Hi guys and gals,
Complete newbie here but I have been lurking anonymously for the past 6 months or so. I am a 25 year old single male, new homeowner and current cube monkey. I am ready to make a career change, sick of the same routine and corporate life. I have a passion for driving, always have. I've done countless hours of research on trucking and I know the list of negatives can be pretty long, especially coming from the seasoned vets in this industry but I still have a drive and urge to become a trucker. It has nothing to do with money, I just want to get up and enjoy my job every day, instead of dreading every minute.
I have contacted two local LTL companies, A duie Pyle and Old Dominion, because they are both local to my area and seem to have a good reputation, but I have not heard back from either of them regarding their in house driver training. I've also contacted a few OTR companies as well as a few local CDL schools, but this is where I am running into my issues. Massachusetts makes it very difficult if not impossible to obtain a CDL through a mega which is pushing me towards an LTL company or financing myself ($5,400) to go through a private 120 hour CDL school. Going through the course seems like my best bet, because they also assist with job placement but I wanted to hear directly from individuals in the industry.
If you were me, how would you break into this industry, especially being from MA? One of main problems I see with being from the North east is the minimal amount of companies that are based here. Another thing that sort of limits my choices is that I have a 1 year old dog that is the center of my life (as i said I'm single and live alone.) I would either need to be local and get home every night, or find a pet friendly company. (Melton Truck lines seems like a good option right now.)
Any info/suggestions/tips would be highly appreciated!
Jim
Getting into the Trucking Industry from Massachusetts
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by mack0244, Nov 14, 2017.
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New homeowner? Sell it. LOL! Most of the local outfits will more than likely want you to have a year, if not 3 years under your belt before they will even look at you. I do not believe Old Dominion has a driver training program, but if they do, go for it. Personally, I would pay for the schooling myself, but that is just me. Not fun being an indentured servant to an outfit you hate.
Then we have pay, I don't know what you are currently making but the pay for a new guy is not that great, and can be hit and miss with the inflexible HOS. And, it is not cheap in the least out here to live on the road unless you have a truck set up with an inverter and or an APU allowing you to cook in the truck.
I don't know what to tell you, but I could not honestly recommend this profession to anyone I actually liked.
bigguns and Klleetrucking Thank this. -
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Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
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