I might be the most retrained driver out there due to the fact that iv jumped from job to job in this industry. So do your self a favor if trucking it the way you want to go. Find a company that is small to mid size with a long history of good standing, stock,safety,employee retention and so on. Ground level might be best, and if you had good schooling unlike me, you can move up fast. But even local trucking you can put in more hours in than some over the road jobs, you sleep eat and back to the job. If close to an airport try air fright forwarding, might be a good start. Anyway Good Luck to Ya !

Good way to put it. some are born to be truckers some will never make it and figures someone from a driving school talking how great they are . go figure

Originally Posted by Nighthawk325

1. Sign on to "mega-carrier"
2. Attend cdl-mill
3. Go out with trainer for 5-9weeks
4. Get out there and run like crazy to show you can and will
5. Start seeing more miles
6. Once obligation is fulfilled 1-2 years take clean record and good service to a carrier that suits your needs/wants or keep rolling with the company you started with if it works best for what you want to do.

Training period 200-350/wk
First 3 months 200-500/wk
6months 300-600/wk
1year 500-800/wk
Usually caps out their with training companies solo. Always the potential for more or less but that's a general average. Its usually feast or famine week to week. Just a matter of finding the right company that fits you.

Pretty good post but I don't entirely agree . Not all newbies get the miles to run like crazy . Many get 1500 miles a week or less .Number 6 - as I have said in other posts there are far more drivers with a year or two experience looking to make a move than their are openings for them to move to .
Company solo ? The majority of OTR carriers push drivers completing training to run team or lease purchase .

Originally Posted by Vito

The industry is not as bad as this thread nor posters on TTR sometimes make it out to be. My guess is, a lot of guys who have less than positive attitudes gravitate to this forum to let off steam. That's why I think there's the constant drone of negativity. There's plenty of drivers out there hustling and making a decent/good living and enjoying the work at the same time. They're not interested in all the whining that may happen here, so you won't be seeing their posts because they're not interested in this kind of nonsense.

Like others have said, it's what you make of it.

Very encouraging post , Vito . You must tell more how you've applied this attitude and the kind of decent living you're making . I'm sure newbies could benefit from hearing what you've made of it and how.

"Could you all be honest with me and tell me if this is a good job or not?"

It's not a job, it's a life style.
A good job pays you fairly for 8 hours a day day Mon thru Fri, with full benefits and you enjoy doing it.

OTR trucking is 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 4 weeks straight, at which time you "earn" 3 to 4 days "home time" per month. When not driving you're either waiting to drive or sleeping in a small bunk in a compartment behind the drivers seat. You're first year you will take home between $1500 and $2000 a month - - if you work hard and are given the miles. What's the longest time you've driven in your life in a day, 10 hours? maybe 12? How did you feel when you stopped? Now do that almost every day for 4 weeks at a time with 4 days off inbetween for 2 years, only you're pulling 53 feet.

It takes a certian character, spirit and fortitude to truck. Some love it, many hate it. It's not a normal life. It's frustrating, exciting, stressful, fun, boring, tediuos, relaxing, exhausting....

It's good that you're getting training in something besides marketing, because once you get older companies HATE old marketing guys, unless you've made it to director or VP...and those will be appointments made by executive management of the better looking guys, with cute wives and 2.5 kids. Once you hit 50 and you're old and single and set in your ways - you start looking into alternatives like buying a franchise or driving a truck...just for some adventure if anything else.

Originally Posted by Keyster

"Could you all be honest with me and tell me if this is a good job or not?"

It's not a job, it's a life style.
A good job pays you fairly for 8 hours a day day Mon thru Fri, with full benefits and you enjoy doing it.

OTR trucking is 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 4 weeks straight, at which time you "earn" 3 to 4 days "home time" per month. When not driving you're either waiting to drive or sleeping in a small bunk in a compartment behind the drivers seat. You're first year you will take home between $1500 and $2000 a month - - if you work hard and are given the miles. What's the longest time you've driven in your life in a day, 10 hours? maybe 12? How did you feel when you stopped? Now do that almost every day for 4 weeks at a time with 4 days off inbetween for 2 years, only you're pulling 53 feet.

It takes a certian character, spirit and fortitude to truck. Some love it, many hate it. It's not a normal life. It's frustrating, exciting, stressful, fun, boring, tediuos, relaxing, exhausting....

It's good that you're getting training in something besides marketing, because once you get older companies HATE old marketing guys, unless you've made it to director or VP...and those will be appointments made by executive management of the better looking guys, with cute wives and 2.5 kids. Once you hit 50 and you're old and single and set in your ways - you start looking into alternatives like buying a franchise or driving a truck...just for some adventure if anything else.

Typical wannabe view of following the herd to an OTR lifestyle . It doesn't have to be that way . Think outside the box. . Avoid the large carriers recruiting from CDL mills . You don't have to be away from home weeks at a time .

Would anyone agree that the best way to make this industry work for you is to own your own truck out right, have your own authority and have a few shippers in your pocket and play golf with a couple of brokers here and there. Plus becoming your own best mechanic and know the freight lanes inside and out. Not to mention a nice cash reserve set aside!