HMMMM … not a nice position to be in with all that crap dripping on you and the rats running around. I had a days work on dustcarts with Amey thru Driver Hire before getting full time on Onyx but not my idea of fun, cabs were filthy and stunk to high heaven, I put up with it for about two hours but when the rat ran across my foot that was it… home time!!
Yep roger that…as soon as I could after getting the cart dropped off I was under a shower and in some sheep dip…lol
The easiest way to get a truck licence and get work LEGALLY in the states is to go on the “Custom Harvest run” from approx April to December every year.Your employer via an agent will send over a “farm/harvest visa” to the American embassy and you will have to satisfy certain points before they will let you travel to “Uncle Sam” for temp work on harvest.Your employer (A custom cutter) with his own combines and trucks will help you to do the CDL truck licence (Can Be passed in approx 45mins if you study the books hard enough!!) and if you stay the whole harvest season he/she has to by LAW pay for your return air fares,It does not come any handier than that!!! You can stay on after your visa runs out because there are literally thousands of truck jobs going over there but if your caught without a visa its bye-bye Uncle Sam for 10 years or more.Contact: Spencer Gartin a harvest employment agent based in TEXAS who handled everything for the 14 of us from N.Ireland who went over in 2002.E-mail:agemployment@aol.com or tel after 2pm 001903564 6888 fax 001903564 6887. Pay can range between $1600 to $4000 a month depending on how many acres of crops the custom cutter gets to cut.Count on travelling between TEXAS and N.Dakota and the the States in between you get to see some mighty Big Country!!! 
i went and took a look at the archives as you said…thanks for sharing that with us. May I say that at some points of my trucking life I have been on building sites for a week at a time and one thing I know for sure is that you Irish boys sure know how to eat, drink and have good time and I was always made most welcome when ever I returned to site. So I shall assume that it`s a blast and a half when you lot go on harvest despite the hard work.
I just been and looked at some of those sites from the archive…I reckon Taylor harvesting would be good for me because my son lives in Canada…Taber near Lethbridge and taylor has a trucking link called Commodity Carriers in Lethbridge…just ttalked to she that must be obeyed and so far there has been no negative fibes…lol
Lets just say that there are some little Bars in the pairies of Colorado,Kansas,Oklahoma etc, who still haven’t recovered from 14 Irish boys “on the rip” from working 20 hour days the previous week!!!
Ref Taylors harvesting They are a very good outfit with top of the range Peterbuilt trucks and J.Deere combines,If you speak to them ask for Ivor,he’s a N.Irish guy who worked for them the past 6/7 harvests and tell him Andy from Altendorf’s was asking about him!!
Paid airfares???I think I got jibbed.Did the harvest in 2002 and it was pay our own way,CDL(US Semi Licence)was paid for by the employer,as well as the accommodation and food.
There is an Aussie company that recruits for USA highway drivers for longer work permits than the harvest-havn’t dealt with them so can’t give them a testimony-One stage they were recruiting for UK drivers as well;
www.truckersforusa.com
They are also looking for USA Harvest Drivers.
No harm in working the harvest,you will never know unless you give it a go.
You where duped Boots!!!
Under the H2A temp workers visa regulations your employer in the States Must pay your full return airfare if you stay the whole season,I had to come home slightly earlier so I got 50% of my airfare paid back,The guy’s who stayed on until 15th Dec got 100% paid back.
Mmmm,very interesting Big Truck about the airfare situation in regards to the H2-A Visa.I went over my contract and there was nothing about airfare compensation.Makes me think why when South Africans joined us one of the blokes asked for his airfare and it wasn’t resolved by the time I left.
Might have to contact the US Consulate/Embassy for explicit clarification as our airfare was over AUD$2,500.00 and speaking to another bloke on the same tour ,he was unaware of the air ticket situation.
He left early,as most of the blokes did,a/c the conditions and working hours etc were a lot different to what we were told and not all employers around the world are truthful and honest.E.G. we were to be paid when we obtained our CDL,no probs with that,just that when we hit the ground it was full on working and the dates for our CDL exam were always put back with a variety of excuses.Two months later we recieved US$325.00 for 8 weeks work…
Thats one of the reasons there was a need to recruit South Africans to replace the blokes that had had enough.
Just a warning to prospective harvest workers,not all employers are like that,but there will be some.
If any of you know any British drivers who are able to obtain a work permit or Green card. My employer has told me he will take on anyone British provided they can prove two years driving class 1 HGV. He will loan them a truck for the test.
Darn, that’s me out of the picture on both counts, no easy way to get a visa, and no green card, and also, I drive class 2… ■■■■.
He just wants brits because we can reverse
If it’s an employment visa, the employer needs to apply for those, not the candidate. Heck, since you need a CDL anyway, why not train up fresh drivers too? If he’ll consider newbies as well, I’m up for a go.
It doesn’t matter if you have class 2 because it means nothing here. You have to get someone you know in transport over there to say you have been driving class one, thats all I did, although I have been driving class 1 since the mid 70’s all I did was get an old boss to fax a letter saying I’d been driving them for him.
Employers cannot arrange the work permit unless it is for a job that is highly skilled, CDL drivers don’t count (unless you are mexican then no body seems to care. 
I hardly ever compain and am treated like a god by the company, I do not run bent (well … realy unless its for my own sake) the others are unreliable and just go sick or complain no matter what the are asked to do. This all came to a head on Friday because one of them swore at him because he only had a 160 mile (Each way) trip on monday and said he was traeted like an idiot (which he is), the same driver complains if he gets sent further so there is no pleasing some guys. The same driver threw the free company thanksgiving turkey across the yard calling the boss a cheap “%&$*(&%”.
This final act did it for the boss who turned to me and asked how many British drivers I knew of who wanted to come and work here because he will take them on.
Pat,
What about guy’s who have the full CDL,social security number and bank account but no green card or work visa but have just done two seasons on the harvest? They will be coming home soon and might be tempted to go back out on a three month vacation visa and stay a bit longer!!! 
What is the pay rate,where are you and what kind of trucks does your boss run?
We are only a small company (16 trucks). The pay sounds bad but isn’t when compared with that of others I talk to because we get payed for every stop, reload, waiting time, unloading fee’s etc. I earn between $750 - $950 a week and only work monday to friday, I am home most nights in the week, you can go further if you want and earn a lot more.
My ss card actually states “For employment use” if you have this you may stand a chance. Give me your email address and I will send you details of the company (phone etc).
The trucks are various :- Volvos, Frieghtliners and some old Macks. the later are usually used as spare trucks.
Pat, if you seriously think I have any chance worth going for, email me. I’d love to do it. I am sure I can get at least one reference that refers to “trucking” without too many specifics on what precise vehicles. Besides, I’ve reversed an artic before, and I am sure I’d do well at it. Heck, I’ve signed up to do the harvest thing over there myself. Maybe if I get a CDL and so on, it’ll stand me in good stead later on if nothing else.
Alicat, It’s more than just the CDL A you need to have a relative or quite well off friend to sponser you. Once an application is in place they give you a temporary work permit so keep you going as they process the Green Card application.
If you were succesful in getting over you need to take the ‘theory test’ to get a permit (this involves memorising a book like the Bradford telephone directory)
If you manage to get the temporary work permit my boss would as he did for me give you a days practise before taking the test.
I cannot help you getting the work permit … I’m sorry about that.
Hrm… got a friend or two who would sponsor me. One down.
Next?
I have known of several companies since I came to the States that once they had one or two Brit drivers they wanted more and more, yes we do have a much better work ethic than the ‘septics’, unfortuately and MS Carriers was a prime example., it is the paperwork and fees that are involved that tend to make companies shy away from hiring the likes of us in large numbers.MS Carriers sunk somewhere in the region of half a million trying to circumnavigate the system, although they did end up with about a dozen Brit drivers and two Brit recruiters for thier money!
KingJim and I (when we ran together on Containers out of Atalanta) toyed with the idea of buying a couple of extra trucks thrn bringing over some Brits we already knew (by the way what happened to Gullible Pete, Jim?)
Another small trucking company that was run by a fellow Brit tried too, but was thwarted by the Beaurocratic nightmare.
Pat,
My e-mail address is = BigTruckno1@btopenworld.com I’m not promising anything but when the guy’s come back from harvest 03 I’ll put it to them and also some of the guy’s who went in 2002 but didn’t go back this year because of the long hours and “rough” trucks!! Our social security cards say,Valid for work only with INS authorization,I take it they should be alright then?
I have emailed you.