Professional driver (not that kind. not the other kind either)

What driver jobs exist that fall between pizza delivery and CDL trucker?  The best parts of my day are the long trips to repair jobs.  Not willing to learn 18 wheelers but what driving jobs are out there that a Google search may not turn up?

Sales.  Due to an issue I get to drive to Detroit tomorrow and back Tuesday or Wednesday. Figure 300 miles of pure windshield time each way.  

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Anything with "regional" in the title should fit as well.  

I did glass installation for two-ish years.  Would be in the van about half of the workday unless we had a big job at one site.

Organ Transplant.

Parts runner.

Car delivery, Boat also.

I delivered those damn roll off barns for years with only a class F endorsement (same as a pizza dude.

Do be careful with CDL licenses. Lots of stuff turns into felonies/higher penalties in TN, perhaps elsewhere, too.

Crxpilot said:

What driver jobs exist that fall between pizza delivery and CDL trucker?  The best parts of my day are the long trips to repair jobs.  Not willing to learn 18 wheelers but what driving jobs are out there that a Google search may not turn up?

School bus driver.  Now you don't even need a CDL license.  They have white buses. Without the flashing lights you can drive on a regular license.  The hourly pay is the same as us big bus drivers 

$20.-22 hr depending on what bus company. 
 

There are also drug delivery jobs  Hauling medicines around to Doctors offices, hospitals, and drug stores 

Pay tends to be a lot better. 

Datsun310Guy said:

Sales.  Due to an issue I get to drive to Detroit tomorrow and back Tuesday or Wednesday. Figure 300 miles of pure windshield time each way.  

My whole life was sales. 65,-80,000 miles a year 

Medical transport, ie driving people to and from doctors appointments 

Courier service would work. 

Also flag car for over sized loads. 

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

Also flag car for over sized loads. 

I was just coming here to suggest this. Dunno what the pay is like, though. 
 

Duke said:

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

Also flag car for over sized loads. 

I was just coming here to suggest this. Dunno what the pay is like, though. 
 

Every flag car/pre-runner I have seen looked like something that is either ready for the junkyard, or was just pulled out of one, so I would assume that the number is really low.

And why are they always NS Caravans?  I guess it's more practical than when they used to always be Celebritys.  Celebritys have less room for wide load paraphernalia but they have much more cockroach skillz.

Rollback driver under 26k # with hydraulic brakes at least in ohio you don't need a CDL.

Look at repo companies or car auction companies.

A couple of our double-pane windows that popped under warranty.  Contacted the Large National Window Company and they arranged for their service guy to replace them. 

Guy was retired military and loved his job.  His route was about 250 miles though Southern Oregon and far Northern California a couple of times a month.  He was on site with us for about an hour and had a couple of other homes to visit, then home.  The rest of his stuff was closer to the his dispatch site, but still lots of windshield time.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Duke said:

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

Also flag car for over sized loads. 

I was just coming here to suggest this. Dunno what the pay is like, though. 
 

Every flag car/pre-runner I have seen looked like something that is either ready for the junkyard, or was just pulled out of one, so I would assume that the number is really low.

 

And why are they always NS Caravans?  I guess it's more practical than when they used to always be Celebritys.  Celebritys have less room for wide load paraphernalia but they have much more cockroach skillz.

Used to service a lot of those cars and they were all provided by the company they work for. Biggest complaint from any of the drivers was the cost of hotels weren't covered so they normally slept in the car.

I used to work as driver for transport/ limo company that no longer used limos. We took people to and from the airport, we drove drs from hospitals to regional health centers and back for them to see patients, we delivered barge and rail crews to and from various locations. We drove town cars, mini vans, and 11 & 15 passenger vans. This was before uber and lyft, but several of those opportunities still exist. We were required to have a cdl where I worked, and we were independent contractors.

Tow truck driver

Cartel Mule

Expedite Drivers go around North America in a Cargo Van or Straight Truck. Doubt you need a CDL for the van. 

Learn 18 wheelers. I'll have 4 stops today, all drop and go's. Prob drive 250 miles and get paid lil more then that. 

Not sure what the picture is like in your area, but around here there's a lot of school bus driver jobs being advertised, and here they'll supply the training for any licensing requirements.

There's a lot of delivery van jobs out there now from the usual ones - UPS, FedEx, the Post Office, and now Amazon - but I'm not sure if the number of those will go down once COVID is a bit more under control.

There was a thread about one sort of driver that's been a bit hard to hire, but I don't blame you if you take a look at that thread and think, "Well, that job stinks."

frenchyd said:

There are also drug delivery jobs.

Pay tends to be a lot better. 

I have heard that, but also that there are often issues at the border.

dropstep said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Duke said:

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

Also flag car for over sized loads. 

I was just coming here to suggest this. Dunno what the pay is like, though. 
 

Every flag car/pre-runner I have seen looked like something that is either ready for the junkyard, or was just pulled out of one, so I would assume that the number is really low.

 

And why are they always NS Caravans?  I guess it's more practical than when they used to always be Celebritys.  Celebritys have less room for wide load paraphernalia but they have much more cockroach skillz.

Used to service a lot of those cars and they were all provided by the company they work for. Biggest complaint from any of the drivers was the cost of hotels weren't covered so they normally slept in the car.

If they have crap equipment, they probably have crap pay, too.  

Hot shot driver - basically industrial delivery. 

BIL trained bus drivers. Used to complain that ppl would show up for the $11/hour job, get the company-provided CDL training/cert and then disappear.

I did a FedEx rural route. Lots of time in the van, fewer stops, but with driving to the depot, loading my own truck, driving to the route over an hour away it was 14 hour days easy. And that wasn't during peak. The easy route to that was as follows:

1. Pizza delivery driver

2. FedEx seasonal driver - peak is fast approaching, you need to act soon

3. Do a good job and a route owner will hire you on. In my case, what this looked like was after peak they stopped having work for me but I kept calling the depot to see if they had a route for me. Eventually when an opening came up the supervisor told the route owner I was hungry for work and had done a good job. Pay was only $40k adjusted for inflation though, and no benefits or PTO. If you're into making more money, give it a few good months then UPS will hire you straight away as a driver (or so I was told -- I was just done with parcel delivery by that point)

Bet some of the seasonal Mobile home/Camper people pay to have their seasonal residences shuffled around the country .  I know for a fact that after the second Ontario to FL trip in a Mobile Home I would be willing to  let someone else do the driving.

But as a full time gig? Best I know are some service techs around here who service the mining industry. Spend a day driving to the site work till it is fixed and drive home.

I have an uncle who retired from some high pressure job and took up driving a bus for the athletic department at the local university; basically taking athletes to the games. He loves that gig. No idea what documentation it takes.

Mom used to have the best job in the world as a travel writer. Saw the world in luxury and got comped a small fortune in free high end travel. Downside is that the actual pay for the actual writing would not cover rent, much less food, for one person, so you had to stay on the road all the time. Or not need the $$$.

I deliver car parts, it doesn't pay near enough to be your sole income 

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

frenchyd said:

There are also drug delivery jobs.

Pay tends to be a lot better. 

I have heard that, but also that there are often issues at the border.

Yeah, and some of them come with free, federally provided accommodation, too.