Good luck brother be safe out there 💪🏾

Yeah that’s a big decision to make! Thanks man, and good luck with whatever you end up doing

Thanks! Haha. There’a a lot of options and good opportunities that open up with a CDL

Thanks! Haha

Nice man, good luck!

Nice man that’s awesome to hear! Best of luck out there

Yes! and only to exit like 4 miles later lol

Exactly, if you ask for the thingambob they’ll give you a discount on it haha

@@ianelbert where can I find a thingamabob?

@@talltrucker2682 Lol I got mine at the Melton terminal in Tulsa. Other than that I’m not actually sure where to get one

Yeah that’s the only thing I like more about my cascadia than the kw my trainer had lol

I’d say that’s a very appropriate response 😂

I don’t think the logistics will work out for that, but he’ll be there in spirit haha

Thanks! That’s cool man, this is a huge change from a corporate job. There’s pros and cons just like in everything, but I enjoy it a lot

Yup, but I'm 31. No kids, no wife, no car payment, no house payment. Time is now.

@@cb4176 That’s the perfect position to be in for OTR trucking in my opinion, you’ll be able to make and save a ton of money

That is absolutely the goal. Going to give flatbed at least a year. I'm just impatiently waiting on January. Prolly just in time to have to chain tires 😂👎

@@cb4176 Are you owner operator or do you work for a company?

Congrats that’s awesome! And yes they’ve been great for me so far. I haven’t had any issues and I’m enjoying the job!

@@ianelbert that’s great bro, safe travels and will see you out there my man. Love the videos bro.

@@ianelbert also bro, how much do they pay a week for orientation and training? Would like to know.

Yes true! I probably should’ve clarified in the video but I was in Indiana when I was editing this video and doing the voice overs

It's foam. Weights less than a car. It's like feathers u will damage it

Thanks! I just use a GoPro 9 and my phone to record everything. I’m curious, what’s your advice for parking?

@@ianelbert Thanks for replying! My "secret weapon" of parking is my Rand McNally gps tablet. It's not absolute of course, but I've never parked on a ramp or highway. I do park at a lot of Walmarts, I always ask a manager if the store is open when I arrive.

Yeah good question, they do provide you with 100 to start with, after that it’s up to you though. I got unlucky with a re-power and the guys equipment who I traded with was in pretty bad shape

When I went I didn’t have a roommate for the first week, but during the second week my whole class moved hotels and I had a roommate. You’ll probably end up with one at some point, but it just depends.

Yes they do, as long as you have a good place to park it

I chose Melton because I couldn’t really find anything bad about the company. Any negative reviews were mostly due to peoples personal situations and expectations, but not anything objectively bad about the company. And I chose flatbed because I wanted more than just driving. I knew I would get bored if thats all there was to the job. Flatbed gives you a lot more excitement and variety, and along with that come extra skills and experience that you can use to further your trucking career if you want to.

How long is the training process ? How was your training experience ? Was Melton your first driving company? Do you have to wait a long time for your next load? Van drivers seem to wait forever for their next one. Do you find that the load and in load times for flatbed are shorter ? How much time on average does it take for load and off load at shippers / receivers ?? Thanks and take care, Jeff

@@JD10spd Training is 2 weeks orientation, and 3 weeks OTR with a trainer. All paid My training experience was good, I would say I felt ready to go out on my own when it was time. Yes this is my first company 98% of the time I have my next load within 30 minutes of emptying On average I spend about 1.5-3 hours at a shipper (including secure/tarp time) but sometimes it’ll take longer. Especially in the very beginning because securing and tarping is a new skill you’re learning. And then it usually takes me about the same time to unload, or a little less time. It’s usually a lot easier to un-secure the load than it is to secure it Hope this helps!

@@ianelbert thanks for the info. Your videos are informative. Can you take the truck home on hometime or do you park it at the closest terminal?

@@JD10spd you can take it home if you have a place to park it. There’s not much truck parking around the city I live in so I keep my personal car at a near-ish Melton terminal and drive home from there in my car.