TLC Lines
As soon as I got out of MTA Truck Driving School, they placed me into my first job. It was with TLC Lines out of Fresno CA. I got with my trainer that lived in Amarillo Texas. I spent 2 days a week in his driveway or at the truck stop in Amarillo. We were driving coast to coast and were always going through there, so I moved there. This job lasted about 3 months (1991)

CRST
I worked for CRST for a very short time. This was a very big mistake coming to work here. I knew I was a rookie and needed to pay my dues, but, I was hoping to make a little money doing it. I was spending more money on the road than I was making.

WestWay Express
With 4 months experience I went to WestWay Express. I had to go with a trainer again, but I had a good time with this one. After my training I was running a truck solo for the first time. I worked here over a year and a half then started getting burned out on OTR.

Morada Distribution Inc.
I decided to quit driving over the road and move back to Fresno CA. I took a job doing regional work. I got on with Morada Distribution Inc. I would start at the yard in Modesto, pick up a loaded trailer in town or in Woodland at the Proctor and Gamble plant and head for the Northwest and deliver the load to customers. Then reload and come back to Modesto, then drive home to Fresno. I had a set schedule. I would leave on Saturday night and come back Wednesday, or Thursday. (1993-1994)

Decker
I left Morada to make a new life for my new wife and I in Missouri. When we arrived, I got on with Decker in Fort Dodge IA. It was OK there. I would run all week around the Midwest and be home most of the weekend. The money wasn't that good but we were making it. On my 89th day they let me go. No reason was given.

DEF Express
Winter was coming in and the wife wasn't used to the Winters in the Midwest so we took the opportunity to come back to California and I got on with DEF Express. They were a coast to coast team produce company. I ran with partners to the East coast with produce and what ever coming back. I was getting home every other weekend and it got old really fast. My son was just about to be born,and they would not give me the time off I needed to be home when it happens. So I had to quit. I was not going to miss the birth of my son.

Sierra Highway Express
I went looking through the paper and found another job. Sierra Highway Express said they would help me. I told them I needed to stay in California until my son was born, then I would run anywhere they wanted after that. They were true to their word, and I worked there for a few months. This job didn't pay very well and didn't offer any benefits. I needed more money and health benefits so I went looking again.

Werner Enterprises
I knew it was a mistake before I did it, but I went to work for Werner Enterprises. They are a big company and offered day one benefits, and 2¢ a mile more than I was making. I went to Fontana with my Father in Law as a partner, thinking as a team, we would get more miles, meaning more money. I was wrong. He quit and then I quit a month later. We were working 7 days a week and sending home $400 a week net. I had to quit and get a job to pay the bills.

Brent Redmond Transportation
I went to work hauling produce for Brent Redmond Transportation in Hollister CA. I thought if I went to a company with a yard close to the house I would get home pretty often. I was wrong again. I worked here 7 days a week, and you had to ask for, and have a good reason for a day off. The money was good, but you did work for it. The wife liked the money and the benefits but not having me gone all of the time.

Schneider National Carriers
I got out of the produce business and went into dry freight. Schneider National Carriers was a breath of fresh air. Almost all of the loads were one pick up and one drop, and I was able to get all of the rest I needed. I was home nearly every weekend and got home sometimes during the week for a visit. That is until they promoted my dispatcher, and gave me a total loser that decided that I didn't need to go home anymore. We went round and round over this issue.

Knight Transportation
Upset about the treatment I got at the last job, I went to Knight Transportation and they did me pretty good. They gave me a dedicated run from Bakersfield to the Bay Area. I was getting home every weekend and every day if I wanted to. Then I got into training. I was taking new students with me in the truck for 4 weeks. I was still getting home every other weekend, and making good money. I was not going to leave but I was offered a local job making more money and home every day and weekends off.

Floyd Johnston Construction Company (Sierra Vista Rentals)
I took a local job with Floyd Johnston Construction Company. They needed a bottom dump driver. I had no experience but they hired me anyway. I worked for them from August 2001 to December 2001 until the rains came and I was laid off. You cant haul dirt in the rain. They said they would hire me back when the weather got better. I waited and waited but no phone call. They hired other drivers and still no call. I went on with my life.

Osburn Trucking
I took a few jobs right after I was laid off. Jobs that I could leave in a hurry if I did get called back to the construction company. The first one was Osburn Trucking in Fresno CA. They hauled nothing but sweet potatoes from Livingston to Southern California. I told him that I might get called back to work and wanted him to know up front. He worked me part time until the Christmas rush was over than let me go.

DON Investments
The next job was with DON Investments, Stockton Ca. They haul for Costco all over California. We would pick up a loaded trailer at the depot in Tracy and deliver it to the stores in California, then pick up a truck load and bring it back to the depot and pick up another loaded trailer and do it again. It was a good job, but the pay wasn't there. The boss promised one thing and my paycheck showed another. I was not making enough money for the hours I was putting in so I left in a very vindictive way.

Brent Redmond Transportation
The day after I left DON, I went back to work for Brent Redmond Transportation. I knew I could make allot of money really quick. The last job had left us broke and was pretty desperate.  It was late February and I knew that Redmond picks up produce this time of year in Yuma Arizona. Yuma to Salinas is a good run, and a money maker. The produce in Yuma slowed down and I was doing other things, like multiple pick ups and multiple drops. I was spending allot of time at docks instead of on the highway, and not getting home again. I was fired for a reason you will not believe...

Knight Transportation
After this mess, I went back to work for Knight Transportation, Phoenix Arizona. I called them on a Thursday, I faxed them my updated application, and they had me on a plane the next morning. I arrived at the airport in Phoenix on Friday morning and I was in a truck heading out of town by 4pm that day. I ran by myself for a couple weeks to get used to it again and then went back into training. Everything was fine until I went up for my review and raise. Mr. Knight thought I was only worth 1/2¢ a mile raise.  I quit.

Saia Motor Freight
I found a better job. This is the job I have been looking for as long as I have been driving trucks. I currently drive for Saia Motor Freight. When I started with Saia, I would report to work at 7pm on Monday and hook up a set of doubles and take them to Los Angeles, drop them, and hook up to another set of doubles, and pull them back to Fresno. Drop them into doors, and go home. I would do this Monday through Friday nights and have Saturday and Sunday nights off.

Now, I do a 3/2 Lay down to Grants Pass Oregon. What is a 3/2 lay down?
Check out my SAIA page.

Richard's World
www.oocities.org/trucker_rich
This Page was Created in July 2003