I am an antisocial MBA student considering a whole new career in trucking.

Check out Baker College of Flint MI. The Center For Transportation Technology has a very good CDL program. I was an instructor there for five years during the period after I retired from a Teamster job and was old enough to be allowed to drive truck again and not forfeit my pension. Their program is 20 week long which makes you eligible for student loans and grants that other cdl schools can not get. It is pricey but it is also a very good program. I don't have their web address handy but just google it and get the info and phone number. Maybe this will help you, if nothing else you can compare it with programs in your home area. It has some short comings but ALL schools do.

 

The criteria:

Can you prove what you've been doing the last 3 years? (yes, you've been in school -- here are transcripts, here is the number to the college switchboard operator...)
Do you have any tickets or accidents in the last 3-5 years (they will run your dmv motor vehicle record)
Have you attended a 160-hour cdl program (yes, here is my certificate, here is the phone number to the school).
Do you have a cdl and with what endorsements (yes, hopefully all -- here is a photocopy of my license & medical card)
Do you have any felonies? (they will run background check during orientation)


That is pretty much it. That you will have an MBA and a 4.0 transcript means no more to them than if you'd been a janitor for the last 6 years -- it just means it will be easy for them to verify your work/school history (which is a DOT requirement imposed on employers) and that you have shown stability (assuming you didnt change schools/majors every semester).

Other jobs might be concerned that you are overqualified, but not trucking. First the turnover rate for new drivers is nearly 100%. 2nd, they may have learned that "overqualification" is irrelevant in trucking. There are many college graduates out there behind the wheel

 

He should be a trucking company President or CEO. Because drivers never hardly hear from those guys ever...

 

Edward - one thing I'd caution you on is that based on what I've been reading here its the ability to build relationships with the dispatch teams and other industry contacts that really makes the difference between truckers making big money and those struggling. This may be controversial here, but I see this pattern over and over in threads, its almost a binary outcome. You have either really happy reasonably paid drivers or really poorly paid unhappy drivers. And since they all seem to work for the same companies (other than CRE which is universally loathed) using "occams razor" I've tentatively reached the conclusion that a lot of it simply comes down to people skills. This isn't of-course unique to trucking, its likely the same case in every line of work ... but I'd venture to guess that due to the nature of the job truckers are generally a tougher breed and less willing to tolerate fools (I'm not saying you're a fool, its just a phrase).

I say this as someone who works in finance for a big corporation and am planning to get out within the next 3 or 4 years, so take it FWIW, but generally there are many "anti-social" high I.Q. types in business and they seem to get along O.K. They might not shoot to the top earning CEO slots etc, but especially in disciplines like Finance, IT and operations you'll find a great diversity of personalities and "geeks" will often be tolerated better because they're providing results.

As long as I've been in corporate America the trick has been finding yourself a niche skill and getting your foot on the ladder then moving around until you get a well paid spot. From there on you can either rise up in the organization (top 5%) or just sit there stagnating in your office drinking coffee (as I feel I have done for the last decade) until you've made enough $$$ and then you can pack you're box up and head out on the road. The way I put it doesn't make it sound enticing, but frankly speaking ... considering the way 99.9999% oh humans have struggled to survive since the dawn of mankind - working in a heated or air conditioned office with a solid salary, 401K and medical is not a bad gig at all.

 

Why do you think it matches your skill set?

 

Isn't that the truth though.They pretty much keep a low profile.

 

Mack E-6 , thanks for your response to my post...I'm sometimes very , very opinionated in what I think...my wife has been telling me for a very long time that that part of my personality sometimes really puts people off.....I do try and make any points that I see need to be made however in the best possible way , most times with-out name-calling or trying to bash another posters view...sometimes I may seem to be a total ###...but if someone takes the time to see my side , they usually can understand albeit disagree with it. I'm gonna take the advice you've given me and learn a bit more about Asperger's...My youngest is a DR. , I'm sure that he can enlighten me...Again, IF I offended the OP , I sincerely apologize for it...he came and asked for opinions , only giving mine.

 

Well listen to you wife.You should know by now women are always right,lol.

 

I know a few people in my life with this syndrome . I'm not a trucker yet but from everything I read here. A person with Asperger's syndrome would be a perfect fit for trucking. Combine that with a master's in business with a 4.0 GPA? I say do it and in 2 years when you start your own trucking company I'd like to come drive for you!


(I see a few posting here that clearly don't know anything about aspergers. This kid will probably be a better driver and make more money than most right off that bat)

 

I try patty......I really do.....