Would You...?

Hi Sufu. To make a long story short (at least I'm going to shoot for that end), I lost a local 'home every day' driving job a few years ago and took an OTR with C.R. England (Big Mistake).

I'm cutting that experience out in the interest of brevity and to keep my temper.

Anyway, after 5 months on the road without seeing my home state let alone seeing home, I caught a flight back and found a national carrier locally (Foodliner). Generally, I would go out OTR on a need basis but for the most part found myself being home every couple to three days as I landed a regional route (Maine to Kentucky) pretty quickly.

I don't know your fiance but, having said that, I do hear you tell us that you both are strongly supportive of each other and do things that encourage your partner's goals and make concerted efforts to help each other. That part makes me think you two have a pretty durable and loving relationship. Her being 21 is not a negative, most females are pretty stable by the time they reach that age... it's us males that never seem to grow up.

You mentioned hauling locally to maybe deliver fuel but didn't tell us if you have a HazMat endorsement on your CDL,... it ain't gonna happen if you don't. Take the HazMat tests on this site to prepare yourself if you haven't and I can assure you, having a HazMat endorsement says a lot about your background (after all, the FBI, Homeland Security and your State Police all run a thorough background check on you before issuing that endorsement). It's less expensive than the TWIC (Transportation Worker's Identification Card) required for entry into Docks and Shipyards and they have not refused me passage simply because I have HazMat which, effectively, is as good or better than TWIC. I've refused to get caught up in the TWIC money grab because I find having two national security approvals over just one doesn't grant better access to anything.

Okay... I said I'd keep this short and it's starting to show signs of longevity... good luck my man and congrats on finding a wonderful woman.

'Bigfoot'
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Your absolute best bet would be for the both of you to get your CDL's. You guys could make some serious money as a team and be set financially in the very near future. My wife and I did this and it worked out very well not to mention we had quite an adventure together!

If this isn't an option then I would highly recommend you find another career if you want it to work between you and your girlfriend. Despite what you hear from any recruiters the average time out is 6-8 weeks. Whether company policy or not this is basically the amount of time you will need to put in to make any kind of money out there. Every time you take home time it messes up your pay for three weeks so as you can see that alone will greatly affect you. When you do get home time it is normally for about 2-3 days and during this time you are frantically trying to catch up on everything that needs to be done while you were gone over the road. It is actually less stressful sometimes just staying out. When my wife and I were teaming we would often stay out for 4 months at a time just for convenience.

Do what you think is best for you but I can tell you with certainty that it over the road driving and relationships don't usually mix well.

 

Check Careerbuilder to get an idea what's available in Phoenix.

 

MCT is an excellant choice,

and they make a decent wage also.











the military is laying off,
glad that wasn't an option for you