I want to Quit Truck School Over 3 months In

ah, just try to have fun and bust their nuts when they bust yours.

I had a cranky old timer, he'd just grumble and make comments. He could be a lot of fun tho too. He yelled at me a few times,, finally I just told him the last time I paid someone to talk to me like that, she was wearing high healed leather boots and had big t..s, all the guys in the truck laughed and he had no choice but to smile. After that, all was good.

 

30 mark....u must be a really bad driver or with a really bad company then lol.

 

Another Lot Lizards cutting Air Lines going teams with a person you will never get along with. Seriously what kind of message Am I getting? After Driving for reals with a instructor IDT I could ever sleep on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. "

Its called the TRUTH and better to know in advance than learn about it on your first real trip and you can end up in a lot of strange places to sleep besides the side of the road and a HANDFUL of ENDORCEMENTS with NO EXPERIENCE does not get you a BIG $ JOB

 

If more people lived their life according to your last sentence, think of what a grand place it would be!! Great pep talk and I can't wait to start my driving course! Thank you!

 

His name wasn't Steve was it?

 

As others have said 5 months is too long. That's a quarter of an associates degree! It's truckin', not rocket science. Most courses are 2-4 weeks. Mine was 4, and I had to read almost every single page of the Federal Motor Carrier's 850 pages. It was like they were trying to prepare me to be a trucking lawyer rather than a driver. BUT you will almost certainly have a job. Even if you have something like a "10 year problem", there are a handful of companies that will hire you when no one else will. With that being said, they're only going to teach you the textbook/legal way to do things. Then when you get a job they have to teach you how almost everyone in the industry does it. Don't be surprised if you drive more on the first day of your job than you did in trucking school. Trucking is by no means a glory job. But there is tons of work out there. CNN Money had an article a few years ago. They claimed that we were 400,000 drivers short in the US. Trucking is how most of us get 99%+ of our goods. Unless if you're a hardcore homesteader, or made some sort of artwork out of sticks in your yard. The #1 reason why some new drivers can't get hired is because some insurance companies require 2 years of experience. Your school should count as one. Once you break that barrier, you can get a job in just about any city in North America. The day I got my certificate from the driving school I called the first trucking company on my list. The very next day I was hired (more on that below). But it ain't easy. It's not a 9-5 40-hour-a-week job. It's literally a 24/7 job. You also don't usually get paid if you're empty or bobtailing, and the hours work vs pay can suck. And don't get me started on all the stupid rules and regs!

I agree. Sure there are some companies that will only pay 10-12 CPM. But my dads cousin was trucking in the 70's. He told me he was making 12 CPM. That's easily $8/hr if you average 70mph on the interstate, and that was 30-40 years ago... still higher than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25. Training pay sucks. I think I was getting $60/day. Not enough to pay bills, but it keeps your belly plenty full. Even with truck stop prices. After training I was making 34 CPM. That's about $25/hr or 65K/year. I don't know of any other career that pays that well with long hours that doesn't require much more than a high school diploma. I think the cap was 38 CPM or something like that, but that was 4 years ago. Could have gone up.

My personal advice is just stick with it. You're more than half way done. Do it, get a job, and say you at least tried. If you're like me and get sick of running like a chicken with its head cut off trying to make a company some money do what I did. Say psss on them and get your own truck!

 

first I ever heard of lot lizards cutting air lines

 

LOL yeah I think he meant "lot lizards, cutting air lines". Either way, whatever driver said he has a problem with that stuff probably asked for the trouble.

 

A question for you:

What made you decide to pursue this line of work?

This is a serious question, not any kind of bashing. I want to know.

 

Because it was free training.