Becoming Discouraged

fastSVT,

Do yourself a favor and listen to johnny99. I know you have the fever to drive. Do you want to drive for substandard wages with substandard benefits? If you have to start out on a dock with a union company and wait your turn to drive, do so. You will never regret it. Look at all of the many companies who are written about on this site. Out for weeks at a time? I want to be in my own bed every night. Cost of benefits (if any) and retirement? Sitting at a customer to load/unload and have to give up any time or even not compensated at all? The cost of living on the road in which the company contributes nothing? What about breakdowns and or repairs? Are you being compensated for that time? Do yourself a huge favor and ask yourself if you are doing the right thing. 20 to 30 years from now, when you retire, are you going to have what you need and be proud of what you have accomplished? Take the time to find the right company, you will not regret it, trust me.

Drive safe

 

You may have to go with one of the "crap" companies, and put in a good year or so..... or try to get on with a construction crew.

 

Try a local beer, soda, or foodservice distributor. All of them look for younger guys that can handle a heavy workload. It's a great place to start out, you'll make more money than most OTR drivers, and you'll be home at least every other night.

 

Check with Watkins Shepard....I'd avoid Stevens, hell you'll be 23 by the time you get done with their training. Schneider is good if you like getting no paycheck.

 

I would suggest, like many have a local company.
The problem with this is that your experiance earned driving local will not count at all with an over the road company.
I drove local on and off for the last 17 years. I was 21 when I got my CDL and road jobs were allmost impossable to find due to my age.
Finding a local construction job was easy, just got to a temp company, and you will eventually get hired by one of the companys that hire from them.

I decided to go on the road this last spring and started looking for an employer. I found that I was in the same boat I was in at 21, just now it is because I dont have over the road experiance. So I had to do a refresher course and I am getting paid like any of there new drivers. My dispatcher loves this of course, because she knows I can be depended on to deliver the load on time every time, and I dont ask her all the questions a new driver would.

But anyway, save the money for a good school and go.
The company schools suck, and there are a few really good schools around the country. At these schools you can get government student loans and grants, just like for college. I went to DDAI in baton rouge and they really did a good job. It was a 2 month course and I had to pay for a place to live though.

 

Best bet is to follow a local truck.
Or if you dont mind construction driving jobs you can find a gravel pit, stone operation, concrete plant ect.
You may not want to work for the company that you go to but you can ask them who they contract to for materials and hauling. Most of them have at least some outside people.
Or you can try and filter thru safe stat info for your state. It is a long process because every company with a DOT number in the country is in here, but filter for Intrastate or interstate.
There link is here http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SafeStat/di...dURL=/SafeStat/SafeStatMain.asp&PageN=results

It is the location to go to for all companys in the nations safety ratings.