Firm School vs. Tech School?

I went through a community college and felt good about that decision. Start looking at companies and see which ones you are interested in then what do they require. It will help immensely having that before hand.

 

I too went the local community college route and think that was a good option for me.

And if you are attending a normal school (vs trucking school) you may also qualify for an education loan. I went through Sallie Mae to pay my tuition and had six months to get settled into a driving job before the payments started.

And, on a personal note, I too got tired of the business office and took my BS in Applied Science into the cab and have loved the change in careers, lifestyle, and the view is awesome and ever changing too.

I hope you have a similar experience.

 

YES and YES

@Chinatown helped me find a great place to start my OTR career.

If you want to talk about where I landed, Abilene Motor Express, I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Stay Safe,
MD

 

Starting wages can be all over the place. I started at 36 CPM for around 3000 miles a week.

And there are NON MEGA companies out there that do in house training after you get your CDL. I got my CDL and then was in a 12 week training program with experienced drivers before I was assigned my truck as a solo driver.

 

We have a Training Program in three stages.

Unless it changed recently, stage 1 was paid $500 a week, stage 2 was $600, then $700 for the final stage.

I think that's right.
I might need to double check that... lol

 

.36 CPM is not bad as a company driver just out of school. There are companies that pay better. Magnum in Fargo, ND will start you at .38 with a raise in 4 months up to about 45CPM. Melton, I understand, hires new people at .45 CPM if you don't mind flatbedding. After 7 months working somewhere, KB out of your town hires at .45 CPM, but they have a meh reputation.

You DO NOT want to go with anyone that will make you be in a truck with a trainer for more than 5-6 weeks. You won't learn anything in 12 weeks that you didn't learn in 5-6 with a trainer. The extra 7 weeks is just making you drive team for slave wages.

The noob mistakes everyone makes seem to happen whether you've been 12 or 4 weeks. It's about being on your own, the stress of a new career and having to make (often bad) judgement calls and learning from doing it wrong. I'm not talking about driving. You should know how to drive out of school and refine it a LOT with even a couple of weeks with a trainer. The rest, I'm convinced, takes years, not months and it's all about experience and practice. And that IS driving, but like I said, you get it from your own experience, not driving team with a "trainer" who's in the sleeper after 4-5 weeks while you drive.

Training pay averages $75 to $100 a day. On your own you should be making something close to 175-200, so that extra 8 weeks costs you one HELL of a lot of money for very little benefit IMO.