Question:
Do truck drivers or companies allow someone "new" entering the industry to be a passenger in a truck?
Are there any "driver or job shadow programs" to ask questions, observe, listen about the industry and assist the driver.
I can pay my own way, assist the driver with loading or unloading the cargo ( if this is allowed), learn from experience on the road for a few days.
Also, do companies offer tours or visits of their facilities? Like an "OPEN" House to the public.
Have a good day and week. Be safe on the roads.
Answer:

I'm sure you could find someone somewhere looking for free labor.
An O/O would be your best chance probably.

I sure any of the TL OTR recruiting departments would welcome you with open arms.
Answer:
Living in Chicago area in middle of summer I would try to hook up with a driver moving furniture. They always need help. Try a few local moving agent and see what they have. I think Allied has their corporate office around Chicago also.

Answer:
Most carriers will let their drivers carry a passenger with permission. Make sure the truck's owner knows you're on board. Other than that -- it's between you and the driver.
As for a tour: Despite RABELAM's sarcastic cynicism -- he's right. The companys will LOVE to show you around. But it's not of much value, since your objective if you go to work for them will be to stay out of the terminal as much as possible. A beautiful facility can be a terrible place to work, and a grungy terminal may belong to a choice carrier.... You might get more by talking to their drivers off-site, like at a truckstop.

Answer:
Prior to finding my current job, going out to places where the trucks were was my primary method of checking out the company. I went to warehouses belonging to one company and hung out in the parking lot, and hit up a couple of truckstops and caught up with drivers there. I invested a couple of afternoons, but I got a look at the company that would not have been possible anywhere else.
It's an investment of your time that pays off in the long run. Of course, you need to know what you want to ask. You aren't there to just waste their time with questions that you can find out answers to elsewhere. And remember, all opinions are just that, someone's opinion. Catch someone having a bad day, and it can skewer the results.As long as the paperwork's clean, you boys can do whatever you want to out on the road" Mad Max ...1979

Answer:
Or it could be the honest truth.

Answer:
When someone asks, "How do you guys like those paperless logs?",
I always start with, "It depends on which day you ask."
I've given it several different reviews....

Answer:
I'll bet I talked to 35 drivers before I signed up with JB Hunt. Only one was negative. Most were positive but added in a few minor negatives. After I hired on and was with them a few weeks I ran into 3 of the drivers I talked with at a Terminal in East Brunswick. There were several drivers there all like me laying over for the weekend because no loads available. Those 3 were biltching up a blue streak because of all the problems with JB from the time they started there. As were most except a couple long time JB drivers. I asked them why they couldn't be honest when a driver at a Truck Stop asked them about the company. Since they were gunho positive when I talked to them before. They didn't have an answer and didn't remember me. I figured either they didn't like to look like a chump to a stranger or they wanted the recruiting bonus. Either way they lost because they didn't get what they wanted.
Be careful talking to drivers. A few may be honest but the majority are like the above 3.

Answer:

I've got a question. How do you guys get away driving 70 mph across a 55mph state with the fool proof paperless logs?
Answer:

The logs are "fool proof" in that they accurately record your drive time. So if DOT did a papers check and figured you were speeding, I guess they could ticket you for speeding. But it would be for speeding, not falsifying logs.
We don't log to the speed limit, or even think about it that way. Paperless simply records your actual drive time, and your speed between two points is a separate matter. I suppose Werner could compare logs to the speed limit for the road you're driving -- but they don't, to my knowledge. They don't have to compare distances and times for falsification -- like a paper logging carrier would -- beause the system doesn't allow that kind of falsification anyway. So all they'd be doing is checking for actual speeding, which probably ain't much in our 65mph trucks -- so speeding is left between the driver and road enforcement.

Answer:

This answered my question.

Some of those "governors" don't seem to work in the Chicago area.
Answer:
Those are O/Os, who are allowed to pull the trailers up to 75mph. Many buy trucks from Werner, some keep the striping.
Truck numbers 4-20,000 are O/O. (1,2 and 3 are show trucks)
20,000-90,000 are co trucks.
(currently)