Laid off engineer from IBM going for his CDL

I was a firefighter for 17 years, then left it all together for reasons that are irrelevant to this discussion. I have a BA in Emergency Management, but live in an area where this degree means squat. So I went to work for a top 5 cable/internet provider in the call center supervising 15 agents. I resigned over some very questionable HR failures. SO now I am on here reading posts trying to decide.....should i, or shouldn't I.

One thing that seems to bug me quite a bit is you who are in the industry already(some for many...many years), slamming newbies and trashing the industry that has paid your bills and taken care of you and your families for many years! What gives?

Anyhow, I continue to ponder a career in driving a truck, and hope that I will be able to read more positive, informative threads that will be more informational rather than dispiriting.

 

Carrolltrans I will tell you this. The trucking industry can be awesome and it can suck at times just like any other job. If people are trashing the industry I can give you some insight as to why. First off you are away from you family for days, weeks, or months at a time stuck in a truck and parking at the truck stop. Not to mention seeing your health plummet due to the crap food at the truck stop. There is also the amount of free time that some of the dirt bag carriers want you to work such as being detained at the customer for 2 hours but only receiving detention pay after a two hour wait.

Therefore you just sat for two hours waiting to get unloaded for free. A couple times a week of that nonsense adds up to a lot of lost revenue in a week. Now some guy/gal in HR will say that detention is figured into you mileage. I say Bullcrap. Its never been and never will be. Truckload is just no good but you need experience. A lot of guys have earned the right to be upset over these things because they have experienced it first hand. Another thing this job has ruined many a marriage due to being away or lousy pay or whatever.

Now the good. Thank god for LTL companies and the wages, benefits, and working conditions they offer. This part of the industry is what you as a new driver should strive to learn about and gain employment. You will see a noticeable difference in the pay and lifestyle. Whats going to work in your favor is the shortage is starting to really hit these companies hard. At one time you needed quite of bit of experience even to get an interview. Fast forward to todays trucker labor market you very easily could land a job in LTL right out school. You will have to go to a six week training put on buy the company but its going to teach you about their methods, equipment, and safety. And you should want this because coming out of school all you have is the schooling with no real experience.

Give the schooling a try. Once you start learning about driving, backing, shifting, you will know weather its for you. Theres a lot of good information on this board but make your own decisions about what you want. This is a good job to have but its not easy; it can be very stressful at times but I have no regrets at all.

 

Thanks for the reply Midwest. You have a lot of good advice.

 

If you don't want to work on a dock and at 58 I definitely can't blame you for that then your options are limited for local jobs if you want no touch freight. IF you lived by intermodal rail yards I would recommend that since it is no touch freight and it's mostly local jobs not regional. Natural gas driving jobs pay well. None of that is going on around where I live so that is not an option for me but if it's around your area than I would look into it.

 

quitter----Very interesting concepts and history. I am 180 degrees out from you. I'm coming off of 20+ years as a database developer/software engineer with a BS in Information Systems Management and MBA degrees. I also hold current certifications in PMP and ITILv3 and about 85 other IT related certifications. I did retire myself this past May and am re-entering the transportation industry with quite a bit of corporate experience under my belt.

To those of you who claim this life is hard and difficult and......blah!! Hard life is that Mexican (doesn't have to be Mexican but that job's sooo hard they don't normally find other ethnicities that are willing to do the work for the little pay they get) working in the ditch of a road crew that two months behind schedule. Here you can make your own life as you want. Most people that don't do so because they do not know how or don't have the tenacity to do it. No one said life was fair or easy. You make life what you want regardless of anyone else's opinions, positions or beliefs. Otherwise, you're just another hand.

My objective is to enter the ND oilfield and gain a couple years of hazmat tanker experience. I already have companies lined up to hire my company as a fleet for hire. My MC and DOT paperwork is already filled out and waiting on submission. That way I'm not having to take pay cuts because I'm using another company's numbers, tags, and insurance. There are also companies out there that have very nice Lease to Purchase programs where you can make $1.53cpm+ with some companies paying over $2cpm. If you've done any research into these programs you know that the trucks you'll be purchasing are upwards of 500K miles and are around the $60K range in cost. Important note: 500K is the end of the Manufacturer's warranty. Trucking companies with LP programs will and should charge you roughly $.15cpm for an escrowed savings account for anticipated maintenance. If you leave the company after your final payment that escrow should be returned to you as a check. Keep in mind that any repairs and maintenance performed during your lease will be deducted form that account on a pre-agreed amount.

The ROI I'm expecting is around 10-15%. I'll be able to achieve this by managing my foot on the throttle, where I purchase my fuel, tires, etc. etc. I'm also leveraging my mechanical, electrical, and software knowledge to build the tools and instruments that will allow me to obtain these goals. That's something us "old spoiled professionals" gained by staying in school another 4-6+ years.

The advantage I bring with me is that I've had my CDL since 1993 w/hazmat endorsement. I originally left trucking so I could be near my children as they grew up. They've since flown the coop and I now have my retirement home on wheels along with my H2 Hummer and Nissan Titan in tow. Yep all 92' worth of connectivity. I'm leveraging my doubles/triples endorsement.

I've read other forums and I completely agree with the position about "not accepting less than the going rate". I'd go as far as to demand a bit more if you have all of your endorsements ready to go. If you don't have experience then take a hit on that part but ensure that the rates being paid are graduated upward until you reach the same pay as anyone else that has the same endorsements and years. Companies are stupid if they pay less as the old saying, "You get what you pay for!", is VERY true. Also, the company isn't getting less money for your services. They're just squeezing you so their senior leadership can continue to make those yacht payments. Trust me on that one. I just left a $100K plus federal job in Denver where I worked for the agency that collects all of the royalties for all natural resources in the United States. That's roughly $16 Billion (with a 'B') per year coming in from just the companies that are drilling on government and Indian lands. I wrote specialized software that tracked, analyzed, mined, and reported on those data. I also ran projects that allowed cross communications between ONRR and BIA, OST, BLM, etc. Each agency has its own data and way of analyzation (not a word so.....LMAO).

Here, I'd say Semper Phi but.... I'm old Army so....HEHEHE!! Yep hate mail to follow.

 

Like many of you have said before and I'll say it again, having a cdl is the best backup career to have if plan A doesn't work out.

 

Jamesneal6927, Sounds like you have a good plan, I hope it all works out for you. I feel envious and sorry for you at the same time...

 

I know exactly what I'm getting into. I've held this dream all during my past professional career and finally have the situation and time to pursue it. You've gotta love retirement.

Today I got my TWIC card initiated.

Yesterday I sat for and passed my hazmat endorsement.

Tomorrow I hit the road at less than full throttle since fuel is the number one cost; just ahead of driver's pay. LOL