Hi I am new here and have some questions

Deannainlasvegas,
You and I have quite a bit in common. This is a big change for my family as well. My youngest is 18mo. At least I have 2 teenagers to help out. One thing I learned while I was helping DH find companies to apply for is that the only companies that didn't have complaints on the message board were the ones that weren't on the board. lol. This is a place for people to come to vent as well as get info. If you read between the lines you can learn a lot. My DH mentioned ISS ratings to me when he was in school. Those are the safety ratings for the trucking companies. I did an internet search for Safe Stat because I saw it on here. It took a little while to get used to using it and where all the info on the company can be found but it has useful info on what percent of the inspections end with the vehicle or driver being put out of service. When I read between the lines that tells me whether the company takes care of their equipment and whether they expect drivers to run legal. It was a big help to me. Believe it or not, there are some starter companies with excellent safety ratings. Hope it helps. I'm sure we will find ourselves on the same threads a lot. Good luck to you.

 

The biggest thing your hubby needs to do is keep a good attitude. Don't let the guys in the company fill his head with BS, as that's usually what it is. He needs to make his own decisions and run with what's right for him. As has been said before, as long as he keeps a level head on his shoulders and drives safely, the "starting" companies can be a good jumping point.

I've been driving with CR England for about 2 months now and I'm loving it. I don't listen to the guys sitting around the yard complaining. First of all, why are they sitting in the yard complaining? Duh?! If the wheels ain't turnin', you aren't earnin'.. As long as he keeps a good attitude and takes everything his DM tosses his way, he'll start getting the cream of the crop runs and make some decent wages. Takes some time, but that's the way it usually is with any company you start with. Good luck!

 

I believe that attitude makes a big difference. If this is something your husband really wants to do he probably will look for the good side of situations instead of the negative anyway. If someone hangs out with a bunch of complainers they have to complain to fit in. If you have a good attitude that can be contagious too. I don't mind if my friends vent about bad things that happen but if they did it all the time I wouldn't hang out with them because it would just bring me down. Same goes with this board. If there is someone that constantly complains and never has anything good to say, I skip their posts when I see them. I like getting a balanced view. A lot of members here will have complaints and things they like sometimes in the same post.

 

Personally, in this economy I would stay put for a while. Beleive me, as a master mechanic, he is making more money than he will as a driver for several years. He is gonna average about $450-$600( or even less depending on the company)take home for probally at least 3 years unless he is Extremely lucky. Im not sure about NV, but here in Indiana a master mechanic can make at least $60,000 a year or better and maybe closer to $100,000 depending on who you work for and how good you are. A beginning truck driver will make on the average about $29,000-$39,000 his first year, I have been driving for 7 years and it took me until last year to make over $55,000.
If he really wants to be a driver then my advise would be to apply to as many companies as he can while in school, and dont settle on any pre-hires until at least the last day or so he is there. A lot of companies will pre-hire and then when it comes right down to it they wont actually hire. Most companies make up their minds after you actually have the paper that says you passed. Also, DONT go to ANY company that will "pay" for your school. The facts are that they dont actually pay--you take less money on the mile to begin with and then they only pay a partial amount. Take the higher pay and pay your own school off. When they "pay" for your school, you will be around $.23 a mile. If you pay, you will start around $.30. You can pretty much figure that $.01 in this industry is roughly $25.00 a week.

 

Tim's numbers were not that far off.
Take home for the first 6 months will probably be between 450 and 600 a week. The company's that pay more per mile to new drivers usually have less miles, so it adds up to about the same amount of money a week.
30k a year sounds about right, on the mid-upper to upper end of what I would go into it expecting for first year.