking at him going to drive for his dad who is an O/O with 2 trucks.

[Capt._Chaos]

Afterworking as a Diesel Technician, I was a Company Driver for several years, and have been an Owner-Operator for the last five.

I used to run OTR pulling 53' dry vans. I now stay in south Texas pulling a variety of trailers, including U.P.S. doubles, intermodal containers, and dry vans on occaasion. I like being home every day most of the time. Every once in awhile, I'll get a load that keeps me out overnight, but not too often.

[Pipester]

I HOPE I DON'T ASK FOR TO MUCH, BUT I SAW YOUR PICS AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THEM IN OUR PHOTO GALLERY. WOULD YOU MIND TO LOAD THE PICTURES UP. :)

I'll gladly load the pics Harry, just gotta figure out how. If you can copy them from the site...go right ahead.

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[beanie baby]

I am an office manager/export manager. Yes I do all that lovely paperwork that you truck drivers like so much. When ya have to sit at the dock and wait for it - just think of me... :yikes: :rofl:

My ex-husband drove truck, only locally. A very good friend of mine is an O/O and I had gone with him a few times and really enjoyed it. My Uncle drove OTR and my cousins have and are drive OTR. Kind of been in the family for awhile. ;) I'm hoping some day when my youngest is grown that I may give it a whirl myself.

[Pipester]

Beanieee is an Export Manager....she ships Wisconsin kitties to a fellow in Texas and she enjoys Buck Owens singing My Heart Skips a Beat !!!! :harhar: :harhar: :harhar: :harhar: :harhar: :harhar:

[Arky]

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/pipex/pipex09_sml.jpg

[Neese]

I am a former driver, and driver trainer, though that was a mistake, the trainer part....

Now I am a Mom, and very happy.

[Arky]

Here ya go Pipester:
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/pipex/pipex09_sml.jpg


Here's how it works. I grabbed this one from the site you posted. You can use that site or download pics to our own photo gallery listed at the top of the home page.

Once you have the picture on the internet. Right click on the picture and click Properties (normally at the bottom of the menu). Once you have the properties window open..you'll see where it says Address: (URL). Copy the entire address (url) listed in this section.

Once you have copied the URL, come back to your post and paste the URL here. Then you will need to do one final step (very important). Highlight the URL that you just pasted into your post and then click the "Img" button listed directly above the text box. You should have it..and you can always check by hitting preview instead of submit :).

Here is the URL for the above photo without highlighting and clicking the Img button: http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/pipex/pipex09_sml.jpg

Good luck :D :D

[beanie baby]

Beanieee is an Export Manager....she ships Wisconsin kitties to a fellow in Texas and she enjoys Buck Owens singing My Heart Skips a Beat !!!! :harhar: :harhar: :harhar: :harhar: :harhar: :harhar:

Pipster - what would I ever do without you around!! :rofl:

[mare]

Post subject: So.....What are you?

I am woman.................

Hear me ROAR?????????????

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I was a woman last I checked....

looks down :yikes:

YUP! I am one too!! LOL


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Preacher]

I am a hotshotter from Tulsa, OK leased for the past year to a small company out of Hays, KS. I'm an owner/operator driving a `95 Ford F350 flatbed crew cab with a Powerstroke diesel and a `04 gooseneck trailer with 40ft of deck space which I run in 48 states. Although I am rated at under 26,000lbs GCWR, I'm currently working on getting my CDL "A" w/ air brake, haz-mat, tanker, and doubles & triples endorsements at Central Tech Truck Driver Training School in Drumright, OK. After completing my schooling I will bump my GCWR to 33,000lbs and will hopefully run pipe and 1000 gallon tanks of chemicals on my gooseneck to oil field sites around OK. TX, LA, MS, & AR. ($2.10/mile!)

I am also a bible college graduate and have been an ordained penticostal minister for the past 5 years, preaching and ministering in jails, prisons, churches and on the streets to the homeless.

Way to go Preacher!!! :clap:

[Hillbilly]

I''m an O/O leased to a fairly large company, dry van, 49 states & all of Canada. Been out here 30+ yrs(If I remember right,33 in Sept). Plan to pay it off in about 18mo, and then run local &a couple surrounding states(MS & AL). Guess you could call it semi-retire.

[Lexy]

So.....What are you?



A PITA most days. On my off days, I'm just a pain. :harhar:

[Foxfire]

I am the Queen of Slackers!!! But according to my doc I am not gonna be forever!!!
Recent history.... mother of 2 Peterbilts. One was an '88 that I sold in 1999. The other was a 2002 flattop that I just sold in Feb.
Like others I am a diehard skateboarder. But (ther's always a "but" huh?) I just might be persuaded to drag a reefer around again. As long as I don't have to go up the East Coast.

die hart flatbed driver never will run refeer or dry van

[Foxfire]

eagle there is a subliminal message in that post that you will never understand. But thx for trying.
The person it was meant for will know exactly what I am saying.
OK now I gotta post the pics of my trucks huh Dave?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/Foxfire53/My2002379PeteFlattop.jpg]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/Foxfire53/margies379.jpg

[Chiefwhatdahey]

I'm a dad who loves to spend time with his kids so I truck for a living, on my terms, nobody elses. I have family and a few close friends scattered here and there that I get to visit when I travel, I have a wife who loves me in spite of me.

i'll stick to me bulldogs and freightliners cuz they are comfy as time it self

[Bikerboy]

I'm only 20 so I'm still running local LTL for a dedicated company. We haul our own stuff to all of our store branches. 5 nights a week mon-fri.

Once I'm 21 i plan on getting hired somewhere that pulls end dump trailers into michigan and anywhere else 4+ axle trailers are legal.
I'm also interested in pulling food grade tanks or dry bulk tanks.

And someday maybe i will buy my own truck! Gotta be a Pete or Kenworth!

[sweet_whiskey]

Well as most in here know, I am the terror that slides up and down the streets to make the deliveries.

I'm a company driver, probably will be for a long time. :harhar: :harhar:

Dave I love these faces!!!! :yikes:

[beanie baby]

:bye: Sweet Wiskey!! Glad ya made it. Terror, nahhh your all right...

well o/o flatbed is what i'm going to do for a long time

[Randy]

I'm just a trucking industry hobbiest :wtf: : started back in 1996 and just stuck around.

For the last 21years :yikes: I have been working for a computer company :type: in the Facilities department :cheers: :zzz: currently I'm a program manager overseeing contractors who handle the inhouse and site to site moving of the company employee's :chase: .

Randy :ninja:

[liner]

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/liner100/th_Copyofscan.jpg (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/liner100/Copyofscan.jpg)
I'm kinda semi retired and just run 4 days a week on a steady deal from Ontario to Arlington Tx.every week that GM decides to work,which hasn't been a whole lot this year.The less they work,the less I work,which suits this old guy just fine.

[White Dog]

liner said:
4 days a week on a steady deal from Ontario to Arlington Tx.every week
:yikes: 4 days? Now that's some running----that's far from semi retired!!! :wow:

[Big_Dave]

liner said:
4 days a week on a steady deal from Ontario to Arlington Tx.every week
:yikes: 4 days? Now that's some running----that's far from semi retired!!! :wow:
Sure beats 7 days a week. ;) :cool:

[White Dog]

Sure beats 7 days a week.
You got that right!

I guess maybe I should have asked if he meant Ontario Canada (like Toronto) or Ontario, California.

Toronto Ontario, Canada to Arlington, TX, = 1,521 miles one way (3,042 round trip) (plus time spent both ways at the border).

vs.

Ontario, CA. to Arlington, TX. = 1,382 miles one way (2,764 round trip).

Makes a huge difference if you're doing it in four days.

Irregardless; either way it's in no way (in my mind) "semi-retired"---that's enough work to be considered a full time job.

[liner]

It is Ontario Canada(Stoney Creek) to be exact.Round trip is 2850 miles.I leave Monday morning and unload and reload in Arlington on Wed.morning and arrive back home on Thursday evening around 8pm. Take a 3 day weekend and repeat.Considering it's only April and I have had 7 weeks off already this year,to me it's semi-retirement, compared to what I did for many years.Been doing it now for 4 years and hope to do it a while longer until I am ready to hang up the keys for good.

[White Dog]

Copy that liner. :)


liner



Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 5
Location: Drumbo Ontario

I see you added your location to your profile since this mix up. :p

[Dave Sweetman]

Seems like a pretty good gig to me. I mean if you are happy, healthy and dig it, it sure beats sitting in a rocking chair [not that there's anything wrong with that].
Besides, if it were me [and it's not] but the idea of a real retirement seems kinda lame. I do what I do because I love it, get paid well and look forward to every day. By reading Liner's posts, it seems the same.

If the gentleman is happy, enjoys what he does and provides a service all at the same time, what could be better?

Kinda reminds me of the Junior Brown/Red Simpson song, "Semi Crazy."...'except you could change some of the words to Semi-Retired.. :cool:

[Big_Dave]

Kinda reminds me of the Junior Brown/Red Simpson song, "Semi Crazy."...'except you could change some of the words to Semi-Retired.. :cool:
That's what happens when ya got 90 wt oil on the brain and diesel in your blood.........like me. :cheers: :rofl: :cool:

[Dave Sweetman]

That's what happens when ya got 90 wt oil on the brain and diesel in your blood.........like me. :cheers: :rofl: :cool:

Not that there's anything wrong with that...heh heh heh... :D

[Big_Dave]

Got that right! :cheers:

[towstrap]

I'm justa lazy azz linehaul driver. Out and back 5 nights a week. Been at it 18 yrs with no chargeable accidents. Spent 13 split running the road and local p&d , 2 pulling race cars for Chip Ganassi and the last three with a local LTL as a line hauler. Wouldn't have it any other way. Shoulda learned about linehaul moons ago. I feel guilty every Friday when the wife goes to the bank, NOT.

[JaBang]

I was a newbie, had gone go school, and gone with a flatbed company that runs the Southeast. After being on my own for three months (and doing pretty good), found out I had cancer.

So now I'm disabled at home, looking whistfully at the trucks that go by the house, wishing I was still out there.

[daytrader]

LineHaul driver now.

I have not hauled live stock yet. I donot see me doing that. I do not want to.

I tried about everything.

Like my truck driving.

Being home everyday sounds nice. I had more quality time at home being over the road.

[officegirl]

I'm just an office girl. :) I help to give some people something to complain about. LOL No really, I do lots of things, and I'm in school full time, getting a BS in Business Management and a BS in Marketing.

:yikes: You have to go to school to get BS?? we usually just get online to one of the trucking forums! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[officegirl]

Yeah Karen, I have to pay a fortune to go to school for BS. LOL And most of the time that's what it really is. That's why I chat with you all during class. LOL :type:

[I20]

I'm just a low down -- no good -- scum sucking -- end of the road -- dirty -- cheating -- penny pinching broker.

well what can I say, I won't win any popularity points here will I?

[Superman_Mike]

I do local P&D, in the minneapolis/st.paul metro area. I have been called a nazi by a select group of unclean, unshaven, smell me from 5 trucks away going down the freeway road monkeys, (and that is the definition people, I dont mean all of you) and yes we notice the terrible bedhead if you care to know.

Seriously though, I do LTL. I am a hobby bartender, and a fisherman. I am a husband to a wonderful wife, and the best father I can be to the 3 coolest little men in the world. I do things quite different than most (and I am ok with that) when it comes to work, and I go the extra mile while chasing the almighty dollar. I figure, at 30, I am still young enough to work my arse off to get ahead, and have time for the 25 year old wife.

The "mancubs" are 10 mos., 8 years, and 9 years.

[Foxfire]

I was a newbie, had gone go school, and gone with a flatbed company that runs the Southeast. After being on my own for three months (and doing pretty good), found out I had cancer.

So now I'm disabled at home, looking whistfully at the trucks that go by the house, wishing I was still out there.

Hey Ja! Where are ya in Tampa? I live in Tarpon Springs. I'm grounded too but not as seriously as you. My prayers are with you.
Did you work for Cypress?

[Detour]

I'm currently a retired driver, though I've been thinking I may have to go back OTR to get some rest. I'm also married to a driver. I'm a mom to 2 grown men who I'm very proud of, and any day now I'm gonna be a granny. :D It's a Boy. :D

I was mostly a company driver, dry van; ran team, solo, was a driver trainer for a minute or few. :rofl: (Won't be doing that again!) I did the O/O thing for a bit, dry van hauling air freight from ATL to JFK and back, that was a super sweet $$$ deal. It dried up and I sold my truck and went back to company driver before I retired.

Some days I really miss the road.

[beanie baby]

CONGRATS, on the granny Detour!! :D

[Detour]

Thanks Beanie! I'm kinda hoping he'll come in time for Mothers Day.

[JaBang]

I was a newbie, had gone go school, and gone with a flatbed company that runs the Southeast. After being on my own for three months (and doing pretty good), found out I had cancer.

So now I'm disabled at home, looking whistfully at the trucks that go by the house, wishing I was still out there.

Hey Ja! Where are ya in Tampa? I live in Tarpon Springs. I'm grounded too but not as seriously as you. My prayers are with you.
Did you work for Cypress?

I was with Coastal Transport (CT), part of ComCar. They weren't too bad, the only thing I really didn't like was getting loads out of the Lowes DC in Frostproof. Let's just say they could load a trailer very "uniquely."

[magicman]

I'm an owner operator, leased to an LTL co in MN. Getting ready to make a change to either Landstar or back to my old company that just happens to be getting a raise sometime around the first of the month. :D :D :D

I'm married to a great lady, Kathy, Happy anniversary, Sweetie. 11 yrs, today. She's kinda like the cats. She puts up with me because she WANTS to, not because she has to. :lover: :lover: :lover:

I've been driving for too darned long. Got over 2 million miles. Maybe can go to work for Swift and drive one of those FAST Swift trucks. :jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop:

Thanks Big Dave for the invite over here. :xbounce: :xbounce: :xbounce: