CDL Prep Jobs

Hands down -- the clear winner -- no questions asked, or needed:

New To Driving

-- L

 

Some local delivery jobs hire 18 yr. old drivers.

 

Local construction companies, local food service delivery, school buses (most states only require you to be 18), towing companies and repair garages. Learning how to be a truck mechanic will be a great head start for a future driver. Maybe even work at a truck dealership as a lot attendant, detailer or porter (fancy word for the guy that pulls the trucks around for service and customer delivery).

My career began at 16 hauling scrap cars for a local junk yard using a Chevy 2500 pickup truck with a electric boom mounted in the bed, then at 18 I was hired as a lube tech, later full diesel mechanic, and driver for a local school bus company. They got me my class B first, then at 19 they got me my class A so I could become a CDL third party examiner and drive our tow truck to bring in broken down buses. AT 19 I also was working part time for a local towing company on nights and weekends and at 21 I was able to get my first interstate driving job collecting used motor oil in a tanker truck, then went to work for an auto auction as a tow truck driver and the rest is history.

 

A job for a teenager that pays well & isn't a placeholder job? Any job pays more than not working. Stay employed at one company to show a stable work history.

The only job I know that gives experience relevant to CDL driving is agriculture trucking which doesn't require being 21.

Most newbies show up with big gaps in job history because they quit a job if asked to do something like talk to a customer or not make TikTok videos at work. Working at McDs with no gaps in employment is a better start than most because showing up on time, working a full shift, showing up again is about all any employer can possibly expect from the current crop of TikTok & Instagram worshippers.

If I had years to prepare I would prepare for something better than CDL work. Any other trade pays more, you sleep at home, have a normal life.

 

A solid point there: if a kid wants a "normal" life ahead -- then it's probably best to stay out of trucking.

On the other hand -- if a kid is like I was: a clean slate, no spouse, no health issues, no local commitments, no pets...& no kids (no kidding!)...but wants a skill set they can use pretty much anywhere.....& has a pretty bad case of wanderlust....& needs/wants a job....then driving might just be a worthy option.

For me...."normal" = boring.

Variety was/is the spice of life. The view out of the office window (which I never had, while working in an office) is always changing.

-- L

 

The problem is the teenagers, not the jobs. Teens have no discipline, no attention span, and blame the world for what they do. They refuse to adapt to the world because they are 18 year old toddlers not future adults. I supervised teens & 20-somethings in the last year. Everyone should prepare for every functioning system to stop working as these toddlers enter the workforce.