Young and Ambitious

I started working at a landscape construction company right out of HS and they needed someone to drive a dump truck so I got my class B after a few months laboring. Got my class B at 18 and class A just recently at 21. I'd say try and find a smaller construction company to get on with and see if they will let you use their trucks to get your licenses, no need to pay for a trucking school.

 

Being honest here.. I started driving otr when I was 19 with a friend of mine who was 21 and fortunate enough to buy a truck and be a o/o ( his family owns a company) and he ran hard asked if I wanted to make money. I wasn't working so why not right. Well I drove with him for a year on and off and I fell in love with it. As soon as I hit 21 I was in school even tho I had been driving for a long time I went to school in 7 days I had my cdl on a Saturday same week I was put in a truck and sent on my way to Colorado. Man it's the best feeling ever I still remember it like it was yesterday. You get alllllllllll the responsibilities and it's overwhelming yet amazing! Been driving for 4 years now and came a long way I still love my job. I love starting my truck up every morning I love shifting and honking at nothing in the middle of the night.....or the unicorns I've been seeing lol. But in the end I still think if you have a choice with another career chase it stay in school. The trucking world is not nice for most part with pissy people big bad DOT and all the laws were getting slammed with. Sad to say its only going to get worse.

 

Check with some household goods moving companies and probably find a job as a driver helper. Check the yellow pages or google for household movers in your area. Some of the major players such as United Van Lines and Mayflower also have agent companies working for them under various names.

 

I would get your cdl. You will build time on it. Moving company might be easiest to start with. Farms , harvest time in rural Illinois is an easy way to get experience. Maybe NY would be the sane. There are usually some ###### companies that will take advantage of ya.

 

Some ideas:

Work Shipping / Receiving in a manufacturing plant.
Work the Docks / loading and unloading.
Intern for a Dispatch company like CHRobinson.
Take Business Courses at your local Community College or University.
Keep your driving record immaculate.
Learn, Learn, Learn.

Good Luck!

 

Join OOIDA.

 

Good advice. Get that CDL and start building time on it. Even as a drivers helper, you still have that CDL in your pocket & companies in your future will look at how long you've held a CDL.

 

When I was a teen, I worked for an entertainment company for a summer. They would build stages for big concerts, and for wrestling events. Back then, I had my Class D with an F. It was my first time in the cab of a truck. If I were a teen, and wanted to get into a rig, I would tryo get in with the bed buggers. It would be a good experience, AND to make a name for yourself as a hard worker with a trucking company.

 

i graduated high school in 07 and by the start of 08 I was pulling doubles for a local distributor, get it now, if you start as a laborer or a dock worker there might be that one day someone calls in and the boss may decide to send you,