Have CDL A with all Certs, but need training & job

I'll give you the same advice I give others that have no school experience. Try the oilfields. They are desperate right now for warm bodies with CDL's. Having hazmat would make you even more marketable but with the certs you have you should be able to find something hauling water or sand. Most of what people say is go to the company and tell them your looking for work seems that's the best way to get a job.

Other people have suggested construction or hauling for concrete/dirt companies. May have a hard time getting a class A job but might settle for a class B to get a little driving experience.

 

Look at some of the beverage companies. Often this time of year, they add a second person on the truck to schlep freight faster. More stops per truck. You will get some driving time with them. They look at these 'seconds' first for filling open positions.
Pepsi, Coke, Budweiser, etc.

 

Hey Quickbill, Having a A CDL and getting it on your on is a hard sell, most Companies perfer you go to a School for training, probable get a kickback. You may also want to check with some farmers to haul grain, I know a lot of guys got their experince that way.

Good Luck!

 

I'm in pretty much the same situation as QB. CDL A with Double/Triple and Tanks. Used to have my HAZMAT but when they introduced the background check and fingerprinting I wasn't using my CDL so I opted to save the $100 and didn't have it done. I have nothing in my background preventing me from getting it again though.

It's harvest time right now and there are farmers looking for harvest drivers, but every major carrier I've seen wants OTR experience. And a couple years at that, not just a couple months. How would hauling grain or such get your foot in the door of a "real" carrier?

 

It would get you the time behind the wheel that you would have gotten in a school and the carriers who hire new drivers out of a school would probably take you at that point. Also just because a carrier advertises a minimum experience they won't consider less for someone.

The farm work is just a place to get the driving experience you didn't get in school so they can overlook that you got the CDL without any driving experience.

 

For both of you it is going to be lots of hard work, shoe leather and phone calls for a small possibility of finding work.

Most all major starter companies will require experience or approved training. Insurance dictates this. Besides these companies often make big money through training, tax credits and running you team for nothing during training.

I would never say you won't find a job if you want to beat the pavement. I will say your odds are extremely low. The fast track to a driving career is driver training followed by company training.

Here's my standard copy and paste advice. It is aimed toward helping new drivers avoid common misconceptions, pitfalls and disappointments about the industry. I hope you find something of value in it.

You need to research and find out what the important questions are. You can make an above average living but you will make sacrifices that other jobs don't require. Read the "good companies" and "bad companies" section on this forum and get an idea of what company you want to work for and what kind of trailer you want to pull. Don't just go to school and then try to figure out where to go.

I don't know your financial situation. Don't take training from a company if you can afford it or get it with financial aid. You will be their slave for up to year. If you leave they will trash you DAC and credit record. Check out your local community colleges and employment office.

Just know that most training and trucking company recruiters will do nothing but lie to you. They will let you talk about what you want and then tell you what you want to hear. Trucking is about moving freight to make money for the company. Your home time, family, paycheck and everything else comes second.

It is not like any other job. Local is usually backbreaking delivery work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. Often you unload dozens of times a day or you are a salesman. In my area most dump truck jobs pay less than a good factory job. Regional is lots of loading and unloading time, fewer miles than OTR and not as hard as local but will wear on you and push your HOS limits. OTR is out 3 - 5 weeks with 3 - 4 days home, less manual labor and more miles.

You'll probably have to pay your dues before you get the gravy job. Weekends off, if you are lucky enough to get something like that starting out, may be home Thursday afternoon and leave Saturday night or home Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Loads deliver on Monday early and you leave in time to get them there. Often your home time will be in the middle of the week.

Regardless of your driving choice, after school you will go through company training. For OTR this can be six weeks to three months with little or no home time. The first phase is usually $400 a week and the second phase is $500-550 a week. Some pay less. One company pays 12 CPM for training.

You don't want to wait around too long after training or you'll have trouble finding a job. If you get out before you have a year in, when you try to come back a few months later you will find they want you to start over. Most OTR companies don't put any value on local experience so it is better for your career to drive OTR first if you will ever want that option.

One more thing, if you have anything that makes you less desirable than your competing job applicants, a phone or in-person interview will often bring the best results. Even if I am the best candidate I will choose face-to-face if at all possible and phone if not. Sure you may have to fill out that online application but that isn't the best way to get a good job. You have to do something or be someone who stands out from the crowd. Do regular follow-ups by phone on the jobs you really want. Too many new drivers just settle for a job from the list the school has. There are many more options available. The school works in volume and looks the best when it says 90+% of our graduates find employment. So obviously they get better results from companies that hire in higher numbers.

Now I'll share some thoughts and opinions on common misconceptions. New OTR driver starting pay is usually about $35,000 - $40,000 annually. It will probably be less if you choose regional because you will drive fewer miles. You will most likely see all the sites you can from the truck windshield on the Interstate or parked at the truck stop. The company will not allow you to go out of route or bobtail around to sightsee.

Other helpful suggestions include attending school in early spring. This will give you several months to acclimate yourself to your new driving career before you have to tackle the chore of winter driving. It also will get you started in the busier time of year when more miles are available to make you more money.

Welcome to the TTR Forum, both of you, and good luck.

 

I appreciate both your responses. Thank you. What about hauling water in the ND oil fields? I have a friend that lives right near one of the big fields (forget what it's called, but it's near Ray, Tioga, Stanley, etc). He is a truck mechanic and fixes a lot of the water trucks up there.

I've driven 16 hour days before in over 110 degree heat and sub zero temps on skinny gravel back roads. I think I could pass muster as far as the working conditions. Problem is, that was 15 years ago. Can't exactly use it as experience to get my foot in the door. So I think it's just a matter of whether any companies would have me without "real" experience.