Few questions from a guy thinking about getting into trucking

You seem to be unsure about the training, so I'll just make sure you understand, that in general, you go to a CDL school (private or company sponsored) to get your CDL, which gets you just enough driving ability/knowledge to pass the DMV test, then you go to your first company which will have to train you how to actually drive. Private schools can be expensive, but you can look into loans or possibly a cheaper community college course. Company based will be free, or partially covered over the long term with no up front cost, other than food and some DMV fees. The downside there is that you are stuck with that company for the length of your contract (usually a year), and most companies that offer this kind of opportunity aren't the best companies to work for (not always bad choices to work for, but bad enough that being contractually obligated to work a year for them can be a huge pain).

Also, understand that first year pay is going to be low, for most peoples standards. If you're making about 30K yearly now, you shouldn't have anything to complain about unless you get a real #### company and now miles. The willingness to do OTR right away is sometimes a topic of debate around here. Do you have to? Not always. It would be a poor choice to go through a CDL school only willing to do local work right out of school tho, in my opinion. If nothing else, insurance policies won't let most local driving employers hire drivers with less than 1 to 3 years of experience. Yes, those companies may hire you, even when they ask for experience, but don't bet the farm on it.

What company you choose will likely make a pretty big difference on how profitable and/or enjoyable your first year is. Swift or CR England, probably going to be miserable. Nice place like Crete, Melton or System Transport, you'll probably have a better time. Again, placing local work aside, you're looking at Regional or OTR (lower 48 states, sometimes Canada). OTR is not going to have you home on weekends, you're looking at 3+ weeks out at a time. Regional can you home more often, but if a place tells you they'll have you home on weekends, it means you're going to be home for your required (not always required, but you'll learn about Hours of Service (HoS) later) 34 hour reset, and possibly not much more than that, with no guarantee what day or time you'll be coming or leaving.

If you know nothing about the hours of service, then just quickly, you can drive up to 11 hours a day. Driving more than that is illegal, and you are checked on by your company and Department of Transportation (DOT). Cheating on your hours is quickly becoming a thing of the past with Electronic logs become pretty widespread. So, 11 hours a day, 70 hours a week. Now, I only just got out of CDL school myself, starting my first job in a week or 2, so my advice here is based on my own research and what I've heard from friends, instructors and other members on this site. Saying that, I've been told that, at least as a first year driver, you're going to be using all or most of that 70 hours a week. It's not an easy job. Really think about living out of a truck, what you'll eat, where you'll sleep, what kind of life you'll get to have. This industry has a ridiculous turn over rate for first year drivers. Many people blame it on first year employers, but a large part of it is people simply not being prepared or willing to adapt to the OTR lifestyle. Not saying you appear to be like that, just letting you know. Also, my hours of service rules explanation was extremely basic and not 100% accurate, just an idea of what to expect.

Well, I tried to explain what your post seemed to want explained. I'd really suggest just reading a lot of pages here, trying to get an idea of what you're looking forward to. Right now, you want to think about
1. Do I actually want to do this?
2. Private or company sponsored CDL school
3. What company to drive for for your first year (it will look much better to prospective future employers if you don't job hop too often, which is becoming the norm in this industry).
Theres plenty of "who's the best company" threads here, and I'd think about that after steps 1 and 2.

Good luck to you, I hope this helped enlighten things a little.

 

You have a couple options.
You can go to a CDL school near you if you can afford to pay for it yourself or get some other source of funding, that's the best option in my opinion merely because you are not trapped into working for someone that is less than even ok to work for. Keep in mind that even if choosing this option and not being contractually obligated to the company because you got your CDL on your own, job hopping is still frowned upon. Make sure you have another job lined up BEFORE your jump ship and only do so if you truly cannot tolerate what's going on at the current job. Your first year to year and a half will more than likely suck as far as miles, pay, home time, etc. so don't just leave an employer because of perceived issues, they all suck in their own ways

Option two would be to hire on with a training company, swift, werner, crst, cr england, etc. that will train you to get your CDL. But if you do, research all the training companies and compare which one you think will work out best for you because if you sign that contract for them to train you, (getting your CDL through them) you'll be obligated to work for them for a certain period of time from as low as 8 months to 18 months (not sure of the actual time period because I've never done it). If you jump ship before that time period you'll be contractually responsible to pay them back for your CDL training, $5,000-$8,000 or more.

Good luck. Some folks come into trucking and find out they should have been doing this their whole lives, some come into the industry only to find out that they absolutely hate it and cannot wait to get out of it. Being single and wanting out of the big city will help but keep in mind, with most companies you may end up spending a fair amount of time running in and out of big cities. I'm not sure if oil field companies hire folks without CDLs to train them but it wouldn't hurt to call around and ask.

 

I understand, time for a change in life. As for relocating, there are 9 states with no personal income taxes; there's a map of them on Google/Wikipedia. Good places too, WY, NV, TX. That's the main reason I moved to Las Vegas/Henderson, NV plus the year round good weather & cheap homes & condos.

Study the "CDL Practice Tests" which are accessed at the top of this page. Get a passport for Canada runs and a TWIC for entry to seaports, military bases, and chemical plants.

If you want company sponsored training, the cheapest is Prime, Inc. then Central Refrigerated. After those, look at FFE, Knight, Swift, Stevens. Personally, if I was looking for company sponsored training my first choice would be Prime Inc. then Central Refrigerated.

Prime Inc. pays $600.00 a week while riding with a trainer.
Central Refrigerated pays $540.00
Knight pays $400.00

 

Training pay only last 2-8 weeks.

It's what they pay after training, that really matters.....

 

The key to being happy with trucking coming in the door in my opinion, is doing a lot of research.
Look before you leap. Find the company that best matches what you want. There will be compremises for sure. Even experienced drivers have trouble getting everything they want with a trucking company. All companies are going to start you at the bottom of their pay scale usually around .25-.29 cents per mile. You'll have to work your way up to better pay with experience as everyone before you has done. Talk to as many drivers as you can face to face and don't be fooled
into believing everything a trucking company recruiter tells you is the truth. It's about people stats
to them. Good luck, and welcome, there's plenty to choose from, as alot of companies want new
drivers right out of school to train into their way of doing business. Take you time in choosing.

 

Like already mentioned a few times but to press the point, wherever you go just stick it out, don't start job hopping, It will come back to bit you. I think these post have given your a bit to think about, I would like to say, be careful where you call home, Some companies won't hire from that state. I welcome you to the Industry, It is Great work once you get past the BS of the first little while! I challenge you to this, Find on here or in the manuals the definition of G.O.A.L I hope no one will tell him in a future post, let him come back in here and answer it, that way he will remember it! OK time to go. Good Luck!

 

Epes has a terminal in Chester and we train students. You'll do better than 30k first year and be home most weekends or stay out if you want to run longer. Look them up and call recruiting and see what schools in your area they take students from as they don't hire from all schools. It's a good gig and there aren't many of those out here. You can pm me if you have specific questions about the company.

 

Check with your local community college. You will get on the job training as well, but you want to finish a formal CDL training program first. A CDL certificate from a good program will make you more employable as you will learn the skills but also because employer's insurance companies look for it also.

Good luck!

 

Whatever you do stay away from the megacarriers.