Noobee

Hello,

I'm John, 33, from SW Ohio. I've had my class A since April of '05. I haven't been OTR yet, reasons explained in the next paragraph.

I need a refresher, so I'm possibly starting C1 for USA on the 12th, or 19th if A) it's not too late to change the date, and B) if my wife and kids feel comfortable with me being gone so much and she is still OK with me driving OTR for a while. My plan is to hang out at USA until my year is up, or even 6 months, and switch to an LTL outfit so I'm home every night and weekend. But eating the $6k bill if I left early would suck. I already paid over $6k to Roadmaster in early 2005 only to find out after school that no one would hire me at the time because of a DUI in '01 and a judgment suspension in '02. So far, USA is the only place to give me a chance now, AFAIK. I've applied to over 15-20 places that have CDL mills or hire from them.

I'm currently in tooling and manufacturing, but since our main customer base was in automotive, we are struggling to keep the doors open after most auto plant's have closed because of the economy and jobs shipped south. So I'm seriously considering driving since I haven't "used" my CDL since I got it, and no one will hire you locally without at least 6mths to a year exp. Which you all know that anyway lol.

Anyhow, I was in construction and automotive for most of my working life and always wanted to drive trucks since I was about 10. I only had 3 careers that I wanted to do since I was little, either automotive, the railroad, or driving a truck. I'm done with working on cars unless they are my own, and I worked for the railroad until I couldn't work for a while because of an illness and I was young and dumb, quit before I was able to go back to work. Construction jobs have dried up here unless you want to try to support a family on barely minimum wage and/or came across the southern border.

So, as a "last resort" I've been trying for a driving job. I am familiar with all the good, bad and ugly. My dad drove for about 10 years combined, for Bennett and USA Truck. But, if I take this job, I fully trust God, and I have faith that He will help me and my family through the good and the bad times. Whatever happens, happens, it's His plan.


Thanks for reading, and I might see you all Thanks for reading, and I might see you all on the road soon! I'll be one of the "Han Solo's" you hear from on the CB, lol.

 

Thanks!

This forum so far has been a great wealth of information. If it turns out I don't get out on the road, I will still have learned a lot that, short of hands on exp., they don't teach in a CDL mill.

 

Thanks for the welcomes!

 

I just noticed a major typo and can't change it, lol. There should be an N at the end of my name, lol.

John