What are my options?

The best thing for you to do is get ahold of a recruiter. Talk to him. See what he thinks. Also he might be able to help you out with some information on schools.

 

Start with a company, and learn how the industry (really) works. Get few years experience under your belt, before you L\P or go full O\O.

 

You aren't crazy for wanting a change and I suspect you would do well trucking. But your record presents a challenge.

It won't stop you from getting hired, but it will limit your options to the lower echelon. Many decent companies will take a chance on a DUI over 10 years, but that seat belt ticket, petty as it seems, will give them pause (the notion being that you take unnecessary risks & that the chances of you being debilitatingly injured in an accident --raising workman's comp costs-- are much higher).

Going o/o right away is a bad idea. Not only will you be learning everything about the industry at once, but with no experience you'll also be paying an exorbitant amount in insurance. My advice is to approach local companies & small fleets and inquire about their hiring requirements.


As for schools -- I'm not aware of any that offer night & weekend courses, though it is possible (perhaps a community college). You may find a small fleet that would accept a 1-week school however.

 

You seem to be wear I was 1.5 years ago. In all reality, you can't jump right into being an O/O. It's a great goal to have, but you need experience driving for at least a year and you need to save money.

That being said, I don't see your record being a problem. The safest route to becoming an O/O is work as a company driver for 1 year. Save as much as you can and live very tight. Buy a truck then sign on to landstar as an O/O. When you become and O/O you need to have extra money set aside for maintenance. You should get a credit line or have 10-20k extra in savings so if you blow a trans or motor, your not out of business. LS can provide insurance, tags, permits etc. and will deduct the amounts weekly. This is nice because you wont pay all you insurance up front. You can also take trip advances to pay for fuel, although you should have enough set aside to runt he truck a week or 2 without pay. A truck that you may be able to finance cost 15-25k for something half way decent used. You need access to at least 20K to start to pay for maintenance, start up fuel, etc.

When i started i saved enough to buy my truck outright. (24500). I then took out a lone of credit for 20,000 for emergency maintenance and start up expense. So the key is saving money. You make 55,000/year now (which is not bad) but you spend 6000 in comuting an tolls. I don"t know what your budget is, but this tells me you could live on 49,000K. You need to cut your expenses if you want to become an O/o. As a company driver you wont be able to save enough to get started spending 49k/year.

I think TMC is a great company to work for as a company driver. I started with them and made 62k my first year. Most drivers make 52k. If you train for them after 6 months to a year you can make up to 70 or 80K. Working for a van company you wont make nearly as much as a company driver.

My recommendation is, cut your expenses to the bone. Live on as little as you can for 1.5 years and you will be rewarded. Go to a cheap CDL school that TMC approves. Apply for TMC and work for them for a year. Become a trainer and make the big bucks for a few months. Within 2 years you will have enough to put a decent down payment on a used truck and enough to set up a 20K fund you don't touch unless you have major problems.

When ready, buy a truck. I recommend a fl Columbia because it its the most fuel efficient truck on the road that does not have DPF. FL's arn't the prettiest truck, but thay have great visibility, decent ride, decent handling, cheap to maintain, and will save you tons on fuel. Volvo has better ride and interior, but are tons to maintain. Kenworth/pete have poor fuel economy, expensive maintenance, poor visibility, poor handing (IMO) but they do look pretty. Pretty doesn't pay the bills though.

After you buy your truck, fix any mechanical ishues it has. lease onto landstar. You can now pick your own freight, go where you want and should be able to pull in the big bucks. Al your penny pinching for the last 1-2 years pays off.

 

Look around, there are many that offer night and week-end

 

Lots of O/O make a decent living once they get established. But unless you have a great business plan and at least some experience running your own business its a crap-shoot. Lots of folks think all you must have is a dependable truck some money stashed away for repairs and a little luck. This is far from the case...you must be able to do the majority of the maintenance yourself , know how to make sure all your taxes are paid , and figured , know how to load plan very well, know someone in the business that you can trust and most of have a wife/family willing to put up with the rigors of running things at home.....Also before you go out and by ANYTHING used you MUST make sure that what you're buying is acceptable to the folks you plan on leasing to...most of them will have a certain criteria for your equipment.... age will be the most important , they don't want to lease on a 5 year or older piece of equipment , mainly because of dependability issues..so you will be limited to what you have to choose from once you do decide to buy...I'll give you this advice and then move on..... talk to several O/O's before you head into it.....

 

If you signed on with TMc you could easily make 52k/year. After tax its probably 36K (depending on tax bracket, that's estimating 30% income tax which is a high estimate). If you have 26K in expenses that's atleast 10k left to put to a truck. If you trained after your first year you could easily make 70K. (about 49K after tax) This would give you 23k. If you worked for TMC for 2 years you could potentially make 33K extra. 10K down payment, 23K for unexpected maintenance and first week operation. That would not be a bad position to be in. You would have to not spend to much for 2 years and work hard. But if you make it through, you will own your own rig, choose and have the ability to decide when and where you work. As an O/o for LS (i only started with ls 1.5 months ago) i make around 2000 a week after expenses. I will make more once I build relationships with agents and buy my own trailer.