Introduction and Thank's

Hello Community -
I am new to the community and new to Trucking. I recently was laid off from my prev job after assisting in the transition of my job to overseas. I decided it was time for a major career change after 16 years with my prev employer. I had worked in construction landscape for most of my 20's when I moved to the KC area to put myself back in school for IT with an emphasis on Electrical Eng and electrical mechanical manufacturing....
I had some friends that operate heavy machinery and was told by them to think about getting my CDL and come work for them driving dumps until I figured things out. I remembered how much I enjoyed that in my 20's and started studying for my permit. the more I got into it the more I thought about becoming an OTR driver. I tested and received my CDL A permit and joined APEX CDL Institute, just finished my 3rd week and I am scheduled to test next week and then off the North for my ROEHL orientation.
I learned much about the industry in the last few weeks just by reading the threads here on the Truckers report - this is by far the best single place for information that I have found on the internet, thanks to all of you ! So that's me and my introduction, I hope to be around a lot more and look forward to contributing. Thank you all again
Patriot72