military veteran, recent college graduate in logistics, wants to get experience in trucking

Hello Trucking Forum, my name is Gregory Morales Sr., I reside in Gastonia, NC and this is my first time creating a thread on here as i first joined yesterday. I am a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in the early 2000's with an honorable discharge, and recently graduated from Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina with an associates degree concentrating in logistics (i plan on eventually transfering for a bachelors sometime later on, when the situation is correct ex: being able to do school full time again while dealing with parenthood, etc bc i did it for 3+ years and it was stressful at times, and had my children on the weekend most the time). As an adult, I have been a long time student of the logistics and transportation industry way before I went back to school, and in 2014 i even worked with a paratransport department for Gaston County, NC for a short while and obtained a Class C CDL with a passenger endorsement.

However, even with all of that, I want to get on the road and upgrade to a Class A and all the endorsements (i been studying the manual vigorously for the past month and im not worried about failing anything), I strongly believe I would be an excellent fit as a truck driver, and I already appreciate and understand the aspects of trucking life. Moreover, I also strongly believe that with the combined experience on the road on the truck, and the educational background with a degree (possibly bachelors in a few years), I would be able to get anywhere in the industry and have an excellent career ahead of me, not to mention the logistics industry is extremely broad and it can take you anywhere you want, literally.

The other main reason that I want to drive a truck and live that life is because of my current and long lasting financial struggles over the years. I have been going to school for quite some time now via VA Vocational Rehabilitation, and even with that additional assistance, life has been a struggle for the most part for both me and my children. And the time is now to strike and im willing and ready to make this commitment on the road, even with the college background, this is what I always wanted to do. My sons are older now, and they live with their mother as well, so thats what locks me in, and im ready to play.

The main questions I have for anybody out there who wants to reach out to me, is if what I presented in this thread (background, education, etc) sounds like the right idea/path/journey or not... or if there is anybody out there who has similar experiences as I have especially veterans who can give me any type of feedback or ideas on how should I construct my path along the way, your guidance and insight would be highly valuable to me. Thank You and #salute to all the truck drivers who continue to keep America thriving!

 

Awesome, I have seen Maverick before, and thats one in my "short list", if you will. I spoken to a few people and veterans before outside of here, and the names usually get mentioned are Schneider, Prime, Maverick, USA Truck, Werner, and Celadon (which is odd because I recently researched and found out that they are about to be toast)

 

okay so heres a question....whats the main differences between dry van and flatbed? Is there more physical aspects involved, safety wise, etc?

 

im looking that stuff up now....very interesting insight with flatbed, because I never really looked into it much because you know, most of the time you see dry van/refrigerated out there on the roads...