Are wood chips considered a no-touch load?

I realize the trailer does the unloading, be it a "walking trailer" or belt-line, but is there any labor involved, say shoveling or sweeping out the debris that don't come out automatically / hydraulically?

I've been driving commercially with a Class B license w/air brakes, on and off, since 1989, but the last 6+ years were in corporate coaches for hi-tech companies. VanHool and MCI coaches (45' luxury buses) are super-cushy with smooth riding suspension and absolutely no physical labor involved whatsoever.
I don't want to sound lazy, but I've really gotten used to that kind of easy work.

Hey, I'm 53 and I'm not getting any younger. The thought of using my body to do my work becomes less and less appealing as I get older.
Sitting for long hours in my car or a coach doesn't hurt my back, but yard work kills me, so I don't want to haul anything that that requires "yard work" (manual labor) to complete.

I'm considering wood chips only because I'd need to upgrade to a Class A license, in a new state, and it seems companies like that are willing to hire people straight out of trucking schools (probably due to low pay).
I'm happy and able to pay for the schooling and I don't want to do OTR for Swift, so going that route isn't necessary.

I just don't want to be a laborer.

Btw... There's a ton of money to be made (6-figures) in corporate transportation, but it requires hauling human beings and living near the tech companies, where the cost of living is insane and population density is getting worse every year.

 

My reason for wanting a change is because I HATE the SF Bay Area and want to live in a smaller town with fewer people and less traffic (less gangs). Someplace that offers a better quality of living. Oregon seems nice and they have a ton of trucking jobs.

I'm also an avid bicyclist and ride several times a week, so I've got the exercise part down pretty good.

Good advice, though.

 

Thanks. The place I was looking at (Terrain Tamers) said new hires would work either swing shift or graveyard.
I actually like swing, so that wouldn't be a deterrent for me. Graveyard, on the other hand..... no thanks!
I like to sleep at night when I'm in my bed, not when I'm driving down the road.

 

I've been here for 53 years and watched it change over time... esp. the last 10 years.
The middle class is being wiped out. You're either a well educated tech employee, making a salary in the high 6-figures......... or you're poor and you're scraping to get by as rent and housing prices continue to soar.

I make OK money, for a commercial driver, and my rent is low (+/- $1,1## mo), but I live in a dump with gang members in the building. If I move, my rent will go up 130% - 250%, but my income will stay the same.
This area is getting very crowded and very expensive, and the stress it's putting on the population is creating (increasing) a population of pissed off, overstressed, people.

I know the grass isn't always greener somewhere else, but it's hard to imagine it being any worse than it is here. At least for those of us without a college education and paid-off home in the Burbs.

Is that because there's no work, or because the work that there does't pay enough?

I just figured the chip hauling would be a decent way to get started with little / no experience. Not something I'd do for the rest of my life. Maybe put in a year, then look around for something better.

One of the nice things about renting is that it makes it easy to pull up stakes and leave if things dry up.

Could you elaborate a little on why it's not the easiest driving job?

I've only seen the chip trucks on the highway or entering lumber processing yards, but I'd imagine they do a fare amount of driving on muddy, scary, dangerous logging roads and goat trails, too.

If you mean the trucking companies, I have no experience with letting them know where I'm from, but I really didn't get the negative, stereotypical, "Don't come to Oregon" attitude I've head so much about from the locals and small businesses I frequented.

I'm not one of those lucky Californians who can sell their high-priced home in the Golden State and buy a house in Oregon outright, then contribute to the increased cost of living for the locals who've been there all their lives. I'm just a middle class, Blue Collar driver with a few years of community college (no degree), looking for a new start somewhere a little quieter. I wouldn't be buying a house, I'd be renting an apartment and driving a truck.
Just a regular Joe.