My American Dream

If you love to travel don't have any family at home to worry about and think trucking is for you I don't see why you won't.be able to do it you will need a work visa for here save money and get the best training you can afford you will also need ten years of employment history documented . And copys of your mvr I have heard that the uk uses a points system .you may want to call some of the national carriers here and see what they offer and what they will want you to have.to get hired .

 

you've been reading posts that are years old but only joined yesterday?

I'm 100% serious too... it's impossible to drive a big rig in this country from where you are.

just sayin'

'Bigfoot'
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go to canada then run south


http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Truck_Driving_in_Canada

 

what about the green card situation? you got a lady friend over here or something you're going to marry?

 

I live and run in the mid Atlantic and northeast good money but lots of traffic if you just want to stay in your truck once you get started you can live almost anywhere doing otr I have a family and like to get home during the week .

 

Immigrating to US just to come and drive here is next to impossible. You will not be allowed to immigrate here to drive, now if you were a Dr. nurse, or some other professional field you would have no problems. Now if you also were from a non English speaking country ( Pakistan etc. ) you would have a good chance.
You could always get you a female friend over here, marry her, then you could immigrate.
I'm from Scotland, but married a Yank in Belgium so had paperwork done there before I moved here. 10 years ago I tried bringing a lad over from Milton Keynes to drive for me, he ended up getting married to a Yank before we could get him over here.
There's a bunch of lads on the UK trucking forum trucknetuk. that may be able to help you .
best of luck pal.

 

I kinda did the same thing. I read messages on this board, as well as several others for close to 2 months before I joined. I joined this board because I liked it the best as far as topics went. As far as advice to you Tall Paul, I have none other to say, never let anyone tell you that you can not achieve you own dreams. I am in the process of doing what you would like to do. Follow your dreams and "GOOD LUCK"!

 

im not sure i understand the question "is it possible?". if you mean for someone outside the country, i have no idea what the requirements are as far as visas go. as far as the average 42 year old person living in the usa goes, of course its possible.ridiculously easy, in fact. all one needs is a fairly clean criminal record (in some cases 1 or 2 misdemeanors or even 1 felony does not necessarily disqualify a person), a fairly clean driving record (again, in some cases a couple minor tickets do not disqualify), and a perfectly clean blood stream (ie no illegal drugs or alcohol in your system when taking the prequalifying drug test). you also in most cases need to NOT be a diabetic requiring injections, and a fairly good blood pressure.

if all those things are met, then you need to obtain a cdl, which requires either money or contracting to a company that will train in return for a specific amount of time devoted to being a driver for that company. companies with their own schools include millis (best deal ive heard- they demand a 1 year contract and charge you $25 per week during that year...total cost of their school therefore is $1300). there are some private schools that offer financing, but some also offer large discounts for paying up front. (i went to c-1 in indianapolis...cost of school was $4k if financed, but $2k if paid up front. i paid up front, then the company i worked for reimbursed me $100 per month, so cost for that school after 1 year was $800). there are some ways to obtain government assistance for training costs, but perhaps not for someone from another country. no idea.

once youve gotten a cdl, MOST new drivers need to go work for a larger otr company that hires with no experience. these companies have highly varied reputations, and before agreeing to work for one you should research them carefully. two to avoid right off the bat would be crst and cr england, in my opinion. they have horrible reputations, negative reviews outweigh positive ones (that ive read) by 50 to 1 at least. as you will go out with a trainer 1st with any of these starter companies, you would need to have about $500 to $1000 available for expenses (like eating) while waiting for the money to start coming in. if you find a decent company, and are driving 2500-3000 miles per week, you can realistically expect to earn a minimum of $32k during the 1st year as a 1st seat driver (after the period of time spent with a trainer). but you still are eating while on the road, and some spend a large portion of that income on food. its up to the individual to decide whether or not to make and stick to a budget. you can easily get by on $50-100 per week ($2500-5000 per year). you can also easily spend $250-500 per week ($12500-25000 per year).

my first year i made around $39k, but i wasnt very good at budgeting so i probably spent $8-10k on road expenses. i also frequent poker rooms, and i win more than i lose, so in that year i won around 5k or so, which at least cut my expenses in half. but thats what i LIKE to do for entertainment, so i theoretically include it as an expense, agreeing not to lose more than $150 anytime i go, and to not go more than once every other week or so.

its a pretty good life, if you dont mind being alone a lot. after one year experience you can find a good place to work for, and make closer to $50k or more per year. without expenses from an apartment, you could save a good chunk of that, and in 10-20 years of wise investing could have $500k- $1mil for retirement. (50k after taxes is around 35k, give or take. 5k for road expenses per year leaves 30k. 30k per year left under your mattress is 600k in 20 years...invested is easily over a mil.

wish id found it at 22 years old when i was single. my 6th grade teacher suggested truck driving as the career one should consider if you were stupid, so truck driving only occurred to me when i was married and fairly desperate. you can live anywhere in the country you want to, but i think florida and maine are the WORST states to live in for an otr driver ( no trucks go THROUGH either of these, so to get home you HAVE to get freight going TO the state). to a lesser extent, id avoid new york and all states east of it (MA,CT,NH,DE,VT,NJ). id say the best places to live would be in the middle of the country, but only from a logistical standpoint. if i were single, id live in TX,AR,AZ , or someplace else thats warm more than cold. tx has no legal poker, so that would most likely be out as well.

i hope this book has helped at least a little. if ive missed something you still have a question about, please feel free to ask or pm me.