Soon to be rookie

well, you made a good start by coming here first!
i did the same thing 2 years ago, so there were VERY FEW surprises about the industry once i got started.
freight IS pretty slow right now (unless you get lucky and are in the right place, at the right time with plenty of hours to run.
what do you consider "a decent living"? the low side right now i would say is 400 take home a week. i am between 400-800 take home right now (after a weekly 160 cash advance) depending on hometime,location ETC.

 

joshmck1982,
like panhandlepat said, read read and reread all these you can. i am setting in SLC UT waiting on a trainer, dont know when i'll get one hopefully this week.
What companys are you looking into?
Good luck,

 

With everything this slow are they still taking students? is there any out of pocket money from you?

 

I remember when i was first starting out. Theres alot to learn. Freight is usually slow this time of year but the economy is on life support also. From my experiences do everything by the book. Dont try to be a supertrucker and cover your own ### because noone else will. Your doing your time when you are new and yes its gonna suck. Flying J truck stops are the cleanest. I would plan to take showers there the loves and pilots are a ####### joke. Slide your tandems atleast halfway back when in tight truckstops especially when backing in between trucks. It makes things easier and after 600 miles you will notice that being tired does affect your judgement. Do everything slow dont let anyone rush you if they dont like it tough ####### ####. If you have a blowout keep going if possible. Anything that flies off your rig is gonna be your fault even if you cant control it. Dont drive in bad conditions no matter how good you think you are. You cant make any money driving 10mph why would you want to even try. Keep an eye on your dac check it every once in awhile and try to keep it clean. Any ticket you get hire a good attorney it is worth the money to keep it off your mvr. Ive paid hundreds of dollars to keep a ticket off its worth it in the long run. You will get alot of BS from people who do not drive for a living just ignore them they think they can do your job but they dont have a clue. Good Luck

 

There are 70,000 experienced truckers out of work . The carriers accepting students are those with low pay and poor working conditions that are unacceptable to experienced drivers . They are always hiring because drivers are always quitting . Their training come with a contract that obligates you to work for them for a year or more . Quit before that and they'll be in your pocket for at least $2,000 dollars .

 

good. but even so, you should plan on staying at your first co at LEAST a year,2 would be better for getting on with a really good co.