Is there one State or region that is best to start your OTR trucking career in?

That is a great point, I looked it up and there are 7 states with no personal income tax:
Alaska
Florida
Nevada
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Wyoming

I always liked Texas when I visited. Washington and Nevada are also attractive on my list. Thanks for the post.

 

Yeah, Nevada is close enough to the West Coast to catch cheap flights to Asia, it is a good central location to the SW USA trucking region, low cost of living, warm temps so I won't feel shocked comming from living in a hot weather climate. I might just see you there!

I am doing prep on this end to put this together and start a good training school. Everything seems to be working ok so far, I am most worried however about how letting my license laps will effect my employment outlook, it seems the 3 year continuous licence is not just important ot employers but insurance companies. All-in it will cost me about 8K to get my CDL (travel, living expenses, etc.) it will be a shame if I have to just sit on the bench for 3 years before I can do much with it.

 

^ I did a orbitz.com search flying from Bangkok or Manila to fly into Vegas, is sometimes no more expensive, or just $30-$40 more than flying into LAX or SFO.

 

Thanks for the advice. Many people think insurance company policies are 100% inflexible but I know they are not. A small % of drivers outside of policy do not change the actuary table. Big trucking companies pay millions of dollars each year in premiums, they can get a waver for a driver within reason if they want to. The trucking company just needs a reason to think you are worth the trouble to ask for one. The kind of arrangement you suggest would be a great way to not demand a waver, but at least have a chance to try to work that out.

Right now I am looking closely at the Swift new driver program. They run one of, only a few programs that are Professional Truck Driver Institute certified in the Southwest (my research says that PTDI is a legit organization). It is a tuition up front, reimbursement type program and that suits me fine. I like the idea that I can build a relationship with a large carrier up front (it is really a new driver hire program) and if in the end my laps in license is a problem, I will have good, certified training under my belt to try with another outfit.

If not with Swift then l will likely head to Iowa and go to the Des Moines Area Community College program. Also PTDI certified and I like the stablity of a Community College. The residency requirements (only 90 days) seem easy to please (fudge). I will then transfer my whole operation out to Nevada after I get the CDL, hit the bricks and try to work it out to get on the road.

I am going through all of my items and issues to make sure I have my ducks in a row before I apply with any program. I am shooting to start training end of November, beginning of December.

Thanks for all the advice to date!
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Some beautiful homes in Vegas, looks great!