Thanks for the heads up Ian. Nice to watch a Melton video without any cussing. I'll be headed that way soon and time will tell whether this will be a short or long season of driving for me. Like any occupation, each has its positives and negatives and we all have to decide for ourselves where our present priorities and needs lie.
Awesome! And yeah you’re right, it’s all about personal priorities and knowing what sacrifices you have to make, then setting your expectations on that. I’m glad you liked the video
I’m probably gonna join the team just waiting on my hazmat background check and completing the hazmat test right after. The best advice I got from this video is the pay is honest and what it’s supposed to be, I’ve worked for a few companies that straight up lied about everything that pertain to the job now I ask a million and one questions. I’m more confident in joining melton from this video alone thank you.
That’s great, I’m glad I could help! It’s real simple here, you get paid what they tell you, and the more you work the more money you’ll make. Not much else to it which is nice haha
Dude I needed that thank you life has been tough the past two years. I was able to do a walk in for my hazmat background check it usually take 3 weeks plus it took only a few hours I just got a positive notification I’m good to go take my hazmat exam Monday morning and then apply to melton I’m super excited. Stay safe brother.
@@fklr-369hey how’s it going now brother? I just got my CDL. Pretty much feel the same as you did when you wrote this. 28 years old and have felt pretty lost in life these last few years. I’m excited to start my trucking career and just get away from NYC asap
I appreciate your video I am scheduled for orientation July 11 at melton and this video makes it encouraging to give up my current job and move on to Trucking as a new driver maybe your next video can be about orientation and what to bring and not to bring stuff like that keep up the good work
Thanks for the support! I’m glad to hear this helped you. The list that melton gives you is what I went by when I was packing for orientation and it worked out fine. Just remember you’re gonna go straight to working with your trainer once you’re done at Tulsa. So bring clothes you can work in the heat of summer in, and enough clothes to last a couple weeks cause you can’t always do laundry when you want to.
Go LTL, I make .72 cpm and if I have a tire blow out I sit on my ass making $31.50/hour until my tire gets fixed. I’m home everyday, I go to work at 8:15 and am home by 6:00 every night.
Yea go LTL if you want to work like a dog. Who cares if you're home if you need to hurry up make food for the next day and then go to sleep. Expect to work 14 hour days.
If i did trucking id want to save 80% of my earnings. I wonder if thats possible. Lets say you earn $5,000 after taxes and put aside $4000 thats 1000 to live on for the month. Great way to save money just wonder if its realistic? I heard melton gives drivers a mini fridge to cut on expenses. Thoughts?
Good luck not burning out at that pace. When I was there resets weren't an option and cpm was lower. Tarp pay was 25 dollars. Pretty decent company if you don't want to go home.
@@your_very_best my experience wasn't that bad but I definitely wasn't a fan of the 3 week out for 3 days home structure. Some drivers don't mind but I burned out at Melton in around 5 months.
Ian thank you for the effort you put into these videos, very helpful. Please tell me in your opinion is the parking problem really as bad as everyone seems to say? It sounds like having a place to shut down after a long day driving is very difficult, is it really that bad?
It definitely can be very hard at times, especially if you’re around a bigger city. If you’re able to start and end your day early you’ll be able to find parking 9/10 times, like starting at 4am and finishing around 5 or 6, or earlier if you prefer not to run long hours. It mostly comes down to planning ahead, but you don’t always have that convenience. Sometimes traffic is bad or you need to get a tire or light fixed and that usually takes hours of waiting.
$1500/week divided by 70hrs is about $21.50/hr. It’s great money because it’s an all consuming job, You literally have no spare time other than time to sleep.
Yep sounds about right. For some people it’s worth it and for some people it’s not. I feel like I have a good amount of spare time though. Often I’m able to read, exercise, go walk/ hike in nearby places when I park at the end of the day. Not always of course, but most days I’ll have time to myself after working
yeah but the argument is a moot point because it would be very difficult to find a different job that would allow you to work more than 40 hours for most people. What really counts at the end of the day is the amount of money you made, not the rate per hour.
Look this "My time valuable and this is what I need blah blah " was never going to be a reality for about any job as we can see with them taking away work from home
I think as long as you legally obtain a CDL you can get hired. The requirements vary from state to state, so I’d look into that first. Some states may require formal training or school, but I’m not totally sure
Hey bro I hope everything is going well with you on the road & being that winter is coming. I just received my cdl & looking for a flatbed company to start with. Your honest opinion do you think melton is a good trucking company to start with.
It’s been great for me. As someone who doesn’t need to take much hometime I can make good money. I’ve heard from other drivers you won’t make as much if you go home a lot because you simply won’t get as many miles. But the experience and training you get here is very good in my opinion, and you get very good equipment that’s well maintained. Overall I think it’s a great place to start
Does Melton go into Canada and mexico? if yes, do you need to be vaccinated? I've been looking into Melton, but I'm going to need to figure out what winter gear to buy. Do you have any advice?
You will have the chance to go into Canada but not Mexico. I believe you do have to be vaccinated to drive in Canada, but if you don’t plan on doing that you don’t need to worry about the vax. As far as winter gear I don’t have much experience. I started my training at the end of winter so didn’t have to endure it for too long. What I can say though is you definitely shouldn’t go cheap on it, spend the extra money for quality items that’ll work good and last a few seasons
To be completely honest I was mainly looking at oil field jobs when I first got my CDL so Melton was the only flatbed company I researched. But I couldn’t find anything bad about them or anyone giving melton bad reviews. I knew I’d be able to make the money I wanted starting out so I went with them because of their good reputation. I’ve talked to drivers here who came from those companies and were very glad they switched. Other than that I don’t know much about TMC or maverick. But I do know I like melton, hopefully this helps
That’s cool I didn’t know Ubers could make that much! Keep in mind these were numbers from my very first months, and I’ve been able to up my income by about $1k every month just by getting better at the job. My guess is it’ll top around $8k/mo for this first year. But I know people who make $10k+ in one week of driving. So yes $2k a week at Uber is great, but as you get experience with a CDL a lot of high paying opportunities will open up.
It changes depending on your pick up and delivery times for each load. But I usually prefer to start my days around 4-5am so I can be done driving in time to find good parking
Thanks for the heads up Ian. Nice to watch a Melton video without any cussing. I'll be headed that way soon and time will tell whether this will be a short or long season of driving for me. Like any occupation, each has its positives and negatives and we all have to decide for ourselves where our present priorities and needs lie.
Awesome! And yeah you’re right, it’s all about personal priorities and knowing what sacrifices you have to make, then setting your expectations on that. I’m glad you liked the video
I’m probably gonna join the team just waiting on my hazmat background check and completing the hazmat test right after. The best advice I got from this video is the pay is honest and what it’s supposed to be, I’ve worked for a few companies that straight up lied about everything that pertain to the job now I ask a million and one questions. I’m more confident in joining melton from this video alone thank you.
That’s great, I’m glad I could help! It’s real simple here, you get paid what they tell you, and the more you work the more money you’ll make. Not much else to it which is nice haha
Dude I needed that thank you life has been tough the past two years. I was able to do a walk in for my hazmat background check it usually take 3 weeks plus it took only a few hours I just got a positive notification I’m good to go take my hazmat exam Monday morning and then apply to melton I’m super excited. Stay safe brother.
@@fklr-369 congrats man! Hard work pays off. You stay safe too, see ya on the road 🛻💨
@@fklr-369hey how’s it going now brother? I just got my CDL. Pretty much feel the same as you did when you wrote this. 28 years old and have felt pretty lost in life these last few years. I’m excited to start my trucking career and just get away from NYC asap
I appreciate your video I am scheduled for orientation July 11 at melton and this video makes it encouraging to give up my current job and move on to Trucking as a new driver maybe your next video can be about orientation and what to bring and not to bring stuff like that keep up the good work
Thanks for the support! I’m glad to hear this helped you. The list that melton gives you is what I went by when I was packing for orientation and it worked out fine. Just remember you’re gonna go straight to working with your trainer once you’re done at Tulsa. So bring clothes you can work in the heat of summer in, and enough clothes to last a couple weeks cause you can’t always do laundry when you want to.
@@michaeltracy1080 I didn’t, but that’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll do that next time
Go LTL, I make .72 cpm and if I have a tire blow out I sit on my ass making $31.50/hour until my tire gets fixed. I’m home everyday, I go to work at 8:15 and am home by 6:00 every night.
Sounds like a pretty good gig! Maybe that’s something I’ll look into when I want to spend more time at home
What's LTL?
@@Bahlovinglife less than truckload, companies like estes, yellow, old dominion
Come October we’re making .75 cpm and $33/hour
Yea go LTL if you want to work like a dog. Who cares if you're home if you need to hurry up make food for the next day and then go to sleep. Expect to work 14 hour days.
How do you stay in shape on the road? I want to truck drive but fitness is a big part of my life
You can do push ups, SetsUps, and jocking at the truck stop!
If i did trucking id want to save 80% of my earnings. I wonder if thats possible. Lets say you earn $5,000 after taxes and put aside $4000 thats 1000 to live on for the month. Great way to save money just wonder if its realistic? I heard melton gives drivers a mini fridge to cut on expenses. Thoughts?
Good luck not burning out at that pace. When I was there resets weren't an option and cpm was lower. Tarp pay was 25 dollars. Pretty decent company if you don't want to go home.
@@your_very_best my experience wasn't that bad but I definitely wasn't a fan of the 3 week out for 3 days home structure. Some drivers don't mind but I burned out at Melton in around 5 months.
Great video! I hit you up on Tik tok. I appreciate the clarity and insight.
Yeah man absolutely. I appreciate the support!!
Are the trucks only automatics? I'd prefer the manuals but whatever.
Can join if you don’t have any experience driving trucks and just getting your CDL license
what’s the home time like with melton ?
I just got hired on today and start next Monday!!
Nice! It’s been a great experience for me so far, I’m sure you’ll like it here
Hey go did Melton go? I just got my CDL A. Looking into Melton or P&S Transport to start
Ian thank you for the effort you put into these videos, very helpful. Please tell me in your opinion is the parking problem really as bad as everyone seems to say? It sounds like having a place to shut down after a long day driving is very difficult, is it really that bad?
It definitely can be very hard at times, especially if you’re around a bigger city. If you’re able to start and end your day early you’ll be able to find parking 9/10 times, like starting at 4am and finishing around 5 or 6, or earlier if you prefer not to run long hours. It mostly comes down to planning ahead, but you don’t always have that convenience. Sometimes traffic is bad or you need to get a tire or light fixed and that usually takes hours of waiting.
$1500/week divided by 70hrs is about $21.50/hr. It’s great money because it’s an all consuming job, You literally have no spare time other than time to sleep.
Yep sounds about right. For some people it’s worth it and for some people it’s not. I feel like I have a good amount of spare time though. Often I’m able to read, exercise, go walk/ hike in nearby places when I park at the end of the day. Not always of course, but most days I’ll have time to myself after working
yeah but the argument is a moot point because it would be very difficult to find a different job that would allow you to work more than 40 hours for most people. What really counts at the end of the day is the amount of money you made, not the rate per hour.
Look this "My time valuable and this is what I need blah blah " was never going to be a reality for about any job as we can see with them taking away work from home
Do u need to go to a school to get hired..? Or can I study and get the cdl on my own and still get hired..?
I think as long as you legally obtain a CDL you can get hired. The requirements vary from state to state, so I’d look into that first. Some states may require formal training or school, but I’m not totally sure
Hey bro I hope everything is going well with you on the road & being that winter is coming. I just received my cdl & looking for a flatbed company to start with. Your honest opinion do you think melton is a good trucking company to start with.
It’s been great for me. As someone who doesn’t need to take much hometime I can make good money. I’ve heard from other drivers you won’t make as much if you go home a lot because you simply won’t get as many miles. But the experience and training you get here is very good in my opinion, and you get very good equipment that’s well maintained. Overall I think it’s a great place to start
Hello Sir i have a question, how long is the orientation with Melton??? For how long you have to be with inside a truck with an instructor???
Orientation is 5 weeks total. 2 weeks of training at the terminal in Tulsa, and 3 weeks with a trainer on the road
Stay away from Ernie in Fresno, CA.
He doesn't take shower after work.
🤣
Does Melton go into Canada and mexico? if yes, do you need to be vaccinated? I've been looking into Melton, but I'm going to need to figure out what winter gear to buy. Do you have any advice?
You will have the chance to go into Canada but not Mexico. I believe you do have to be vaccinated to drive in Canada, but if you don’t plan on doing that you don’t need to worry about the vax. As far as winter gear I don’t have much experience. I started my training at the end of winter so didn’t have to endure it for too long. What I can say though is you definitely shouldn’t go cheap on it, spend the extra money for quality items that’ll work good and last a few seasons
Why melton over tmc or maverick?
I'm looking at all 3...
My goal is to be out 16 weeks, home a week and back out 16 weeks.
To be completely honest I was mainly looking at oil field jobs when I first got my CDL so Melton was the only flatbed company I researched. But I couldn’t find anything bad about them or anyone giving melton bad reviews. I knew I’d be able to make the money I wanted starting out so I went with them because of their good reputation. I’ve talked to drivers here who came from those companies and were very glad they switched. Other than that I don’t know much about TMC or maverick. But I do know I like melton, hopefully this helps
@@ianelbert thanks
Do melton hire sap drivers?
I am not sure if they do. But everyone has to go through a drug and alcohol screening during orientation
I make more money with Uber , 65 hours a week average $2000 weekly
That’s cool I didn’t know Ubers could make that much! Keep in mind these were numbers from my very first months, and I’ve been able to up my income by about $1k every month just by getting better at the job. My guess is it’ll top around $8k/mo for this first year. But I know people who make $10k+ in one week of driving. So yes $2k a week at Uber is great, but as you get experience with a CDL a lot of high paying opportunities will open up.
whats your drive and sleep plan?
It changes depending on your pick up and delivery times for each load. But I usually prefer to start my days around 4-5am so I can be done driving in time to find good parking
Ummh ,ahh,ummh, ah