I think that my question/request belongs here.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Frank Herbert - Dune

 

Good luck finding someone. You cant fear these things or you will hurt yourself or someone else.

 

a little fear is a good thing, it's good to realize you are riding on 80,000 lbs and a 75' long piece of equipment that can do a lot of damage. Far better to be a little scared than over-confident. you just need to find the balance.

I think you're idea is wise, in theory company training should provide you what you need but getting some observation time in beforehand could only help you succeed.

 

The only way to gain experience is to be behind the wheel, not sitting and watching

 

I scare the hell out of myself every time I start down a mountain pass. Of course I've only driven 2.4 million miles, may need a few more before I get comfy.

 

that is an awesome series of books. should be on the must read list for any scifi fan

 

yes Photography is a dead art. and getting into weather forecasting is hard to do. so it sounds like you need conformation weather you are making the right choice. it depends on what you think. and from what i read. it's sounds like your mind is made up. there is really nothing much to fear in todays trucking. now. where you live in the country. is the region of the country you will run. so if you live on the east coast. you will most likely run east coast,south east,midwest, or from texas east. to get the good miles and the benifit of running the whole country. it would be ideal to live out around kanas city,memphis,oklahoma city,dallas. somewhere out in that part of the country. it's about the same amout of time to the east coast as it is to the west coast. which makes it easier to keep you running.

 

I actually got my CDL in the old days when some companies could sign by schnookering a ride to NY from San Fernando Valley. Fortunately, the very-experienced driver thought I had chutzpah and when we got back from Buffalo, the owner signed for my CDL.

On the other hand after I had the CDL, offered one night to run to Sacramento for the added experience and turned it down. Driver was really tired and not that experienced. (I've told this before elsewhere here.) He died that night, ran into a load of steel.

So it does matter whom you learn from.

Many of the mega starters have wet-behind-the-ears 'trainers', too. Not a good thing. I'd look for independent repair shops to do a little part-time work, even truck washes, truck detailers and truck dealers, truck stops where O/Os would be going through. A listing in CraigsList and reading CraigsList for O/Os to call just to talk to. If you google 'trucking companies' you'll get a couple sites that list every trucking company in the State. Some are single truck operations.

A lease operator (L/O) probably can't touch you as his/her leasing company unlikely to approve you driving. An O/O with own authority or a first-tier LTL (less-than-truck-load, like ODFL) with a training program might. I think Old Dominion had/has a combo dock/driver training where you worked dock and then prepared for CDL. You may want to drop your degrees off your resume, just list schools attended and duration.

Consider signing up to drive school or city bus if they provide training, which is often the case. You'll get experience in a large-profile vehicle, your 'B' CDL and air brake endorsement, the experience of passing DMV skills test. Much easier then to make the jump to the 'A' with a little more experience.

Skip the mega starter route, IMO. Get familiar with CSA so you can start to analyze how a company operates from its historical data. You can look at all the tickets on any company for the last 2 years.

See: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/Data/Search.aspx See an O/O truck you think you'd like to talk to? Write down his/her DOT number and look it up. Company name, address, phone number and web address is listed there.

You also may have better luck in another, less metropolitan, congested state than California, like Alaska, where they scramble to hire just about anybody during the spring. I'm assuming you're familiar with the ferry from Seattle to Juneau. What great scenery to learn in. My first real driving experience was dump truck in Estes Park, Colorado and when not driving the dump we drilled holes for dynamite. Very cool.

Many yard hostler jobs do not require CDL because you don't go out on the street, just spot trailers in terminal or large DC (distribution center). The majority of heavy duty mechanics do not have CDLs. Myself, I'd like to learn to bust tires and do PMs (scheduled preventive maintenance). Yard hostler would get you more experience.

Central Arizona College in Coolidge, AZ (next door to Grande Vista where I-10 and I-8 meet) has a heavy equipment/mechanic certificate program that includes CDL. Very inexpensive for AZ residents and takes only a year to get residency. If you start with only a few classes its not that expensive as an out-of-stater. CA probably has some community college programs, too. The CAC program has high school students coming out after 2 years into $50K jobs before they're old enough to drive interstate.

Moving dirt is a good skill and so is the mechanic end, especially for the O/O route if you have that in mind eventually. Any job at a truck company, truck broker would conceivably provide further experience. And the more of same you talk to the better in order to compare your romantic notion about trucking with the reality before you invest the couple years of sweat it takes to get to a good job... there are also heath aspects.

AAOHN 'Worksite-Induced Morbidities Among Truck Drivers in United States':http://www.uncg.edu/phe/faculty/apos...los/AAOHNJ.pdf