Looking to become a trucker... Seeking advice

Sounds like there are 5 people who have to ATTEMPT to adapt if you intend on going OTR. All it takes is just 1 of the 5 to fail to adjust to make life quite miserable for all. I'd thoroughly check out the LOCAL driving market for both opportunity and pay scale for newbies before I'd spend a dime on trucking school if I were YOU. Good Luck.

 

Make sure you understand the high rate of failure of newbies. When CDL mill recruiters say 100,000 drivers will be needed in the next few years it doesn't mean carriers are adding trucks to their fleet . They aren't .Fleet size is less than it was a few years ago . 100,000 drivers will be needed because OTR carriers have a turnover rate of over 90%. A carrier with 3,000 drivers has to replace 2,700 a year .
Just go back a few pages in the Welcome Wagon and see when the latest post was for some . How many disappeared in less than 6 months ?
Many a wannabe spent thousands to get a CDL only to be rejected at orientation or by a trainer .

 

Run! Just kidding, I'm one of the sick fools that love this job. If you can't stand being away from your family for six weeks or longer, I'd definitely try to get local work figured out before spending the money on school. Over The Road iss where you're gonna live for at least the first year in most cases.

 

I hate to tell you but the trucking industry is full of idiots .

 

Lol, enter weekend dispatchers... I am short on time and ask for a place to get a washout in North Carolina. Dispatcher, "This says you're by the drop in NE." (I don't know what "this" she was referring to but if I say I'm in NC I'm pretty sure I'm there!)) Me, "Umm, ok but the load I'm on is actually going to Iowa..." silence followed with a "Thank you to google!" Grrr...

 

Who the hell stays out for six weeks against their will? I've never stayed out longer than 12 days and wouldn't even dream of staying out longer than 5 days now. I mean if you want to stay out for six weeks, what company would object? But you don't have to if you choose not too.

 

Um, have you read any of the threads over in the "[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Report A BAD Trucking Company Here" section? I believe the phrase with what you're looking to do is called "out of the frying pan and into the fire." I would suggest going to that section of the forum and looking at all the complaints about dispatchers and driver managers, that are telling drivers how to drive the trucks, that are 18 and 19 year old kids barely out of high school. The same kids that have never been inside a truck, let alone driven one to know the lack of mental stability from others, that the professionals behind the wheel, have to put up with on a daily basis. [/FONT]