I am 36, have 2 kids I only see every other weekend, just graduated from my school and passed my tests and now I am in the where do I go from here phase of this trucking industry. Local will be my goal and hometime will be my most important issue when I chose my first company. The money to me matters less than being gone for rediculous lengths of time.

I am prepared for the OTR screw the new CDL driver ####, I expect it, but I figure someone here might know a good route for me to take. I loved driving a rig in school, I wanna drive a rig for good, but the OTR ######## is just a phase I will be forced to get through to get to what I really want. I want to drive a rig then go home, and I want as much hometime as I can get in my newbie phase as well. I am prepared to go away, but I want the best hometime company in Michigan possible when I go.

My employer had drivers on lay-off recently due to the slow sales of pickups and SUVs. When they hire, they use a local temp agency. You can get an idea of jobs available in your area from the Michigan Works site. There are local jobs hiring drivers in Michigan. You can also post a resume on that .org.

My advice is this,if you want local work,get out the ole yellow pages,ch,truck brokers,trucking companies,construction companies, freight companies ,and especially your local businesss that manurfacture things that would use big trucks,you have home depot,cardinal,door and window folks,lumber yards,food service folks,us foods,dot,sysco,anything that uses trucks. Gas your car or pickup up on the weekend,take your kids with you,and use mapquest to find the stops and addresses before you leave home,check out these companies for equipment they have,types and condition,call them up,or best talk in person to them,tell them face to face what you have done,got your cdl,and want to work and stay close to home with time for your family.Alot of employers are looking for folks like you that they can finish training you their way,take care of you,they want that long term employee with the good drivers record etc. That is not only my advice,this is how i have sold myself most of the time, if you believe in yourself and look them in the eye with a firm handshake,you will come out a winner. good luck,let us know how you make out.

I would suggest that you take a look at companies like ABF, Yellow, Estes, Roadway, and other LTL carriers. Even if you have to start out working on a dock and then move over into driving, they are probably going to provide you with your best chance of finding work that will put you home as often as you want.

And even their dock work pays a pretty decent rate, and they have good benefits packages, and with kids that is probably a concern as well.