Female wanna be trucker, looking for company paid school in Florida

tjones76 Have you seriously looked into trucking from all aspects? Going into trucking is a huge risk and expense. You should truly look at yourself and compare your personal attributes to what the trucking industry is going to throw at you. Some questions you need to ask yourself are, do you like to drive? Liking to drive a car is not comparable to driving a truck! Do you love to drive on the open road, but despise traffic. Is the area where you live a high freight corridor? Do you have family that depends on you daily? Are you stable in your relationship? Are you getting into trucking for the $. Are you tired of getting ripped off by an employer and feel as though trucking is the way out? Can you sleep in a moving truck with a complete stranger at the wheel? Can you sleep in a shoe box period? Are you good at money management, (you can go broke eating on the road)? I would recommend going to a truck stop and speak to a few female drivers about the industry before you jump in and waste your money. I have personally been involved in several different industries and I believe trucking is the ugliest of them all! Remember, when a trucker tells you that they made 70k to 80k last year you almost have to cut that in half, because truckers have to work 70 to 80 hrs. a week to achieve this. I am not trying to scare you I just hate to see people waste hard earned money to pursue something that they believed was their dream only to find out the industry is actually a nightmare. Some out there may disagree with me and say no "I make that kind of money working a 40" and I'm sure they do, but these guys are rare. When I read some of the horror stories on here, I thought these guys are full of crap and there is no way that trucking would exist if most of this stuff is true; however, it does exist and a lot (not all) is true. My ex-wife is an over the road owner operator and I am a company driver and the last time we got together and discussed the trucking industry my 9 year old granddaughter listened into our conversation and asked if we were learning disabled. She said we needed to buy new calculators or find new jobs! I went to a community college in NY. and paid 3k, but I was able to write it off on my taxes and got an extra 800 back. I personally would never sign a contract with a carrier for free training, I think that would be a huge mistake unless you are positive this is what you want to do.

 

Definately have at least five hundred dollars for food and stuff if you go with company training

 

For perspective, my cousin as been a driver for over 25 years. I won't list his bio/resume, but he's married, kids etc and loves it. It's a job. But just because one person thinks it's HORRIBLE others don't.

 

Yup. One man's pain is another mans passion.

 

Go to Snyder. It has the best reputation for not ripping off truck drivers.
Also they are wanting tanker drivers. They are trying to get all dry van drivers to transfer over to tanker.
This is the reason they will not flunk you out to get a breach of contract on you. Also will treat you better, in order to get you to transfer after about 4-6 months.
Swift??? they want a turnover. This way they make money off you breaking a contract, and paying your replacement less with no benefits for 90 days.

 

I taught my wife how to drive in 30 minutes.all you have to know is how to shift gears.and the rest just comes with experience.can you back up a trailer on a car if so you can back up a tractor trailer you just have to adjust for the longer wheelbase.and as far as doing logs it tells you how to do logs in the front of the logbook

 

Find an owner operator and talk to them and tell them that you're wanting to get into trucking. Any decent person will help you out and pay you and teach you the ropes.do you have any trucking background?

 

having just read your post,I will retract my last post.part of it anyway.I guess there will always be those like you that yearn for something better.trucking/transportation has been great to me.BUT having said that,the newbies entering certainly have the hurdles to mount and then get over upon entering trucking.

I didn't consider that other jobs also tether people and that they too want something different.Charlami seems to be in a situation that would be one that i'd exit.if she is attempting to get out of what she is now in by going trucking,best of luck ma'am.you can do it and you can enjoy it.

 

if the location is doable for you, Bradford-Union Tech Center in Starke has an 8 week program. there you will get a minimum of 1000 road miles, familiarity with ag center, and weigh station procedures, night driving, and as much backing pad time ( alley dock,sightside and blind side parrallel, offset ) all for 2,800 bucks

 

My husband and I have just decide to team. he has been a driver for a while and I have always dreamed of it but as you can tell by my screen name there has been some hesitation, lol. I figured I have succeeded at everything I have tried thus far so why not. So now as to why I responded, my current day job is a loan officer and the institution I work for allows cash out refinances on autos. I refinanced my truck and extended the term a couple of years and was able to pay for my school that way at an auto loan rate. This may be something for you to consider I am in Florida and will be starting at roadmaster in a few weeks on the weekends and yes they have a "cheaper" route.