Coming to trucking. First post on this forum. And I'm excited! Airborne!

Hello there everyone. Nice to see a good set of fellas and ladies on this forum that have the interest and drive that I do for this. I'll introduce myself...

My name is Thomas, you can call me Texas Boy as some of my old military friends called me. I am a veteran, served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Army as an Intel Analyst. I left service in 2012 due to a gen/ w honorable discharge and have since been hopping from job to job in the civilian world over here in San Antonio Tejas, dealing with jobs such as customer service and sales.. None of which I never saw myself doing. But as I have lost my TS security clearance it was really my only choice given the training I had in the military.

Well I just turned 23 last week and decided now that I was of age for most trucking companies to give it a shot and go for my CDL. I've always loved to drive far and long and have been driving since I was 13, regular cars, not trucks. Pops had me drive state to state when I was a kid when we traveled.. Not safe but oh well, I liked it.

After doing my research and weighing pros and cons, calling numerous companies, and making sure I had enough finances and time available, I have chosen to go through paid training through CR England in Dallas...

Yup.. CR England.. Why you ask?

Well after researching and calling the bigger companies, they wanted people with at least 3 - 6 months OTR before giving me a chance, as well as a CDL License. Most paid CDL companies (In my area)..(That I have available) wanted 1 year contracts and definitely were not going to pay out well in the long run. And CR England is the only one (Locally) that will accept me doing a 6 month contract as a way of paying back the school and training. Plus I have a 17 day old son at the house that I would love to see and be around more after those 6 months.

So I have made up my mind. I will go to this dreaded school that everyone talks about while my gf works back home so we can have 2 streams of income for the bills until I get these 6 months out of the way ASAP and move on to the greener pastures that everyone talks about. Preferably Schneider, Roehl, or TMC as I heard they take care of their drivers well.. And of course anything locally in SA that is good for home time and pay would work as well.

Well I just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce myself to yall. I'm hoping for a very positive and uplifting career change for not only me but my family.. AFTER CR England.. and hope to have a great time on the forum with yall!

Take it easy,
TexasBoy

 

Please to meet you, Go Spurs!

Yes I'm very interested in going for as much certs as I can while at CR England. Not sure how I'll manage time going home to get em but hopefully I can work something out with them. I've been looking into the tanker field.. looks very promising for good pay and home time around here, being as we're not far from the oil field towns out here. Nice to meet you Rockinchair!

 

Pleasure to meet you Dr_Fandango44, and thank you for the advice.

I understand it will be something that could be difficult but I am ready to give it my all so I can leave the 9to5 rat race and move on to better things for me and my family. I got lucky I guess, saved 3 months from a regular 9 month contract cause I'm a vet and only have to do 6 lol and grateful for it from what I've been seeing.

Most companies I've been looking into hire with 6 months exp, so I will be looking around then.. god's willing everything goes great in school & training. Only way I'd stay after 6 months is if they offered a local position or route down here and I'd stick it out for 6 more months to get a full year exp like RockinChair said. Grateful that they are giving me a chance though!

 

Hooah Indiana RED. Lead the way!

Hoping for a great career with this industry. Been hell since I've been out no doubt, but I'm hoping the past 3 years was just a test to see if I could make it this far.. Praying to the airborne rangers in the sky!

 

Roger that! I hope you have a great transition my friend. I'll keep yall updated how it goes