OK I'm fed up with the BS and the back and forth.

The guidance you're getting here is good, especially the 'go see 'em in person' advice. The more shops you feel a little personally acquainted with, the better. You'll walk away from each with a little fuller personal knowledge. Get a business card from each and stay in touch. Ask if they know anyone who might be hiring. You'll find that people will give their time and take an interest in you.

It wouldn't hurt to talk to Gordon, Interstate, May and the other large carriers. There are sites that list literally every shop in your state, small and large. For example: http://www.fleetdirectory.com/bylocation/Washington.htm Make it your business to meet someone at each of them and to talk to their drivers. Look at the parking lot. What do the cars/pickups of the drivers look like? At Old Dominion, they reflect the pride of OD, for example. Good incomes = shiny, nice cars & pickups. Don't forget FedEx, UPS and the larger LTL.

But I don't suggest you go with any mega carrier at this point. Do yourself and your family a favor. Take a local job driving straight truck that gets you home every night or as a yard hostler. Your CDL is complete carte blanche entrée. A $10-$12/hr local job will literally beat the pants off what you will make with a starter company, where 80 to 100 hour weeks are standard for about $400 to $600/week. Or less. Where you 'earn' one day off for each week out...

You will also have a much larger 'world' to explore this way. Everything from Home Depot and Lowes, to Wal-Mart and other big box distribution centers, wholesale grocery delivery to restaurants and institutions, for example, small propane tank delivery (need your Haz-Mat to schlep these 60# tanks) to run fork lifts--and guess what? There are a couple straight trucks out back or maybe a semi or two at most of the customers who use these forklift tanks. You can get to know them. And who might be hiring.

Guys/gals driving little straight trucks for contractors to the Post Office make $18-$20/hr and up. Many of those companies have tractor-trailer runs, too. Start on the straight truck, plan to move up to the tractor-trailers within the same company.

Rather you not be 1500 or more miles away for 2 weeks at a time. Right now you can mow your own lawn... take the wife to see a movie--any night you want. Hey! Want a dry run? Start right now eating alone only at Pilot, Flying J, Loves and Petro. Get used to the food and see how you like it... say, compared with dinner at home with the wife or anywhere, just anywhere you want. Line up a couple nearby jobs to keep you busy at least 14 hours a day, just for giggles. Set up a bed and sleep alone in your car.

If you part-timed as a yard hostler and full-timed on a straight truck delivery, you could put in those 80-100 hours a week and see how you feel about it. And make a lot more $$ than you would from a Schneider, Gordon or other mega starter company. The rub of course, is you'd still go home every night to sweetie and the family. Tough. A sacrifice, I know.

Don't forget FedEx, UPS, they'll train you further. Fedex Ground pays pretty well. You can talk to the LTL companies like Old Dominion, Estes, Con-Way, etc. Consider a combo position that puts you part-time on the dock and part-time doing local shag on a straight truck. They'll hire you right off the street for that. Dock work is a great way to get on with the likes of Old Dominion. Sooner or later they'll send you out with a daycab and half-set. You're a dock worker with a CDL who'd like to move up. That door will open! Wages on the dock aren't that bad and $16-$24/hr for local LTL is about right.

But the mega carrier, starter company gauntlet?? Not with sweetie and a family at home. Give yourself some space between getting your CDL and any thought of rushing off to sign up with any mega carrier OTR. There is a reason they are called bottom feeders.

Where you're located, near Seattle (according to Google Maps), you have too many options to count. When those mega carrier guys come to recruit you, run, Paddlefoot, run!!

(Run. Away... Unless you're just really, really henpecked at home!)

 

I live in WA, starting driving 3 years ago and the first year was tough because I didn't like the OTR lifestyle.
That said I've been driving a daycab 5 days a week and home daily for two years now, the first year graveyard shift which was tough but I've been on days with a 7:00 am start for a year.
I like the shift and average 12 hrs a day, not getting rich but I should make close to $50K this year so I'm paying the bills ok and have great hometime.

 

Paddlefoot.. that is an interesting handle... that is the nickname we gave to our youngest daughter because even though she weighs 100 pounds soaking wet , pictures fall off the wall when she walks through the room..

Good luck... unfortunately this is a trial and error business. The very thing you think you would hate to do will be what you end up enjoying the most.

Dont worry about your wife leaving you. If she loves you and is a mature woman you can endure whatever life throws at you.

Again... good luck and be safe

 

In a nutshell, this is what your getting into:

You will be told what to do, how to do it, how long it should take to do it... By people that have NEVER done it. Wait a minute, doesn't that sound like the military?

 

BTW, I'm not old like these other dinosaurs. I'm still quite young! [/QUOTE]

Out of the mouths of babes---LMA

 

A nap does wonders. I'm not old either, my body may dispute that. I went Fishing for shrimp for 3 years.
Great Pay! with a chance of drowning. Truck, less $ but a better chance of survival. Water is flat, the rest is beautiful, trees, women, motorcycles. I chose this.

 

Got two KW's. it's ok. Make them into road trucks. It will work.

 

To Paddlefoot : The first piece of advice i will give you is : Get OFF of these forums! If you let these forums dictate or influence your choices you will regret it. These forums mostly attract people who have failed or are in the process of failing in this industry....OR...they attract "fanboys" at every company who will tell you they are running hard and making a fortune and when they pull into one of their terminals...the dispatchers are standing at the entrance throwing flower petals on their truck as they roll in!

The REALITY is...this is a difficult industry to stick with long term. You may hate it or you may love it. Everyone is different. But....even if you end up hating it...you will atleast gain enough experience to qualify for a good local driving job in your area (assuming you stick with it for a year) and you will be home every night. So, do NOT sit for hours on end obsessing over these forums. All of the big and mid-sized OTR companies are pretty much the same....so pick one and get out there and soak it all in and make up your own mind.

 

After all the years I spent in the industry...like several other folks on here , we collectively don't consider ourselves failures.....pretty broad brush that you're trying to paint a picture with. Your reality is spot on though, with a good attitude and a little luck you can make truck driving a decent way to earn a living , and a pretty good one at that.

 

Failing? Who you talkin' to? I come to see these forums because there are actually a lot of intelligent, even wise, drivers posting on here and it makes me feel better about what I do for a living. Maybe I'm just in a good mood. I gave the boss a warning that the pay had to come up in the next 6 months or I would have to move on...and this morning they just announced the pay raise I had suggested!