Contemplated Being A Truck Driver In The USA

[moralfibre]

How many of you share a passion for driving Heavy Motor Vehicles? I have been a heavy motor vehicle fan since childhood. I remember most of my journeys to my native place were spent in the cabins of private luxury buses chatting away with drivers through the night as a kid. I always wanted to drive a long haul truck and will do so at the next available opportunity. I have driven a Tata 407 and a parked a trailer from a friends transport company as well.

Last year I had come across an ET article which I wanted to share with you guys:

ET Article Source

After farmers making a beeline for the US, it could be the turn of the ‘kings of Indian roads’. A recruitment company is hunting for 200 truckers from Andhra Pradesh to drive container trucks on US highways.

But the similarity with Punjab farmers ends here. Andhra truckers, perhaps spooked by uncertainty, are not ready to grab the wheel. The state-owned placement agency, Overseas Manpower Company of Andhra Pradesh (Omcap), is having a tough time getting 200 truckers despite the $5,000 paycheck and an H2B visa being offered to them.

Amid much fanfare in April, Omcap had tied up with American consultancy Gagan Global to recruit 200 truckers for the latter’s clients in the US. Though the US consultancy had actually sought 3,000 drivers — all trained to exacting US standards, Omcap agreed to recruit and train 200 of them initially. The first batch was to be sent to the US by January 2007.

Omcap then conducted a preliminary test and shortlisted 230 candidates of whom only 100 turned up for training on July 2. Most of them stayed away as selection wasn’t guaranteed after the course, for which they would have had to quit their current jobs.

But adding to Omcap woes was the fact that it had to send the candidates to an institute run by Krishna District Lorry Owners Association at Ampapuram, near Vijayawada. The institute also compounded problems as it didn’t have the equipment to teach the recruits how to handle left-hand-drive, long-haul US trucks.

Gagan Global claims to have 40 transport companies as it has clients who are in dire need of truckers. The problem is that Indian truckers would have to meet exacting US standards to land the job. They need to have cleared class VII, and more importantly, a commercial driving license — obtained after a test in India or the US — and also know some English.

If that wasn’t all, they would also have to pay Omcap a commission of Rs 1.5 lakh. Of this, Rs 25,000 is paid up front and the rest after getting the offer letter from the US. The money would be returned if the recruit is not selected. Omcap officials too are wary. ‘‘We asked US consultancy to bring representatives of US transport companies to India as proof of serious intent,” said Omcap manager K V Swamy.

Volvo India also has a driver training program for the Volvo FH series and I am trying to make way into their program just for kicks. Anyone joining me?

Volvo Driver Training Program

[condor]

Would be fun, I guess. Driving those monsters at 5 mph below the speed limit car drivers enjoy.

400 miles a day max. You are not allowed to drive longer than that. 40c a mile for an experienced driver means you can make about 160$ a day. Once you have the experience. Till then, lucky if you can breach the 3 figure mark. And that's before taxes.

Would love to train at Volvo .. but guess I cant make the cut there either.

Pre-request & Qualifications required by Volvo:

• Valid HPV/HTC license from RTO
• 3-5 years of HCV driving experience

Oh, before I forget : remember, you cannot use your j-brakes in residential areas.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by condor

Would love to train at Volvo .. but guess I cant make the cut there either.

Pre-request & Qualifications required by Volvo:

• Valid HPV/HTC license from RTO
• 3-5 years of HCV driving experience

Oh, before I forget : remember, you cannot use your j-brakes in residential areas.

We can work out something if we have good numbers. Getting a HPV / HTC license shouldn't be a problem. Does anyone know the requisites for having this?

[condor]

moralfibre : Getting a HPV / HTC license shouldn't be a problem.

Getting the licence is the easy part. The 3-5 yrs experience is what's important.

And we arent even talking about the experience required on the tractor-trailers and the like, after getting through the Volvo program, before one can make it to the US as a truck driver.

[BlackPearl]

oh boy I would love to join the course and I always had the idea in my mind that I would go to US with my wife, she would work for TCS and I would quit and work as a truck driver for 4-5 years and come back to India with loads of money. But first I have to get a HPV/HTC license somehow.

[salilpawar1]

Huh! I have driven thousands of miles in long haul trucks in the US.

Oops! But that's in the virtual world.

The game is "18 Wheels of Steel". You can drive most of long haul trucks available in the US, e.g. Kenworths, Western Stars, Volvos, Macks etc.

Click Below:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...y-pc-game.html (Wanna drive an 18-wheeler? Then try it on this PC game..!)

[cheap_deal]

Indian truck drivers driving the monster 18 wheelers in the USA?? may the Lord have mercy on all civic/corolla and other small car drivers!!

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by cheap_deal

Indian truck drivers driving the monster 18 wheelers in the USA?? may the Lord have mercy on all civic/corolla and other small car drivers!!

I am not sure why you are saying this as I have travelled quite extensively on the Indian highways and have found most of the truck drivers to be extremely decent. Their may be exceptions though.

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I am not sure why you are saying this as I have travelled quite extensively on the Indian highways and have found most of the truck drivers to be extremely decent. Their may be exceptions though.

They are decent and courteous drivers on the road genrally. The highways there are heavily patrolled by State and local police. It pays them to behave well.

But know that there are already too many truck drivers in the U.S. This attempt to dump more low paid drivers into the labor market would not be welcomed. There would be trouble. The driver's union, the Teamster's Union, is one of the largest and most active in the U.S. It has links with organized crime, it has influence with politicians. They would act against you as would the independent, non-union drivers. You would be insulted to your face, you would get pushed around and treated roughly, you might even be beaten or worse. The trucking industry and its drivers are not the most educated people and they have a reputation of being rough and tough. They are also largely racist and they do not like people with brown skin. And they do not like people who do not speak good English. You would be viewed as a person threatening THEIR jobs. You could expect much trouble. Please understand I am not condoning their attitude, I am just telling you the facts.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

They are decent and courteous drivers on the road genrally. The highways there are heavily patrolled by State and local police. It pays them to behave well.

But know that there are already too many truck drivers in the U.S. This attempt to dump more low paid drivers into the labor market would not be welcomed. There would be trouble. The driver's union, the Teamster's Union, is one of the largest and most active in the U.S. It has links with organized crime, it has influence with politicians. They would act against you as would the independent, non-union drivers. You would be insulted to your face, you would get pushed around and treated roughly, you might even be beaten or worse. The trucking industry and its drivers are not the most educated people and they have a reputation of being rough and tough. They are also largely racist and they do not like people with brown skin. And they do not like people who do not speak good English. You would be viewed as a person threatening THEIR jobs. You could expect much trouble. Please understand I am not condoning their attitude, I am just telling you the facts.

oh, I have no idea about the US truckers. My opinion was only about the Indian ones. I wrote that in reply to cheap_deal's post in which it seems that Indian truck drivers are horrible.

[moralfibre]

DirtyDan, you are 100% right on - WorldNetDaily: Truck drivers from India to take U.S. jobs? .

[bkishore_77]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

How many of you share a passion for driving Heavy Motor Vehicles? I have been a heavy motor vehicle fan since childhood. I have driven a Tata 407 and a parked a trailer from a friends transport company as well.

It's great to know that you have a passion for driving HCV. I share your passion. Please take a moment to go through my driving experience in Volvo FM 14 truck.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/introd...xperience.html


Even I'm contemplating of obtaining a HCV license. Happy Driving.

[GTO]

Well, Stratos is in the States, and boy does he love trucks. Maybe he can apply. *PM's the link to this thread*

[Stratos]

I am sure that Indian truck drivers are capable of driving trucks in US, if trained properly. Yes many of them are rash while driving a bus/truck but ,mind you, if Indian drivers can drive long trailers in a congested city here, they can surely do that on the wide American highways.

I remember reading an article when a tanker carrying fuel exploded melting part of the freeway in San Francisco. The driver of a tractor trailer brought up how difficult it is to drive a long truck carrying dangerous materials responsible on the highway. He actually said that people like to cut us off for fun and sometimes because we do not give side, but they will not understand the immense stress the drivers are in carrying something that can blowup a complete bridge.

Off Topic:Right from the day I entered US, I stop on the road (I still do after 2 years) to watch these amazing long heavy trucks go by. I have always thought of driving one of these monsters. They especially look jaw dropping at night when all their big and tiny amber lights are on. I had a pleasure while travelling to Lake Tahoe when at a petrol station, I got to sit in a Frieghtliner ( I forgot the model name/number). The driver actually gets a room behind the cabin in which there is a comfortable bed, sometimes a little bathroom as well.

[Sam Kapasi]

What about the dhaba infrastructure?