About to begin truck school

Does anyone know what companies allow you to take your dog on the road with you?

 

A community college is probably your best bet, as you will not have to sign a slave contract for your first year or two. Most newbies that leave the industry do so in the first 6 months (this is according to an HR rep that I once spoke with at my company). So you definitely don't want to pay the $6-8K fee to the company if you leave FOR AN REASON. I'm sure your community college is more reasonable.

I got my CDL through Fox Valley Technical College, which was much more thorough than any CDL mill or even most companies that offer training.

Don't worry about the money in your first year, just learn to drive and get good at it. There's too many bad drivers out here. This is a job that you must absolutely love or it will chew you up and spit you out, one way or the other.

If you love it and get good at it, then find your niche. I recently had lunch with a 25 year old kid who has been trucking since he was 18 (in state only until 21). Now he is doing oversize and heavy hauling. He told me he made $68K last year. That's pretty good for a kid. He was very professional and loves trucking.

I like trucking but don't like being away from my family so much that most of the high paying jobs will be out of reach for me. I just went back into driving on a 7/7 plan (7 days out 7 days home). This is currently the best trucking job for me. With low living expenses I can afford the lower pay.

 

Have u tried 2 google it
Look on website or similar website in their company profile it will tell u if the company is pet friendly many companies are not the ones that are are hard 2 find. Isn't PTL/ CT england with deposit. Good luck!

 

Many companies allow pets; some policies change so you would need to check for updates on pet policy.

Watkins & Shepard
Melton Truck Lines
Conway
Central Refrigerated
Prime Inc.
USX
WEL
H.O. Wolding

& many more

 

an excellent thread to read is ( day by day adventures of a new otr driver ) under the schneider pages by dieselfuelonly. very well written, and it give's you his journey from day one. he started a year ago. also he's on the east coast like you. an after reading it im glad i moved from maryland to texas. good luck an check out youtube also.

 

when I first started I didnt make a 1,000 a week not even close
and I was running team for almost my 2 first years

 

I've been driving for 2 years now and my checks were $600-$800 a week take home pay on per diem. Every once in a while I'll get a $980 check. You'll have slow times too which is usually just after x-mas.

 

Heard it's only worth it when you own your own truck?

 

Ahh, that's the "line" companies use on new drivers to get them to sign up to their leasing plan.
You need to avoid this like the plague, until you get experience and know all your P's & Q's about both driving and leasing.
If you latch onto a good company, it'll be "worth it". An O/O (owner operator) that starts out unprepared will surely crash & burn, rather quickly most times.
There's a lot to being an O/O, way more than it looks.

 

To the OP...read the above post over , and over , and over again This is the absolute BEST advice that you're gonna get.....

"Ignore any "experience required" on trucking websites and apply anyway; many companies hire new CDL grads on a case by case basis, but don't advertise it."

Let the statement I put into quotation marks above sink in really well...There are many , many ways to get started in trucking..the only limits that you really have are those that you create for yourself. Do your research , then go and talk to folks that interest you face to face. Don't let those that don't have the gumption to do the same thing tell you you have to start with a mega-carrier...nothing is farther from the truth.