What is the most expensive mistake a beginner can make?

Listening to dispatch

 

I would say that leasing is probably the most expensive mistake but it doesn't involve upfront money necessarily.

With that being said I would have to say that making the decision to drive and signing up for school and then on to your chosen company would be the most costly. Reason being is that after 3 months for MOST drivers that is the point in which they can no longer take it and end up quitting. Now they have wasted all that money and quite a lot of valuable time. If you aren't 100% sure about driving (which there is no such thing unless you are already experienced and in that case wouldn't need the money for school) then making that final decision of whether to be an over the road trucker or not could be the most costly mistake.

That is probably the number one reason I post on this website. Yes I like talking trucking but I also want to try to inform the new guys about what they are getting into before they do spend all that time and money, that they don't have, to get into this. There really is no way for them to experience what they are about to get into before they actually do it. You could somewhat get the gist of it if you know someone that you can do a ride along with, but that is still not exactly what trucking is like until they actually do it themselves.

 

i think, hitting a bus full with lawyers on a holiday would be very expensive.

 

just make sure all the lawyers are dead after the accident

 

Don't get on with the wrong company. Do your research and make absolutely sure you have a company you can at least deal with and will treat you at a minimum with respect, and that their operations run something resembling smoothly. I've been in what they call "training" for over 3 weeks now, and due to the daily displays of absolute incompetence by this company (ex. being put on medical hold because the safety dept. employee lost my med card on her desk, being placed with a temporary trainer who would get violently angry because I would not perform unsafe road maneuvers, having to spend 3 days on the phone trying to get paychecks resolved because they "lost" receipts I faxed in well ahead of deadline, being dumped in hotels because night dispatch sent my trainer 5 states away when I was already on my way to meet him, being told a load could be dropped at any time and dispatch failed to inform us the railyard was closed on Saturday resulting in sitting for a whole day) I don't even have 70 hours of drive time in yet. The company I chose is an absolute trainwreck, and due to that, I am going to have to start over elsewhere. I've given them an honest effort, but there is no way I am going to continue dealing with their BS. When you meet up with your trainer and the first thing he does is trash the company, it's a bad sign.

TL;DR- Do your research.

 

Scroll up to the top and click "CDL Practice Tests".

 

The biggest mistake one can make as a beginner is

Lying on your application

 

I always tell new drivers to NEVER lease from a company that controls your paycheck strings. Drivers can always lease form an independent company or buy a truck outright (even if it's used and on credit terms) and fare better than leasing from the company for which they work.

 

Especially when you're paying $350-450/week for a fleet spec truck, with crap options and the same miles as a used truck. I can get something better for the same price and be happy with what I'm driving. That's just my opinion. I don't like leases from big companies and how any driver can make it is more than I can figure out.