Pros and Cons --- CDL ?

Hate to rain on your parade but most local companies that haul trailers here anyway require a yr.Doubt it's much different where you live.Dump trks require a class b but of course your class A works the same.When I drove a dump trk I didn't need no exp.That company did teach me how to drive a super 10 only because they needed a driver right away.Tow trk drivers work their shift and some are on 24 hr call.

 

Maybe start out Otr and apply for local or even a regional job while you learning imo I think you really need to drive some Otr to get a good feeling of the truck before driving a rig locally in around cities. But other companies who supply dump trucks might work also if you thinking about a pet to ride along make sure that question is presented to hr, some companies don't allow pets gl

 

You can apply everywhere all they can do is say NO.

 

Pros: We are all Professionals. Cons: That would be me but I prefer Ex-con.

In a world were men supposedly make more money then women, truck drivers male and female make a good living.

Now you mentioned being isolated. You are never isolated in this business. You always have people around you. They come in all shapes and sizes. They are in Cars and Trucks, on Motorcycles, they are at truck stops or rest areas, they are at shippers and receivers, they are on the CB or cell phone and if you have a Qualcomm they are right there way too much. You will not get lonely while on the road. You will make new friends. Already you have made a friend in Patty. Chinatown you have to worry about as he is a pervert but most truckers will do anything to help out a fellow trucker. You don't find that working in an office.

Here is the life of an Over the road trucker. You show up to pick up your truck. You have a family and they drive you down to the yard. You load your stuff in the truck while the kids all "help". You kiss them all good bye and promise to call. Open the hood and start looking for anything that is wrong with the truck. Check the fluids. Close the hood and start the truck. Get back out and walk around the trailer. Check the tires and such, check the lights. This takes about 15 minutes and is called a pretrip. From that point on you are busy. You have to pick up your load. There you have to get out of the truck and talk to idiots. But you have people skills and being from South Florida you are bi lingual so that helps. You get your paperwork together and finally you get to start the long haul. You are going to be hauling a load today from Atlanta to St. Louis. If you are an Elvis fan, you will be going by his birth place and Graceland. You turn the radio on and listen to some tunes. Your CB is on but turned down so you only hear those close by. You find that for some reason driving a truck is so much more comfortable then driving a car. You have time to think. Wonder what the kids are doing? Cell phone is right there. Call. You have your Blue Parrot headset on so push one button and you are connected with the loved ones. Nothing really to talk about just the I miss you and I love you stuff. Now you feel hungry so you pull into a truck stop to get a bite. You sit in the Professional Truck Drivers section and chat up the other drivers. They see that you are female. But you don't act like you are in heat so they respect you. They do offer to buy you lunch just because there are a lot of Gentlemen who drive trucks. But you decline. After a nice conversation you head on out. You arrive in St. Louis but you load doesn't deliver until the morning. You stop at the truck stop nearest the receiver and fuel. You got more then 50 gallons so your shower is free. You shower and have another meal. You head to the drivers lounge where the other drivers are watching some really lame show. You haven't been out long enough to do the laundry but this would be the time if you needed to be. Now off to your sleeper for the night. Now here is where it gets tricky. If you are use to sleeping with someone who snores very very loudly, make sure you park by a reefer. If noise bothers you park next to a flatbed.
The next day you get up and repeat most of the stuff you did. Time goes quickly.

You will find that being out on the road for 3 weeks isn't nearly as difficult as it seems.

Driving local is the same thing only you sleep in your own bed. But you are in a truck by yourself. Any isolation you feel on the road you will feel locally.

Over the road has the possibility of higher wages. Local has a larger percentage of backing and unloading. You drop more trailers. You crank more landing gear. In short you do all the worst parts of trucking and you do it for less money.

I would encourage you to try the Over The Road part of trucking. You might just like it. And if you don't there is always TARA. Welcome to trucking. We need more women.

 

Did you read on the home page that you can no longer have CB fights or you will get a ticket! However, you can still use them to contact lot lizards and make dope deals!