Brand new here & already ..

And the FMCSA has taken away those freedoms!

 

I guess it depends on how much money you have and freedom you want. If you go for kinda free training from Mega trucking company. You will be locked into working for them and they don't pay new drivers much. If you pay for training yourself you get more choices at were you want to work and pay but you still limited to companies that will take new drivers.

I thinks it kinda crazy how much they charge for trucking schools. When I did the training thing the trucking companies only wanted like $1,200 but I had to agree to work like year or two. I understood the deal and was ok with that because at that time a regular trucking school was like $6,000. I went for the kinda free training because I would have a job when finished. I was looking for a job not just something to try for fun and no kids or wife so I was free to do what ever.

Paying for CDL school then having to go thru the trucking school seems like not so good deal. It kinda like you paying twice. If you go to mega trucking school and quit your kinda screwed today because they want like $6,000 for training. So many people quit and don't finish the training they all say it sucks and now they owe crazy money. Just saying I wouldn't do it unless your really want to drive. I did the mega trucking company thing because they said I would have a job after passing their training and they would not give up. They were like if you don't quit we will train you. The training is kinda a swim or drown, you got to really be ready to go for it because the kinda push drivers thru and it's on the job learning.

 

Ok if you go through the community college route you are not obliged to stick with any company. If you go through a company sponsored course you will be obliged to work for that company for a set amount of time. Yes you may think so what? Well as a new driver you don't know if your going to like this life on the road. Also you may find that you really like a different kind of trucking or company, but since your required to stay at the training company until the end of your obligation you can not make the move.

 

JW. I will answer your ? For the most part CDL school through a trucking school or community college is better than a one day school. Many companies will verify your cdl training is not from a one day cdl school. V.A. only covers 30 day schooling. The school I went to was three weeks and they added a week for the VA. You can get a local job without OTR experience. Many, not all, local jobs pay less and you may get almost no freetime between the driving, commute and actual rest. The #####ing comes mainly van drivers. Allot of the customers they ship to are always pissed at their jobs and treat drivers like crap. Hours of service can stress a driver out too.

 

You might burn out pretty fast when you consider life on the road. Waiting on dispatch to issue you a load. Waiting for a dock watching your reload tick away to be given to someone else and sit some more. The public is bad enough. And on some really bad days take a highway flare and burn your bank account.

Truckers do not get to live long happy lives. Those that make it that far get to go home more or less minus a few nuts and bolts either mentally or physically. Half the companies Ive run for were so bad they went out of business. Big deal, water under bridge moving on.

My favorite gig was to haul for McKesson where most if not all the standard gripes, complaining or other problems go bye bye. I said most because in Memphis, a difficult city filled with predators who don't know there is 4 pallets of demerol IV solution in the nose of your unmarked trailer... waiting for the druggie to inject over your dead body.

Makes for a interesting life. Considered a well paid gravy train life too. It has it's uses. No wasting time hauling tater chips. Not when you are running a million dollar load in that box which hospitals in 3 states will be using to help those who are really bad off in life.

For me it's enough. Even if I had to act the prey to make sure we aint killed for whats in that box.

 

I did long haul refrigerated stuff I always like that because you basically only get paid to drive, pay was not the best but it was a simple just drive and the bad days were loading and unloading but average run back then was 1,800+ miles.

Now I like the pay more and an guarantee minimum weekly pay it nice. I never have to worry about low miles. I'm getting paid if they have the miles or not. I'm doing short runs that not so fun but I don't have to go out west and chain up in the winter and I don't have deal with the northeast and I'm pull dry van so no lumper or crazy unload times

 

This is what the OP was referring to...
pretrip and post trip no pay check.. fueling no paycheck..

However, that is not true.. it is just the pessimistic way you look at it..

Here is an example.... I use to and still do sometimes hit the phones and do cold calling setting up appointments for a company... now, it is commmision only.. I get $100 for every appointment I set... obviously not every call I make leads to an appointment... it usually goes like this..
Call one.. no answer call two no answer call three not innterested, and so on.. then on my tenth call, they answer, we talk, they set an appointment... yay.. $100 for me..
Now, it isnt that the tenth call I earned $100... I earned $10 for every call I made.... on average it takes me about two hours to make the ten calls and get the appointment.. so, on average I am making about $50 an hour which is not a bad gig... however, it is amazing how many people get frustrated and give up.. obviously when I first started my average was not that good... and being commission only there were days where i made nothing... but, I did not want to quit.. because I knew if I got better I would make money... so I stuck it out and got better...now, I average $50 an hour and only do it partime at home while I do my recruiting and staffing work...

Here is what I can say to you and to the OP.... your mindset makes a difference.. your mind is your own well... and you can dirty your well water with crappy thinking or keep it clean and fresh.. cause you are the one drinking from it.... I do strongly believe that what we think about we bring about.. a more Truckers way of saying it is.. look at the pole hit the pole, look at the ditch end up in the ditch... we drive where we are looking..... so, look at all the ways you are not making money and you will not see all the ways you can..

The first part of any endeavor or journey is the hardest... no doubt, for me, I worked harder to make less money my first year working at home... Now, the work doesn't seem as hard and am finally making a 6 figure income... but that doesn't mean I don't still have to give my best effort and continue to learn and grow.. and certainly I still need to maintain my well.. keep my mindset positive, set goals and strive for them... it was working hard and keeping positive that got me here.. but, it can all go away if I venture off into negativity... the operative word there is I.... the firm I work for could close, but, that would not crush me, just be a challenge I would get through..

OP, don't listen to those who are not making it.. listen those who are where you want to be... they are not going to tell you to just hope you get on with a good company.. they will tell you how they worked hard, stuck with it when it got tough, and how they continually learn and improve. Because that is what it take..

You are always the biggest factor in your success...

 

The answer is kind of yes and no... all you need to get into training is a CDL.. some company's want you to have gone to a certified school and Some don't...

However, the shortest school probably just teaches you the bare minimum of what you need to now to get your CDL... while the longer school probably teaches you more and some things that will be helpful and good for you to know.... because, training is sometimes good, but sometimes lacking... so there is no guarantee that your. Trainer will or even can show you how to trip plan... a lot. Of people come into trucking and do not even know how to read a map, lt alone trip plan... the longer school probably teaches that..

The thing is, only you know which will better serve you.. if I were you I would look at the curriculum of each school and determine if there is valuable things being taught at the longer school that you need to learn.... I would also just not assume that the trainer will show you..

It is your career... I feel the best thing is to learn as much as you can from school so that your prepared for success even if you get a trainer who doesn't know how to back up, read a map, or even fully understand HOS and the split sleeper birth...