Common Mistakes New Truck Drivers Should Avoid

New to trucking? Welcome to what will be a challenging, but ultimately rewarding career. As you may already know, being a truck driver takes commitment, hard work, and determination. With such a wide number of truck loads available to drivers, you’re bound to find work anywhere you go. Get the best experience out of your new career and avoid common mistakes new drivers make by keeping these things in mind: 

Prepare for the Challenges Ahead: Trucking is a challenging endeavor. From initial training to first haul, you’re bound to experience a range of emotions and even feelings of regret along the way. Try to keep a good attitude about it. Each challenge is a learning opportunity and a way to make you a better driver.

Have the Right Expectations: Trucking is not all about hitting the highway and enjoying the peace and quiet. There will be days that you’re faced with insurmountable challenges -- from inclement weather to short timelines. There are some great benefits to the job, but they may not be what you think they are.

Don’t Be Complacent:  Overconfident and complacent drivers often struggle the most and make more mistakes. When mistakes happen, you want to approach it with humbleness and rationality. It isn’t the end of the world, but you can learn something from it.

Make Good Decisions: Don’t be a know-it-all. You’ll face a lot of new challenges, many of which will change your lifestyle and way of thinking. Make decisions about your work life that benefit you. That means being smart about searching for available truck loads and companies that care about drivers.

How to Choose a Hopper Trailer in Grain Hauling Jobs

Agriculture is the backbone of our country. As such, it’s essential that shippers in the industry use the right equipment to get grain and other foods from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. To do so, haulers rely on hopper trailers. These special trailers utilize a rolling tarp that allows for grain and other agricultural products to be loaded in with ease. Since no two hopper models are exactly the same, you’ll want to find the trailer that best meets the requirements of your grain hauling jobs.

Here are five things to keep in mind when choosing the right hopper trailer for your business:

Capacity: Obviously, how much you need hauled plays a big part in the decision-making process. Find a trailer that has the capacity you need for large loads.

Clearance: Plenty of ground clearance is essential for unloading your supply when you’re using a swing hopper. Know the dimensions of your swing hopper before you purchase a trailer.

Suspension: A good suspension system will keep the ride smooth, no matter how heavy the load. Plus, a rigid and sturdy suspension system allows for better maneuverability of the trailer.

Warranty: Trailers have a lot of moving parts, which means a higher chance of something going wrong. Choose a trailer that has a manufacturer’s warranty.

Weight: Many grain hauling jobs require trailers to carry incredibly heavy loads. Have an idea of your load weight before you choose a hopper trailer.

About Dry Bulk Hauling Equipment

Dry bulk materials form the building blocks of many of the products we use or consume daily. The toast you ate at breakfast was made with bread that couldn’t have been baked without ingredients hauled to market by one of the grain transport companies that keep our country fed. They use dry bulk trailers, of course.

It’s the same with pretty much every plastic object you can imagine. All those items start out as tiny plastic pellets that were transported to the factory by a dry bulk truck.

This kind of fundamental service to our industries and manufacturing sector is provided by companies that use the shiny, dry bulk trailers you see on the highways and interstates. Those trailers are used by everyone, from grain transport companies to chemical processors. The design of the trailer makes it very easy for loading and unloading. They have a series of openings at the top for loading each of the hoppers, and a valve at the bottom that allows the product to run out through a pipe for quick and easy unloading.

At Hoploads, we are proud of the role we play in helping connect shippers with haulers so those important dry bulk goods can get where they’re needed safely and securely. It is our pleasure to be one small part of the big picture.

About Hopper Bottom Trucking

Trucks are versatile, there’s no doubt about it, but what makes them truly adaptable is the range of trailers available. When you have a special cargo that needs hauling, the chances are pretty good a trailer already exists that can meet your needs easily.

Hopper bottom trucking is a perfect example. These rigs are vital for hauling products such as corn and grain from elevators or bins to loading terminals or another point. Some drivers even pick up products directly from harvesters in the field.

At elevators, for example, all the driver needs to do is pull up under a loading chute and wait for the product to flow into the trailer. After that, it’s time to hit the road. Once the truck reaches its destination, unloading is a piece of cake as the product flows smoothly from the bottom of the hopper and into a cargo hold or pit.

Without the simplicity and function of hopper bottom trucking, it would become a major time-consuming chore to unload the trailer. A dump trailer would not be as clean and efficient, and unloading with a machine would cause delays.

Using a hopper bottom is the perfect case of “the right tool for the job.”

How to Get a Job Hauling Grain

For many, the freedom of the open road is a lure many cannot resist. For those who enjoy driving long distances and quiet time alone, while doing something worthwhile, consider truck driving jobs hauling grain. Once you meet the basic requirements, you can sign up with a company.

As you can imagine, these jobs are busiest during the harvest season when huge amounts of wheat, corn, and oats must travel from the farms to grain elevators for storage or to factories for production. To speed the process, the grain is hauled in hopper bottom trucks where it easily can be loaded and unloaded. However, the job requires long hours of the road during harvest time.

A CDL Is a Necessity
Most jobs have a baseline for hiring that includes a high school diploma or the equivalent, drug screening, and good physical and mental health. However, when you’re driving a truck, it’s essential to have a clean driving record and a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

Some companies are willing to pay for a prospective employee to take the CDL. This would save you money as you would not need to go to a specialty school. However, it would require you to agree to work for that company for a certain amount of time.

How to Get a CDL

To get a license, follow the requirements set out by the state you live in. In general, you need to be at least 18 years old, pass a written exam, as well as checkups for your body and eyes. To complete the process, you need to spend time on the road under the supervision of an experienced driver.

Once you meet these requirements, you can look forward to a truck driving jobs hauling grain or other goods or products. These are good-paying jobs that offer you independence. Plus, it’s an essential job, for that grain you haul is made into food to feed the country.

Business Relies on Hopper Bottom Trucking

Hopper bottom trucking provides transportation for a number of different products. With one or two bottoms on the trailer, the goods to transport are loaded from above and unloaded from below. This is an ideal way to move a variety of bulk products  that include:

Grain -- From the farm or field to the grain elevator or the manufacturing facility, hopper trailers get certain types of produce where it needs to go before it reaches the dinner table. For example, wheat is poured through a large spigot and released at the destination. With a large storage capacity, the remaining wheat goes to other delivery points. The food that can be transported this way includes:

Wheat
Corn & Corn Meal

Oats
Beans
Seeds

Spices

Potatoes

Corn

Fertilizer --  Load up a truck full of fertilizer and distribute it to as many destinations as necessary. Open up the hopper at the first location and stop when the desired amount is released, then it’s on to the next stop. You can even have the truck drive over the field where the farmer wants the fertilizer.

Pebbles -- Hopper bottom trucking is ideal for delivering small rocks from the quarry to their new home. Pour the pebbles in and cover them until you reach your destination. This prevents them from flying out of the truck.  Then unload in one spot, such as a hole to be filled or distribute them over any the location where they’ll be used.

Dirt, Soil, & Sand -- Ask the driver of the truck to distribute that load of dirt, soil, or sand for you. The driver just rolls over the property, releasing the sand bit by bit, saving you time and trouble. Whether you need the dirt to even a foundation, soil for a field, or sand for reclamation work, a hopper truck is the way to go.

The Benefits of Being an Owner-Operator Truck Driver

You’ve always wanted to be your own boss, and one way to do that is with trucking. For instance, you could buy your own semi tractor-trailer and haul loads cross country, around the region, or in the state. An advantage of being your own boss is setting your own hours and doing work that you like. A disadvantage is lining up your work, which can be time-consuming.

Something that can help you line up work is our new app. For example, if you were searching for

owner-operator grain-hauling jobs, you could check the app and find out what equipment is needed, where the pickup and drop-off area is, and the time deadline involved. Obviously, this would make it so much easier for you to keep busy, especially on the return trip.

Weighing the Risks & Rewards of Self-Employment

Are you ready to take on the responsibilities of business ownership? This means putting down a great deal of money to buy a truck in good condition and then maintaining it in top operating condition. You will be self-employed, which means you make all of the decisions, which is a great deal of work and responsibility. To balance this out, you will make more money than a company driver and have a schedule you set yourself. Truck driving is a profession where good drivers are in high demand.

With any business, there are risks and rewards. When you are doing something you love and can make the money you want, the risk is worth it. However, all of the responsibility for everything involved in the business falls directly on your shoulders. When you have broad shoulders, this works for you. Some people don’t want to have all of that responsibility, which makes it better for them to work as a company driver.