Advice on CDL Training and Employment *Noob*

Well said DocHoliday!

 

Whoa, Family Man
You said you wanted to Support Your Family
PRIME Seriously DO NOT LEASE from them, you will end up living alone in your truck and not seeing your kids....
There are better choices out there than them HELL I would quit driving if they were the only company out there.

 

Familyman,
Under the section Good companies there is a subtopic "Company DAC reports" look in the prime section to see what driver who have worked there have to say...

Also ask some of the folks who have gone there and like it.. Get a feel for both sides..
I won't bash any company but there are ups and downs to them all..
Some people on here will help you to become successful at any company, getting advice from those who are successful at a certain company may be key in your success especially for newbies...
It is obvious you have a strong desire, and learn quickly that is a great start.

 

Congrats That is awesome news ...
Keep your great outlook and attitude you will do great and I am sure you will be a success.....

 

good luck familyman, really do wish you the best. look forward to watching your progress thru this. did i miss what division you are going to do at Prime?

 

Congrats .. Keep us posted.

 

Familyman, I don't want to burst your bubble or sound negative but your name says it all! Family and trucking don't mix! Believe me when I tell you this! Despite what any school or company recruiter tell you, you are very rarely going to see home and when you do it is for a very short amount of time. The standard is usually 6-8 weeks out with 3 days at home. Do not believe any one that tells you differently! There are some exceptions but they are rare. There is also the slide of hand trick and wording of home time that they will try to fool you with. When thinking about choosing a company if you want the absolute truth about home time then ask to speak to a dispatcher! You are going to get a whole different answer and its not going to be one you will like!

Getting a driver home to a dispatcher is a huge pain in the ### logistically and if you are a driver that needs to have hometime all the time you aren't going to be well liked. Therefore your dispatcher will use you as the "do boy" and you will find yourself delivering a picking up everyone's loads for them while they run the miles and make the money. This is also known as a starve out. Your dispatcher will do this until your paychecks are in the negative and you end up quitting.

Besides the company policies on home time there is the money aspect of it. If you are going home every other week you aren't going to make a dime out there. Every time you go home your pay gets messed up for three weeks! The week you are trying to get home is slow, then the week you are home is null, then the week you go back out is slow trying to get back into the freight lanes. This is why most owner operators have really fancy, decked out trucks, its because they live in them and never go home!

With this being said, if you are seriously interested in a driving career then wait until the kids have grown and left the nest and maybe you can even get your wife to join you and get her CDL. That's the ultimate situation. Personally I have been in your shoes and embarked on my driving career to try and better things for my family. It ended in divorce and me never getting to see my kid grow up. I missed his whole life growing up and all the little moments that went with it! All the money in the world isn't worth it and I will never, ever get those times I missed back. Nor will I ever have that experience.

Like I said, I'm really not trying to sound negative I'm just trying to highly urge you to reconsider before you invest all that time and money and then find out for yourself a few months down the road that this isn't the right move. Ultimately you will be hurting your family in trying to pursue this and most likely be pushed away from them. This is really not a good career choice for a family man.

I could go on and on about the negative affects and false banter you are going to experience but hopefully you will take these few short words in consideration.