Being with your kids are more important than money in my opinion. Since you have a CDL you should not have much of a problem in finding a job. I would look for something dedicated or local.

__________________

The odds are against us, and the situation is grim - sounds like fun.
- Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek Generations


Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit

I agree with Curtis. Go local. You'll want to watch your kids grow up.

OTR trucking companies more or less steal your life, and you get nothing in exchange for that fact. Sometimes, you'll actually make more at a local gas station running a cash register and watching the hot dogs spin on a roaster for 8 hours.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Ok here goes my 2 cents worth. I was over the road for almost 11 years while raising a step son with my Ex Wife. He turned out fine and as a matter of fact has his CDL now and is over here in Iraq doing equipment operators job. But the key to all this like has been said is with the strength of the other person involved and are they strong enough to handle being both parents and haveing you be a part time parent. As far as the 2 years over the road take it from one who has been away almost 4 years now i put in those applications every once in a while to see what comes back and they are drooling to get an experienced driver with a clean record. So experience and a clean CDL will get you a job about any time you want. Now as for local or something i have no idea there are no local companies where i live in Oklahoma and i wouldn't drive local for it i just aint in to that thing. Give me the open road and 1000 miles to run and I'm a happy camper of course i was an owner operator to long and can't take all the company bull about you can and can't do this and that.

Mindbender - I think you were asking that local question of me? I started OTR before I got married, before my boys were even a thought that I might want a family. After I had my first kid, I wanted off the OTR junk - never thought any local job would pay anything. But - there are plenty of local jobs that come available that pay quite well if you can land one of them. Just a while back, there was an advertisement in the paper for a company needing 2 drivers to haul products to prison commissaries - I applied for it with a friend - we lost out to guys that had even more experience than either of us. That job was advertised at almost 70k, home every night or close to every night.

And anyway, I had spent so much time OTR, I was ready for a big change. Now, I'm in a giant company that promotes from within - and I'm looking forward to actually getting out of trucking altogether in the next few years and running a store. I just figured when I was able to I would go back over the road - when I WANT to versus NOW- I don't want to at all!!

Well I decided to go with Transport America. They are promising me on there southeast regional that I will be home on the weekends. I know what to expect but as long as I am home somewhat I can handle it for a year. I have thought about the kids issue and I believe that if I can do the year or so it will be helpful to me in the long run. I love my kids and my wife is strong and our Lord is strong to help us thru the being away part of it. A year goes fast anyway.

I'm in total agreement with the fact that the spouse at home with the kids needs to be 'strong', positive, and be capable of keeping on that brave face even when hearing Dad (or Mom) won't be home like they were told they would be. I'm the one that's left taking care of the home and kids, my dh started driving OTR back in October full time. It was rough for a bit, but I am positive that the way we handled the situation (even when home time didn't happen for twice as long as we though) helped our kids to handle it without too much trouble. I would imagine that if the spouse cries and whines about the absence, that would make the kids a complete emotional mess. I refuse to do that to my kids.

Plus...the comment about the military families is very true. I have a friend who's spouse is heading out in March and will be gone for over a year. She has 4 kids under 8, and one with Leukemia. That family makes me really grateful for my dh being home for even just a few days each month. No whining here!

I've been a local driver for over almost a decade now; & all my bad experience with OTR companies have made me biased & vindictive of them. Until I hear reports that they've lowered their driver turnover rate down to 25% or less, I will always advice newbies to try & stay away from OTR as soon as they've established their 1+ year of driving experience. If U can't find a local driving job in your area at this moment, I recommend to stay with your present company so that U don't give prospective employers that you're a job hopper.

Most hourly-paying driver employers don't like applicants with job hopping history. A lot of these OTR drivers can never qualify for a local driving position because their employment history has averaged 2 or more different employers a year. You start showing yourself as job-hopper, & you're stuck as an OTR driver for at least 2 years. I pull for a grocery chain (Teamster union benefits), & it took me 3 job interview attempts & over 2 years to finally get my foot in the door. The 1st job interview, "NO! U have an unstable work history!" 2nd attempt a year later, "Saaay, you're still with the same company since we last spoke to you! If you can show that you can stay with the same employer for at least 2 years, then we'll overlook your past job-hopping history." On my 3rd attempt, they see I've stayed with the same OTR company for over 2 years, & they finally hired me.

I'd stay with Maverick; ask if they have a dedicated or local run available. Now that you're an established driver, not building up a job-hopping work history is crucial. If you go with another company, stay with them at least a year B4 you move on, unless an opportunity for an hourly paying local job opens up in your area. Pay close attention to all the fastfood restaurants, 24-7 convenience stores, mom-&-pop grocery stores, and restaurants in your area; to see how often they receive their supply deliveries.

Talk to the drivers delivering their supplies to find out where their distribution warehouse is, and a phone number. Call the warehouse to get in touch with Personnel / Human Resource Dept. If no openings are available, ask if its OK to email, fax, or mail a resume (save gas & time). If you email, you should receive email confirmation that they received it. If you fax or mail, call them to confirm that they had received it. After you've confirmed that your resume is on file, call back once every 2 or 3 weeks to see if there's an opening. If they say NO, just say thanks & hang up (don't identify yourself, unless they ask. Don't take up too much of their time). If they say YES, then give your name, and the date that you submitted your resume. Get the person's name, & that you'll call back later to confirm they had pulled your resume from the file record, & you're now a driver candidate.

B4 your job interview comes up, Yahoo / Google search the company to research its background. Most companies now have a website to accept orders over the internet. The job interviewer may possibly test your ability to articulate yourself, because you're going to be in contact with customers, so demonstrating good communication and people skills is crucial to prove to the interviewer you'd make a good representative of the company as a driver. Questions he/she may ask are:
"Tell me a little bit about yourself."
"Why do you feel you're the best candidate for this position."---(Give your strong points; you're patient, always keep a cool head, never easily agitated or provoked, will keep quiet & listen to other people's complaints/ reasons, B4 calmly suggesting a solution to peacefully resolve a conflict matter, etc...).
"Do you know anything about our company? what we do? Our mission goals to our customer?"----(this is why you research the company's history. I was unprepared for this question on my 1st job interview.)

When you answer each of these questions, be prepared to give at least a 45-second long response, but no more than 2 minutes long. Make eye contact while speaking to the interviewer, speak clearly & show confidence. Watch "Face The Nation" to study body language and oratory skills; try to mimic these politicians when you're talking to a job interviewer.

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Here's some online job leads in the SC state area. I could've narrowed it down more, but U didn't give your zip or town/city you live in.

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Besides the online job listings, call up the driver leasing and temp agencies in your area, to see if they've got anything available. If they send you to a job assignment, it may turn into a permanent position where the driver leasing/temp agency releases you from their staff list, and your pay checks are now coming from the client.

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Re #3; Its my opinion that your duties as a husband & father comes 1st, B4 your job. I've seen too many cases of drivers who worked long hours, & began to neglect spending time with the family. B4 they know it, the wife is seeing another man, the kids had started to hang out with the wrong crowd; or he comes home to find an empty house, and divorce papers waiting for his signature. This is the price that some drivers pay to keep OTR companies in business. Your son needs nurturing guidance that only a father figure can give. If you spend quality time with him, you condition him to eventually grow up, & he later applies what he learned from you. He'll set aside time to spend with his kids, because you thought him this value. You put too much time on your job, being away most of the time, & he learns that career & job comes 1st before the family. When his marriage fails because he had neglected his duty as a husband & father, he may turn to alcohol & drugs to drown out & forget his failed marriage. He compounds the problem even worse, & becomes addicted, & eventually cannot function any longer in society. He joins the thousands of homeless men who's lives were wasted by drugs & alcohol. Don't send the message to your sons that job & career comes 1st B4 family. Set a good example of what a good father is suppose to.

Ditto for the wife; take her out once a week or so to do the things she enjoys doing. Make her feel that she made the right choice in choosing you over all the other guys she dated when she was single. Be supportive of your wife, and the investment will pay off generously in the bedroom. When women are depressed/miserable because they feel they're trapped in a bad marriage, they start to eat more & put on weight. Subconsciouly, they turn to food to ease their emotional depression. (Unless she was already obese when U were dating her)

Wow, you are very considerate. I haven't been out for years and years and years. And you're very right. Depression = food. I was a skinny minny all my life... not any more...

Thanks for all the help. I leave Sunday for Indiana. I don't want to go but I know that it will help my family in the long run. I will give this being gone thing about two years max. I will work 1 year then start looking around for a better place. Lord willing I keep my record clean. Thanks for all the support and I will keep you folks in the loop.

Well, I'm just going to have to politely disagree with the job-hopping theory. Perhaps that's true at the place where you got your union job, but I have never heard it anywhere else. I made it a POINT to job-hop until I found the place I wanted to work and stay put at. An average of every 6 months I was quitting a job and taking another one. Not one of these places ever said anything about "you're unstable" because I quit and started somewhere else.

That doesn't include all the job offers I got from other companies that I turned down during that job-hopping period - can only work one job at a time. They also knew of my "job-hopping" past and said not one word about it, yet they were offering VERY good pay - okay benefits, and home every or almost every night.

I will agree with this poster, though, about being home for your kids. It's one of the major reasons I came off and out of OTR and into local driving. I didn't want my boy to grow up without his father being around, if you are OTR, you aren't around much. Your kids need you in their lives more than a phone call saying hi, a stint at home for a day or two and then gone again for 3 plus weeks. That's just my opinion, take it or leave it, but I've seen what happens to kids without their daddies around as a youth minister - sex/drugs/alcohol/dropping out. That's neither the best or the worst of it - kids stealing cars ending up in juvi, kids doing much worse things ending up in adult prison. Or, at the "best" end of it, they don't do any of those things, but still - how much more their lives would have been enriched and that much the better if poppa was around to help them form their ideals and opinions on things in life.