A List of questions from a soon to be student for anyone who has the time

Yup, I know lowville. I'm stationed at Fort Drum. We have a trucking school program right here on post. Its a great part time program, I love it. But I am ready to move on. At the end of the day its about getting the training to get you the job. Not spending the next 5 months in school to end up in the same seat in the cab in the same company making the same money. What I have found so far is, a rookie driver is a rookie driver. Of course there are other factors that can prevent you from getting a job, like a record or a ton of speeding tickets. But in the end of the day, clean record, driving school.....someone will hire you.....a rookie is a rookie.

 

You have to learn to speak trucking company eze. Weekend in most peoples mind is Friday night through Sunday night. For a trucking company it can mean home sometime on Saturday and leave again on Sunday or early Monday morning. Very few companies will give you any more than 1 day off per week on a consistent basis.

 

I'm in school right now in Texas.

Do yourself a favor and try to find a course that is about a month or two long and less than 6K. They are out there. The purpose of the CDL school is to get licensed. Your company will train you the rest of the way. No reason to spend 10K!

 

Everyone else has done a fine job of answering your questions, I will add for you living in CT you can be home for the weekends easier than most, IF, you are willing to work for a New England regional company. Since you already live in CT you should be used to the NE region traffic, most drivers from the south and west can't stand the congestion you put up with daily, so as long as you don't mind staying close to home you will have more home time than most while staying productive and earning a good living. I am not sure where exactly you are in CT, but there a several regional companies that hire students, some good, most bad. Also, once you have your cdl you may be able to get on at JB Hunt on the C&S grocery dedicated account, it pays well and you can be home daily. A.Duie Pyle is also big in CT and they have a training program, if you can qualify for it you would be miles ahead of many other new drivers. I believe Carlisle out of Mechanicburg PA also hires in CT and hires inexperienced drivers, they do a lot of grocery work which can suck if you are not part of the dedicated account, but it keeps you close to home since that is important to you for your custody issue.

NETTS is not a bad school, you can find cheap and better, but they are not that bad. They will try to hook you up with a large over the road carrier while you are there. Their sales pitch will have the mega carrier covering your tuition, don't do it, you will not get the home time you need from a mega as an OTR driver, regional is where you need to be if you want to be around for your son.

 

My advice is.......make a list of companies and call them all.....ask them a ton of questions. Start with a few companies that you have no desire to work for. That way it gets some of your phone jitters out of the way. There are articles out there with the top questions to ask trucking companies.

Big issue with training with a company is, if you bail then they will get the money from the training back from you. Do your research on company training programs.

 

Never spent much time at Bragg.

After much research my #1 choice for a OTR company is TMC......seems they will get you home every (most) weekends. Pay is on the higher end too to start with, Initial training is kind of long, but being a flatbed company its understandable. We are talking about 7 weeks at $500 a week. Its going to hurt the bank if I go with them. But there is a good chance that I could break $50K the first year.....so worth it in the end.

 

Trucking is not like a job working at a fixed location like a factory or office where you go home at quitting time, trucking never sleeps. Getting home at specific times in trucking can be a bit harder due to unforeseen circumstances such as traffic, weather, delays at a customer, etc. The more experience you gain, the better the opportunities available.

Greetings from a former NETTTS Somers, CT alumnus from 1990. When I attended many years ago it was a 320 hour course spread over 8 weeks at a cost of $3800. Likely other options at better tuition prices, especially if you are someone who can self educate yourself to speed up the process. The Internet didn't exist like it does today when I attended back in 1990. A new driver today has no excuse for not knowing the rules of the road and trucking regulations considering they are just a few keyboard clicks away.

Most carriers pay on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and OTR carriers usually allow cash advances to be taken against your current earnings.

Varies from carrier to carrier. More common with OTR carriers who hire from all over the country, but have limited terminal locations. This is something you can find out when applying to a carrier.

The better you are at time management and trip planning, the easier it can be. If you want more places to park at, drive more at night and sleep in the day whenever possible.

Not a problem finding a job after finishing school and obtaining your CDL. Just be sure of what your real expectations will be just starting out with no experience. The best jobs are often harder to find and have more competition. Make the best of each job and work your way up to better jobs. Avoid falling prey to carriers who promise 50, 60, 70+ thousand a year in earnings, yet have a turnover rate of several hundred percent. Common sense says something is wrong with that picture. Temp agencies can sometimes lead to good jobs too, especially if the company paired to offers you a permanent position. Whatever you do, good or bad, try to stay at each job as long as possible. This with pay dividends years down the road when competing for a good job.

Depends on the details of the accident. A fender bender versus a fatal accident alter your future in much different ways. Focus on remaining accident free at all costs. My personal motto is "Safety First, Never Last..... Have a Future, Not a Past!" The few seconds you take to do what is safe will be much less time than filling out an accident report and all that will accompany it.

Yes, as the captain of your ship, the final decision rests with you. Always good to be aware of weather where you are and where you are heading to. It is also your responsibility under the law. See http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/392.14

It can sometimes be a combination of both or more of one depending on how much effort you put into the job. Some people dream of success, while others wake up and achieve it. Create your own destiny.

Do what needs to be done to take care of yourself. It is also the law, which is there to help you, but it can hurt you too if you are very ill (OR TIRED) and choose to drive and end up in an accident. See http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/392.3




Best wishes to you my friend.