Howdy from Toronto. Thinking of joining the dark side..!

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster living in Ontario, Canada.

I'm currently thinking about getting my AZ (semi) license.

For the past few years I've been working in the cross-border logistics industry as a manager. While I'm currently handling more of the technical aspect of our business, for a while at another company, I was managing a small fleet of straight and semi trucks and drivers.

I find the industry interesting and am thinking about getting an AZ license as a bit of insurance in case the economy goes kaput and my current job goes along with it. One constant in my time in this career has been the lack of drivers, and drivers savvy with customs and other back-end stuff are unicorns.

I'm currently pretty well paid and driving will almost definitely be a pay cut. But it seems like after a year of work the pay gets better. And I believe that the demand for trucking will be strong even in a recession, whereas hiring for my current skill set may stop or be underpaid.

I'd probably pay cash for the required training ($5-10k here) and maybe find some part time / weekend local cross-border driving work to slowly build up experience and just enjoy driving. I have a decent network of companies that could probably figure out something for me to do.

Aside from the usual gripes that the industry is going to hell in a handbasket..does anyone have any advice, warnings or useful information they could provide?

Sorry for boring you with my life story, and thanks in advance!