Originally Posted by c_hickman95

After I graduate high school what do I do. Every job as a truck driver says you have to be 21 and have at least 3-5 years of experience. What can I do as an 18 year old right out of high school. I am going to get a job in high school now to save up for my trucking school and CDL. What companies hire 18 year old drivers. I know you cant drive interstate as an 18 year old, but you have to get experience somehow.

Find a job working the dock at an ltl company. Get your cdl, and make it well known that you intend to drive for that company. Wait your 3 years and find a job with a farmer or yard spotting company on the side.

I worked on the dock for Roadway many many years ago. I think working on the dock for a while helped me with trucking.

Originally Posted by vinsanity

The only minimum wage job I ever held was my first summer of working while I was in high school, but that's beside the point. Education never hurt anybody and college will make a person a more well-rounded individual.

I will always advocate educating yourself. But,. just like these kids (And many adults) getting their CDL through a school,.. just because they carry a CDL doesnt always guarantee a job. In many cases it just means they know enough to get themselves into trouble.

I have an associates in engineering and another IT/CS degree. Yet here I am driving to pay back my Sally Mae loans.
My wife of 8 years now was a Sheriffs Dept in Orlando for 8 yrs and a Detective for Pasco Sheriffs office for another 8. She has a 2 yr law degree as well as countless certificates and other degrees based on her profession. She also has a PI license. After 8 yrs Pasco decided to 'restructure' and my wife was let go and only given 6 months severance pay. Now with all of her degrees, schooling and experience, the best she was offered was retail asset protection for $25k yr. She is now back in school learning Massage therapy.

Education does not guarantee anything. I make less money today at 43 then I did when I was 25 and a HS drop out. Times are different. Money is tight.

88M in the Army is a bit iffy.... you might eventually get to run the 915s, 916s, HETS, etc... or you may never drive anything bigger than a five ton. All depends on what kind of unit you go to.
And being 88M isn't necessarily a prerequisite to get into truck driving. I was in as 91B (under the old system - it later got folded into 68W), with no intentions of ever driving a truck. When I got out in 02 and went into the Guard, there were no jobs in my part of Mississippi... I'd gone to school, become a certified EMT-P, and even worked part time in a civilian EMS while I was still on AD... still couldn't find anything. It was my Platoon Sergeant in the Guard who suggested I go get a CDL. So I did.
If anything, you may want to consider the (current) 91B MOS - wheeled vehicle mechanic (which was formerly 63B under the old system), particularly if you ever intend to become an owner/operator. Either you're capable of learning a truck or you aren't - if you are, then it really makes no difference if you start off in an M915 or a Freightliner Cascadia. But learning how to turn wrenches is something you typically don't learn as a company driver, and will prove invaluable for an O/O.
The military, like any other occupation, will have its ups and downs. Two tours as a Combat Medic assigned to infantry units took a toll on me. But I think I came out of it a better person, as well. I'm currently using the GI Bill to go to school. You have to take the good with the bad, you know?
I will also always advocate educating yourself, so long as it's done with a plan. If you want an anthropology degree and want to make something of it, you'll probably have to get a masters for it to be worthwhile. So, if you don't have that sort of a plan, a two year vocational degree which directly provides job skills would probably be a better choice.

Hows UPS for an idea? I could be a dock worker there and then get to be a driver. I'm thinking UPS because they make local deliveries until i'm 18 then I can look around more. It's just an idea but does it sound a like a good one?