New to trucking

I started at 55 and went with Swift. I am still there. 69 now.

But, I was not married so home time was no big deal. It will be harder on you.
Although, your wife could be a passenger.
Although, that truck cab is a very small space for two people.
Although, teams do it all the time as do wives riding along with husbands.

 

57 isn't old in trucking. If you can pass the simple DT physical and drug test, you're good to go.
You're in a good location if you want trucking company cdl school or private cdl school.
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KLLM Driving Academy - KLLM Transport Services

• KLLM Driving Academies across the country offer a 22-day Class-A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL-A) Course (18 days for permit holders) where you earn your permit and Class-A CDL through classroom instru… See more
  

 

Swift Refrigerated – Sign On for the Trucking Career of a Lifetime with Swift Refrigerated

 

could look into swifts flatbed division if you decide to go with swift

 

Stevens Transport | North American Multimodal Logisitcs Provider
9757 Military Pkwy, Dallas, TX
Stevens Transport is a family-owned and operated company that provides temperature-controlled transportation solutions across North America. With over 40 years of experience, it offers …
CDL Training | Stevens Transport

 

I imagine there's quicker ways to get a divorce but trucking will definitely help you get rid of the baggage so you can get back in the game and get you one of those pretty little 49 year olds everybody nowadays wants.

 

If you can adapt to change, like being alone, and have common sense you can earn some decent money if your driving, working, criminal, drug history are spotless. The industry is slow right now so if your record is other than spotless you may wait months to get hired. THERE IS NO TRUCK DRIVER SHORTAGE. That's just a media narrative they used for a few weeks until they invented the next fake news to pretend was going to end the world.

The key is finding a company that matches what you need and can accept. Imagine some stranger asking a crowd what food should I eat? It depends on what you like, your budget, what type of food/meal you are expecting, etc. A good trucking job is one that matches what you expect and need for your family. Staying away from home for weeks is a pretty good way to cause a divorce. Being home "on the weekend" is also hard because you may be dealing with the normal weekly decisions at home AND the daily trucking decisions on the road and your "weekend" is likely to be 34 hours starting some time Fri night when you get home and Sunday noon/afternoon when you have to leave to make a 7 am delivery 1-10 hours away. If you are only getting home every few weeks you might be able to withstand a longer commute than if you are home every weekend or home daily. The more often you are getting home the shorter your commute needs to be. Your life will be easier if you leave the truck at the company yard or terminal where they can do maintenance when you are off work than parking your truck at home EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE ROOM TO PARK IT AT HOME. Parking at home is a major pain in the neck but too many people think it solves all of their problems until they start doing it and get a ticket from the city, their HOA complains, and they have to sit in a truck stop for hours without pay while their truck gets service.

You need to have in mind how often you need to be home, how much money you can accept, where you will drive often, what kind of freight you will haul, how much insurance benefits cost per paycheck, how much freight does your company have to move, which fuel stops the company lets you use, and about 100 other things. It's like getting shoes. The shoes that fit me for hiking are not the shoes that may fit you for running or watching TV. There are a few bad trucking companies and lost and lots of not good and not bad trucking companies. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE DECIDE ABOUT CDL SCHOOL UNTIL YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYER IN MIND. CDL school is a rushed affair and picking an employer is a lengthy complicated process if you do it correctly. If you just work for whoever will hire you without sorting through what they offer you will be quickly in and out of the industry. About 80-90% of newbies stay in trucking for much less than 12 months before leaving permanently. That's just wasted time and money for everyone. Trucking IS NOT like any road trip you enjoyed and it IS NOT like any other job you have ever had before. CDL school is just to get the license but it leaves out the 95% of the job you need to know before you are solo. You learn that 95% riding with a trainer at your 1st employer for 1-2 months. You need to get comfortable with customers treating you worse than some beggar asking for change. That's what made me decide to retire from trucking. I'm not a rabid skunk and I don't like being treated like one so I left after 28 years.

 

Western Dairy Transport
Western Dairy Transport is the nation's largest milk and dairy transportation provider, serving 48 states and Mexico with 14 terminals. Learn about their history, values, services, careers, and …
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