How does my Plan sound so Far?

OP....

Sounds like a good plan.......go for it. Even if the overall plan changes over time, you will still be sitting on a license that can almost guarantee a job some wheres if you can your nose 1/2 way clean.

Good luck pards.

 

I don't understand this, why wait until you are 21, you can drive a truck locally now and that will get you into the seat.

 

My wife takes Lyrica for her Fibromyalgia. If I am not mistaken, it is classified as a narcotic. I could be wrong, maybe I am confusing it with one of her other meds. Even so, if you're on that med, weaning yourself off of that and allowing it to clear your system would probably be the biggest hurdle to being allowed to drive a truck. The only other issue is a lot of companies want you to be 23 before putting a driver behind the wheel, I am guessing for insurance reasons. Finding one that will give you a chance at 21 might be tough, especially OTR. You may have to work for one that stays within the state, but since you live in TX, that is a big state, so gaining experience intrastate in TX is almost like OTR anyway. Other than that it sounds like you have big plans and the ambition to succeed, which is unusual for someone your age. Most 21 year olds are much less ambitious. Good luck in your quest.

 

Well I must reply, reason being is reading your post reminds me so much of myself. Other than the accident you had and the recovery you seem to be dealing with quite well as of to day so give God the glory on that. I obtained my CDL at the age of 18 I also live here in the Fort Worth area. I went from my driving permit that I got at age 14 ( hardship) dont know if any other states offer that or not, to my CDL never have I held a class C license. I am 37 now and knew I wanted to drive a truck since I was able to see one. It is a good idea speaking from exsperiance to learn different trades I was fortunate in this. Growing up around a family buisness consisting of wreckers, repair, and paint and body I was able to get my hands dirty quite often. But all in all was able to learn different trades to sustain me through out my younger years. So what I am saying if you have the ability to learn dont ever stop.

Now on to my driving career. When by the time I turned 21 I had already had my CDL for 3 years. During those 3 years I had driven over the road,local,regional,dryvan,reefer,tanker,heavy haul,doubles, you name it I had driven it. Remeber about the wrecker service I had mentioned earlier. Yes I never actually drove a tractor trailer I started out towing them. And if there is any body on here that has done it they can verify its loads different from just driving one. I dont want to get into all the particulars but it take a little more room and patients to keep one hooked up than just bumping a kingpin. So with that being said I was very exsperianced in being able to operate a tractor trailer in various conditions.

So after doing that for 3 years I thought it was time to just sit back enjoy the open road and let me money come in by driving my Life Away as Eddie Rabbit would say. I quickly found out that I wasn't as well off as I thought I was. I applied and applied at so many trucking companies till I was blue in the face. All I kept hearing was sir you dont have any exsperiance I said what do you mean no exsperiance. They didnt recognize that the heavy duty towing I had been doing the last 3 years was part of the trucking industry plus they kept saying sir your only 21 and our insurance minimun age is 23-26 from the average I spoke with. Now I'm not writing this to discourage you by no means. I admire your maturity and sincerity about going into this career field it takes a special cut its a life style,and it can be rough at times. but its also a very rewarding job.

So my advice to you is dont go to trucking school theses big companies get you in there dont teach you nothing. Yeah sure you learn how to do a proper pretrip. Or how to do a parallel 90 degree ally blind side. But I can count on one hand in all my years of driving how many times I had to do that kind of backing. Go down to the local DPS office get the commercial diver hand book study pass your written part then go rent one of those trucks you see parked really close to the DPS office and take your driving test. You will be so much closer to your driving career and hundreds if not thousands of dollars ahead. When you obtain that go to theses local rock bucket outfits around town there are several with all this construction going on around here. And hire on they will train cut your teeth with them. Stay away from theses big trucking companies offering theses schools they are there for your money and with hook you up with a company that needs a employee to work for them long enough for the next sucker comes through there class.

If you have any questions hit me up on here I try to get on here at least once a day depending on my work load. If not send me a message.

 

Several companies hire at 21 years old and have their own CDL training program. All you need is the permit to get started.
Here's some in Texas:

Millis Transfer - Burleson, TX
MCT Transportation and CTL Transportation - pays for CDL school through C-1 Truck Driver Training in Dallas. CTL is tankers and MCT is reefers. CTL might do hair follicle drug test since they're hazmat/tankers. MCT has some type of terminal in Ft. Worth.
Then there's Earl Henderson Trucking which is a reefer outfit running coast to coast. School in Illinois. They pay for transportation to Illinois and provide hotel and meals.

 

There's only 2 problems I see and you know what they are. The age and the chronic pain. You can get around the age problem by taking a job most would not want. But the chronic pain and the prescription pain meds might have to go. Even thou they are legal if everyone agrees most companies will not allow them. I would stay in school and learn more about the radiation that DOE needs to move to storage. The age gap just might go in you favor because the nuclear industry is going to have to make a major move soon and if I were you I'd want to be right there. I wound learn all I could on radiation and how to monitoring for it. If you learn yourself that means the company will have less to teach you which saves them money. Plus it's an industry that's not joining to take just a couple of years but more like 15 to 20 at the least. It's good to have a plan and the more you plan the easier it will be. However, you will still run into road blocks and problems that seem like you'll never get fixed. But you will. Hang in there and go for it.

 

You sound motivated and willing. Those are the two biggest hurdles. Keep it up and you'll make a fine hand.

Collapsed lungs are a wonderful thing, aren't they? I still get 'ghost pains' from mine sometimes.

No doubt you'll be bangin' gears in no time.

 

Your truck payment is only $500 ? What kind is it ?