Thinking of leaving the corporate jungle to drive OTR

I could really use some advice from some professional truck drivers.

I have been a Sales Manager for the last 15 years, and that means alot of job hopping as no matter how good you are, your job is always tempoary. Pay is usually pretty good, cept for the 3-6 months it takes to get a new job after yours gets cut. I'm fed up with it and am leaning towards my life long dream of driving OTR for a couple of years and then trying to find a local/regional gig. I have a few questions to get me started.

1. How bad do you get screwed by going thru the Swift/JB Hunt/CR Englund type of school? How much do they zap you for tuition reimbursement?

2.Is Flatbed actually a better way to go for miles, pay and less hassles?

3.Which (newbie/screw you over company) is best to start with? I know they all suck, but also know that at first I just need to get good training, as many miles as possible, and not be broke down all the time.

4.Can a newbie make $40,000 his first year if I drive my butt off? I know, say goodbye to wife for a year.

5.I live in Boise, Idaho, so is there a company out here that would be better than others? I have considered May Trucking, close by in Payette but would have to go the long comunity college route first to get CDL.

I am sick of temporary jobs in Sales, and the effect that the economy has had on Sales. I was kicking butt in sales this year, had a great sales team that I had recruited and trained, hit our annual goal four months early, and the company fired my bosses and brought in new bosses who fired me and my team. It happens everywhere and I find myself making $75,000 one year, and then $32,000 the next do to the time off searching for jobs.

I'm sick of suits and ties. Sick of kissing arse. Sick of sitting in an office listening to elevator music. I want to get on the road. I know being OTR is hard, but am also a loner type of personality anyways.

Any advice would be appreciated. I was an 88 Mike in the Army 20 years ago, and could have gotten my CDL conversion when I got out. Wish I had.

 

Lol, I am sure that you are correct. But, at least I will still be working and not wearing a suit and tie.

In my last two jobs I managed a LARGE territory. Monatana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Orego, British Columbia and alberta. It was a four wheeler, but I drove about 1200 miles per week to customers and meetings, and then home again. sometimes I would pull a super tour and stay on the road for a month straight. The driving was my favorite part. I love the road. I don't mind traffic, and weather is weather. In the Army, I drove truck in Korea. That was weird. Hate New York? Try getting lost in downtown Seoul.

My youngest child just left for the Navy, so will just miss the wife. She is a class b tester and manager. She has alot of ex OTR's working for her who said that they quit because they couldn't get the miles.

I suspect more of a "wouldn't take the weeks/miles", but could be wrong.

Calling the local Community college tomorrow.

 

you WILL NOT enjoy driving a truck like you "claim" you do driving your car.......you WILL NOT be able to stop at any motel you want to sleep, as many WILL NOT have truck parking. YOU WILL INSTEAD park at truck stops, and when (not if) you need to use the bathroom, and it's 20 below zero, you have to bundle up, run to the truck stop, and hope and pray you didn't drop "your load" in "your pants", and you had better hope the toilet stalls in the truck stop have toilet paper.....

you have right now, a job of convenience. trucking is full of MORE inconveniences than you could ever imagine.

YOU WILL MIND the traffic in a big rig, you WILL MIND the weather in a big rig, especially when a dumb@zz 4 wheeler spins out in FRONT OF YOU, and either giving you a heart attack, of clipping YOUR truck, causing YOU an accident that goes ON YOUR DRIVING record.....oh yeah, your driving record......get some accidents on that driving record of yours, because you "don't mind the traffic or the weather, and YOU WILL BE just as unemployable in trucking than you could ever imagine....

 

as a truck driver, it has been known, that MANY JOB HOP too....and THIS WILL HURT YOU later on...

just read the various boards, why does this have to be rehashed...????

flatbed pays a bit more, maybe a way bit more, it depends on YOU and the company YOU work for, but i also may add that YOU will be working (tarping loads, checking the binders and so on and so forth, IN ALL WEATHER conditions) and YOU WILL get dirtier too.

again, these questions have been asked and answered dozens of times, pleas GO and read the various boards....

no...yes.....maybe.....it's all up to YOU but most importantly, HOW MUCH freight is around..no freight, means YOU'RE sitting, not getting paid.

check you area for trucking companies.

your time in trucking can be "temporary" as well......rack up "incidents, or accidents, or service failures", and you are history.

your "past" in sales is just that, your past....in trucking, you're only as good as your last haul.......you'll never be anything more than a trucker.

well you better start liking kissing arse in trucking.....because if you want to keep moving, you're kissing......

ok, i am "confused" you got a wife, you will miss your wife, yet you are a "loner"....??? and after some time, you want to go local/regional...???? a loner doesn't WANT to be local/regional....
i'll "give you" 2, maybe 3 months tops, and you'll be wanting a local job sooner, because the WIFE WILL MAKE YOU. i think YOU ARE TIRED of the road NOW as a "traveling" salesman, and you want something better, but to be honest, trucking ain't NO BETTER, as you'll be "traveling" and away from HOME LONGER........you won't last long, guaranteed.

stay in sales, you got it far better than trucking will be for you.

 

You been thinking about it is usually the first step to going. I asked questions for about a year before I made the leap. You drove in the army is a plus. I'd say go for it.
Like others said, there is alot you have to adapt to. It's rough your first year or two. Then with a good driving record you can call your shots. There are many doors to open good and bad.
Flat bed is good. You actually work better hours as you don't deliver in the middle of the night. You work a little harder securing your load and tarping. The construction industry slowing hurt flat bedding, but they adapted to other freight. Pulling a reefer unit has the most dependable freight as everyone has to eat, but you'll work long irregular hours. You can get your foot in the door and figure out what you like later.

Your first year you'll make around $32K and have to pay the school back in that time too. You basically survive. Your second year you'll make around $40K. After that it's how you play your cards. Experienced drivers are making from $40- $85K depending on what you do. LTL (Less than truckload) is where the money is at. Places like UPS, Con-way and many others. You're home every day too.
There are many options available even at home driving a dump truck or a rolloff garbage truck. The sky is the limit.

The rules keep increasing every year and now more than ever it's important to maintain a clean record. It's not like a regular job, if you make mistakes, you'll be paying big fines and your career will go down the tubes.

Search trucking jobs out or even get recruiting books at a truck stop and you can find companies hiring areas. Then you can use this forum to search out the companies and ask questions.

Good luck! This forum is a useful tool and many are happy to give good advice.

 

Rerun gives good advice as he's trying to point out the negatives. It is not like any other job. Being away from the home, dealing with irrate customers, dumb drivers causing you havoc, driving all night to make deliveries on time, lack of sleep, sitting and doing things for free, dispatchers lying to you, trying to find a place to park, dealing with bad weather, etc.... There's alot of stuff that can get to a person and you have to be level headed and have a calm demeanor to put up with alot of the BS. Getting mad just makes things worse. The first couple years gets most because it's not what they thought or they ain't cut out for it.
Some good things is it does get in your blood and becomes a different lifestyle. Seeing sunrises and sunsets never gets old. You meet new people everyday. Seeing the country is always awesome. There's alot of self satisfaction from doing a good job, etc...

 

that's right, Mr. Negativity, strikes again....!!

i wouldn't be doing my job, or living up to my "title" if i didn't tell him the bad stuff right up front.....!!

thanks.....it's appreciated.....!! (really...... )

 

I say jump right in and go to Swift. Probably going to fit your needs/personality. Plus I don't think you will be in the game for long and they are the perfect temporary company. As far as making $40,000 your first year, try half that as a realistic goal. Your first year you are going to be driving, learning and complaining. So that will pretty much take up all your time. If not Swift go with Werner! I think both companies will be perfect for you. Your right about the suit thing. Unfortunately you will probably be crabbin when you haven't had a shower in days! Also don't worry about dressing up for an interview either. These companies will take you with your county issued jumpsuit still on. (you know the orange one with numbers across your chest) Where a nice ball cap with a pot leaf on it, some flip flops and your in there! Just keep us posted on your journey! Good luck!

 

You offer good information, CC,and I enjoy your posts. So this isn't any form of attack or disagreement here... but I suspect that the OP -- as having spent many years in Sales -- knows all about doing work on what most people consider their "own time", getting to appointments on time, dealing with people who lie and want to see you dance for every dollar you earn, and keeping a calm demeanor when there's steam coming out of both ears.

And as for irate customers? He's probably an expert on those!

In trucking, though, people expect drivers to be gruff and grumbly... so he'll probably think it's wonderful that he can scowl a bit when someone screws him over...

I say he's pretty well prepared to deal with a lot of the BS of trucking.