Hi, first post here, great forum....a little about myself before I ask your advice

I'm 47 years old
Vet
23 years manufacturing expericence in supervision and quality.
I'm currently a quality tech making $16.00 an hour at a local window manufacturer.
No degree.
I have a nine year old daughter.
My wife works on an assembly line on third shift and goes to nursing school at a local college during the day and sleeps in the evenings (we dont see her much) She will graduate as a full RN in December of 08.
I drop my daughter off at day care or school in the morning and pick her up after work.
I have a darn near perfect driving record and zero legal issues otherwise.
I dont know jack about trucking and its been a very long time since I've driven anything with a stick.
I live in Holland, Michigan about 40 mins from Grand Rapids.
I'm fed up with my job and want to get out of manufacturing and I'm very interested in trucking. But can I possibly make it work?
With the normal supervision my daughter will need and the unknown schedule my wife will have, I wonder if I should bother trying. My thoughts were to get my CDL asap, look for some kind of way to build experience doing "I dont know what" (maybe on weekends) up intil my wife gets her first nursing job and then quit my current job. I'm sorta confused. Would I be able to find consistent short haul work locally as a new guy until my daughter gets older?
I dont see myself being able to be gone overnight for at least 4 or 5 years.

There are local jobs out there, I would suggest that you look and see whats available in your area before making that decision.

My hubby worked for a local lumber company delivering "house loads" or basic framing materials and joists. The pay was great, until they eliminated his OT. Then it was time for something else. He had to move on.

Cement company's, Lumber yards, and certain construction companies all use CDL drivers that are home every night. But you might have to make a sacrifice in pay to get started in the business.

Good luck.

I can understand being fed up with a manufacturing position, Loohan. I used to work on an assembly line building television sets!

But frankly, if you're making $16/hr you might be hard pressed to jump directly into anything local that has consistent hours and pays as much.

If it were me, I think I would spend several months doing research in my spare time - make a few phone calls to local companies such as Yellow, UPS, Con-Way etc who do the local/regional runs. Find out what their requirements are, what their starting pay is, etc.

I have a bit of familiarity with Con-way Freight, and I know that a lot of guys even with CDLs start out working on the docks then get local runs as openings become available over time.

DON'T BELIEVE the ads in the newspapers looking for CDL drivers from companies promising they'll "get you home most nights." These promises, IMHO, are 95% bullcrap and you'll find yourself sleeping overnight in some hellhole in Chicago or Detroit.

As Bullhaulerswife mentions above, you can often find work in lumberyards, construction, and quarries but the work is often seasonal in nature. (good then is, you can get buy with a CDL-B instead of A on a lot of these.)

Bottom line is, the trucking industry is full of companies who will promise you one thing, and deliver something completely and disgustingly different.
Do lots of research and talk to lots of drivers before you make the jump.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and I hope you find something that works out for you. Let us know!!