"Mature" Newbie needs some help!

For the training companies them making lots of money is more important than your hometime. If hometime is important then starting in OTR trucking will just be an exercise in frustration. If you don't have a high income requirement and can afford to pay for community college you could find a local type company that carries high risk insurance but the pay is usually half that of a two year experienced driver if you can even find someone like that where you are at. Good Luck

 

Getting your initial training through a community college is a great idea. Plus the WIA $$$$ boost is a real winner.

The down side to getting trained at a community college is that many graduating students are jobless at graduation. I did the company-sponsored deal with Swift so, basically, as long as I minded my p's and q's while in the academy, at orientation and with my mentor I had a job with Swift once the mentor-training was successfully completed.

I began driving solo for Swift early this month and during that time I've been home twice (right now is one of those 2 times). Twice a month is more than enough for me but I certainly understand that many, if not most, drivers would like to see the home fires more often.

What I think I would do is get on the phone and/or computer and contact as many carriers as you can that move freight through your area. Being that you are in N Tex, there should be plenty. You need to know which carriers actually hire out of your area. You might have to develope a love for large carriers-at least for a while. As I understand it, dedicated runs are not there for the taking.

You should be able to come up with a list of at least 25 carriers that are possibilities. You might, out of those 25 possibilities, end up with 3 or 4 realities.

Don't be too worried about driving for some of the "big boys" for a while. Keep everything good and soon enough you'll have 1) opportunity for more hometime and 2) oppotunity to become more selective because you will have some miles under your belt.

Whatever happens, be safe and courteous!

 

Just make sure you come up with a good sized list of carriers that are hiring from your area. That's the first step in the weeding process, in my opinion. Good luck and keep us informed about your progress!

 

Really Texoma all the large companies are pretty similar......what you have to do is like oldie said get into the brass tacks with the ones that higher in your area. kinda separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Find out which one "says" the most stuff that match your list of priorities. The larger companies will work with you it's just a bit trickier to figure out "how " to make it work for you. That is done just by going there and unfortunately dealing with it for a while till you hit the right spot to either get out or find that you are comfortable with the way you are paid and run.

 

Good luck.

 

TexomaStyle, saw you browsing the transam thread. Not sure that would be the company you want, tho it is in your area. Have you checked out DOT foods in Ardmore, OK or looked at some of the local rock and gravel companies? How bout the oil companies and hauling water for them. Just some ideas for ya.