Considering going into truck driving

I will say this much, if you do decide to get into trucking, make sure you are planning to stay. Once you do it for a living for awhile, you will be pretty much ruined trying to get a job in another industry unless you specifically train for that industry. I have been turned down by many industries who will not hire truck drivers because they figure the driver will end up going back to trucking. Once you have been branded a truck driver, that's about the only kind of job you can get, unless you start your own business. Also, they do check your credit, though Im not sure how much effect it has on your app? You have to sign giving them authorization to do that as well as a background investigation into your past.

 

I'll try not to repeat whats already been stated, but I'd like to offer what little advise I can:

1) Unless you simply can not afford it from the start, go the private school route.. I advise a community college.. its cheaper and accredited. However, make sure it has the right accreditation the company you choose to work for accepts.. some companies are picky. Look for "PTDI-Certified" (Professional Truck Driving Institute) if you go on their website they have a list of schools for every state that teach by their standards. This is important for some companies as they won't hire any "Recent graduate" from any school be it community college or not. The best thing to do is call up some companies you think you might want to work for that hire grads, and ask them which schools they recruit out of in your city, and apply to that school.

2) Company-Sponsored training is probably the easiest route as they take just about anybody, but keep in mind, its not "free" as some companies advertise; You will owe them money until you work it off. Usually about a year or after driving a certain milage (120000 miles or so)...After you hit that mark they forgive the money you owe for training. Also, whats important to keep in mind about this route is that after you finish CDL training with a company.. you still don't have a job with them just yet. You have to go through their orientation and still might be declined a job if something bad shows up on your medical, background, or employment history and you get sent home. Probably still owning them money for the training. (CDL Training is different from the training you get after being hired on.. CDL Training is just that.. basics of a truck, how to inspect it, and drive it legally, but more importantly how to pass the CDL written and road test. Company training is real world on-the-job training for what you'll actually be doing as a truck driver.

3) For company sponsored training: company websites have all the info you'll need with phone numbers to call and an online app to fill.

4) Personally, I don't recall anyone ever looking up my credit.

5) Truly is company dependent. Some let you start out on dedicated, Local, or Regional routes right after training. And some companies' "OTR" is really just a regional and have you home on the weekends (i.e Averitt Express, McElroy Truck Lines, or Maverick Transportation). However, most of the carriers have you start OTR (Over-The-Road)

 

And fuzzy

 

the type of school is meaningless unless you want to actually learn more than passing the test and getting a CDL ===> BECAUSE the first rule you need to learn is that the CDL is your license to learn and not just to drive.