Qusstion(s)

Oh, I don't think PAM is a good idea, they reported a $38.1 MILLION operating loss for the last 1/4 of 2025.
For the night driving, just about any trucking venue requires driving at night. Certain jobs are night specific, like fuel tankers, or peddle runs, but current regulations prohibit running "round the clock", so you may not do many night runs. To be honest, you probably couldn't have picked a worse time for a troubled industry and with seemingly good companies failing, I'm not sure who is going to survive this mess.

 

Being able to drive overnights makes you very valuable to a trucking company.

 

CDL school and paying for CDL school is the least important part of the whole process. The only schools you should talk to are the ones that one particular trucking company recommend. You DO NOT help yourself sorting out the school first. It's like choosing a wedding chapel before you start dating. There's no point to it. CDL schools don't turn away applicants with money, grants, or who can borrow money for school. They'll take your money gladly even if you are blind and bed-ridden. School is usually a 3 week rush job to pass the state road test. You get the other 95% of your needed training at your first employer. Most newbies think picking a school is a priority, it's a formality, and it can be a problem if your first employer doesn't hire students from that school. All schools are not all alike and they aren't equally valued by employers. Remember, school is decision you worry about AFTER you find where you want to work and they want you to work for them.

 

Customer appointment times decide how and when you drive. A few customers are 24/7, most are not. LTL truck driving is often overnight. It's not easy to get into LTL as a newbie. I drove nights for almost 20 years and it is better for driving, but the world operates during the daytime mostly.

 

If u like nights look into reefer

 

That’s about all I did when I pulled reefer. Private fleet of about 30
Trucks, hauling ham out of a local slaughterhouse

 

OTR reefer, usually the company pays for a lumper to unload the truck.
Ask if it's driver unload or not.
Rowland Transportation

 

Benny Whitehead is OTR. Must run teams for first 12 mos., then can go solo.
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BWI Trucking is a trucking company based in Eufaula, Alabama, …
Experience, integrity, and a solid track record have earned Benny Whitehead Inc. a reputation as one of the nation’s leading freight transportation companies in both temperature control and dry products.

 

You live in Melbourne. How long have you had a CDL?