Pay is about to get slashed as a taxi driver, so I'm looking at becoming a trucker...

I'm 43 and a taxi driver turned newspaper reporter turned taxi driver and am about to have my pay slashed as my cab company does away with independent contractor positions, and I'm the only current IC that they're going to offer employment working directly for the company. I'm doing the math, though, and unless I get a much better pay scale than I'm anticipating, I'll be taking at least a 30 percent cut in pay, which I really can't afford. So that's what's gotten me to thinking about getting my CDL and trying to find local or regional semi routes, as I'm seeing a lot of signs and ads where companies are looking for CDL drivers.

A few of the questions running through my head:

1. My wife is disabled (she has spina bifida) and neither of us want her to be at home alone for extended periods of time. How likely is it that I'd be able to find and/or survive on local or regional runs as a new driver so that I'm not gone for days or weeks at a time?

2. How easy is it in general to get consistent local or regional runs as a new driver?

3. Is it better to be trained through a CDL training course at a local college than a trucking school, some of which I've seen called "CDL mills" online? How can I tell if a certain CDL course or school is good or bad?

4. I've been taking a tricyclic antidepressant (nortriptylene) for the past five years to help prevent migraines, and it's done a pretty incredible job at keeping me from having migraines. Are there any DOT regulations regarding commercial drivers and tricyclic antidepressants?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

This thread got me thinking:

Other than the fact that my day job is about to change drastically, how's the demand for non-semi CDL drivers, in general (dump trucks, etc.)?

 

Our company is the biggest and really only reputable cab company in town. I'd have to move 75 miles away to the next big city, and I really don't want to do that. Besides that, I think I'm ready to put cab driving behind me.

 

I'm in west-central Indiana, about an hour or so away from Indianapolis.

My net has varied between $500-$1000 per week. It's been unpredictable, but I've been the only independent contractor working day shift, so the company has given me first dibs on runs, and the company-payroll drivers have taken any runs I'm not able to get.

Well, I figure asking questions here is a good start to that research. What other questions do I need to be asking?