How long does it take..........

Congratulations, numbers, this is such EXCITING news!!!

If you care for my two cents: I completed training with Prime a few years ago. It was L O N G!!! From arriving with nothing, to getting my Permit, to going over the road with my Instructor, to earning my CDL, to completing 60,000 miles with my Trainer, the whole process took 6 months! You had better like living in a roughly 8x9 foot condo with another man, who you may or may not get along with well!! I think Prime is one of the best paying more major carriers, once you graduate and go Company Solo, however, getting to that point was very arduous for me! Frankly, it was the most difficult experience of my life! It did help mature me though. If you choose Prime, you will make good money during the "Training" portion: $600/wk min when I was there!

So please, consider the length of training with each of the outfits you are considering!

 

The more training you receive the easier it will be for you when you solo.

 

Good luck, numbers. Just remember, alot of people get into this for what some call "the wrong reasons" Some of those people make it and some don't. It's all up to the individual(for the most part).

 

So who did you decide to go with, numbers? And when do you start? Hope you're doin well; haven't seen ya here for awhile.

 

Hey Numbers, welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear bout your luck man that is really terrible! Fortunately you have the cahones to pick yourself up and do what you have to do!

With the companies you have listed for choosing from I would highly recommend Central Ref. Both my wife and I drove for them and were treated like gold! They really go the extra mile to help their drivers succeed and this was very important to us. On many occasions they went way above and beyond to help us. They are also very understanding of drivers that come to them that are down on their luck and do their best to help them through the bad times.

If you are interested in Central they will pay for everything! Including your transportation out to them and even lodging and meals. They are also very good about giving advances and like I said, helping drives down on their luck. In return though they expect to have a professional driver representing them.

This is just my personal opinion. I have worked for many companies in my 16 years on the road and Central ranked number one. Besides their kindness and treating drivers like human beings they also have some of the best equipment out there. Their pay is about average but they keep you busy and there are many, many bonuses every month in which you can make extra money.

There are many good and bad companies out there to choose from and like I said this is just a personal recommendation. Make a list of your wants and needs and choose a company that is going to best suit them.

On a side note.... you can live in the truck and not have to ever go home. You have the option of taking time off wherever and whenever you want. If you are in Cali at the beach and want to take a day or two and get a hotel then you can do so. Up in Colorado and want to go skiing for the weekend? Go for it! That's some of the perks of this job. However if you choose to live out of your truck you will need an address in order to have a CDL. My advice would be to get a P.O. box at the UPS store. Not the post office! At the UPS store they actually provide you with a real address and this will suffice for your CDL license. For instance if you decide to go with Central, when you are out in Utah go to a UPS store and get a P.O box. They will then give you the box number and the address and this is what you will use for your license. You will then be a resident of Utah. You can actually do it wherever you want I just this for an example and whenever you went to the terminal in Utah you could take the company van to go check your mail.

Good luck to you in whatever you decide... Keep us posted!

 

Wow, great to hear from you, numbers! We thought you disappeared on us, when all the while you were enjoying the company of your family. Your Uncle sounds like a very wise man, and loving towards all his family, even to those not in his direct descendency. There is something great to say about that! So glad you've connected with him and his... Becoming self sufficient, using the gifts that God has created you with, is such a valuable thing to your self confidence... Go for it with one of these companies! With your Uncle's encouragement and support, I'm sure you'll press through.

 

It might be a good idea to move to Texas anyway after you're into trucking. The reason, there is no personal income tax in Texas and Texas is a great state for trucking; lots of freight moving through there.