Having a hard time deciding how to go about getting my CDL

I have no idea what your health issues are, but an $80 a year tanker job will be stressful and physical. I have hauled fuel and other liquids and made really good money, but its no place for someone with health issues or someone that does not thrive on a fast fast paced, stressful, environment. Trust me, in this industry outside of an average / typical large carrier $45k to $50 OTR job will have demands that I'm not sure you would tolerate based on some of your comments. I came from a high stress corporate job and thought I knew what it was all about ...........until I was stuck on the interstate in accident traffic at 3AM and get a call from dispatch wondering where I was and that I was about to shut down a plant that charges back $30, 000 a minute in shut down fees. I would really reevaluate you current position as I don't think you know enough about this industry to make a career change based on your current needs or desires. Those ads for drivers really don't give you the full prospective of what is required of you personally or professionally

 

Just info, no opinion on what YOU should do...
I was looking at a choice like your 3rd... I felt I could pass the written test no problem, as you have. But when it comes to renting or borrowing a truck to A) practice in and B) take the test in, your options are limited. You can't rent a truck without a cdl, and you can't get the cdl without a truck. Maybe your company would be so kind as to allow you to practice in the trucks, with the help of a cdl driver, and then have a cdl driver get you to the testing facility. If you suggest that you're doing this to be more useful to the company, they might be willing.
And then there's this.. Many companies want proof you have 140 to 160 hours in "training" before they can hire you, for insurance purposes. How do you document that training time if you don't do it through a school? Well, one way would be to keep logs of hours and miles you've driven as an employee in your company - which you'd need to do as a cdl holder. Many companies ask about previous cdl driving exp, even if your job was not exclusively driving. So, it's sounding like it's going to take you time either way. I guess what I'm saying here is, you could get your cdl without a school, and then keep logs like a company driver to document your time behind the wheel. I don't know how long it will take you to get 140 to 160 hours behind the wheel at your company.
The cdl school I went to could work with you on a payment plan, and some companies will offer you a bonus to help pay that back. My school offered weekend and evening classes. They also offered short classes for situations like if you already have an employer or a cdl, and "one hour sessions" to train drivers at a nice rate. They can be pretty flexible, so it can't hurt to go interview with a couple in your area and see what can be done.
Yes, schools are designed to get you the knowledge to pass your tests, period. They certainly put out plenty of "steering wheel holders" and then you have to count on your company trainer to actually help you along the path to "driver". I was amazed at some of the students who passed, when I'd seen their driving and couldn't believe they passed.
Ok, last point. I intend to drive team with my hubby. We just graduated school. The company we've been hired on with says they'll pay 43 cents a mile each, and as a team we will do 5 to 6000 miles a week. That comes out to about 1100 a week each, gross. That's about 55k a year gross. We intend to do drop and hook box trucks to start with. I have no facts about solo drivers.

 

Decide on what job to take before getting your CDL. Some companies will pay for it. Some companies only accept new CDL holders from certain schools near them. The difference between how you get the CDL is pretty small compared t the differences between trucking companies.

 

You're control what you do, but the other people (trucking company, shipper,dispatcher,mechanics, etc) all expect to use 120% of any available time not required to drive for their own purpose. Your dispatcher will give you a 10 hour and 45 minute drive time trip and then be in no hurry for the next few hours finding out which trailer you are supposed to take, or getting your fuel card turned back on, or getting a phone number for the customer, etc. Plus eveyr car on the road thinks you have one mission, to make room for them to go where they want to go while they stare at the phone.

The stress of this job is mostly from other people seeming trying to make you fail or get themselves killed for their own convenience. It's nice to have only one thing to do, that's the easiest part of the job.

 

You will want to go through a complete CDL school. What you are looking for a shortcut. That is not going to fly. Even if you got a CDL TODAY or even if... Ridgeline hired me at my piles of experience etc I would be with a trainer two months to fill in half the stuff I had forgotten and rediscover if I have any bad habits. (Not going to happen as far as hiring or anything anymore for me)

You have not elaborated much on your medical issues. You talked about gut issues. Are you on a costomy bag or something? Out here on the road you will be buying 8000 dollars a year in crappy food that will probably aggravate your gut. Not to mention out west in areas where the water is truly bad for humans and unfit to drink or use. You will be introducing other issues into your body as you travel. For example desert Dust say in west Phoenix or Yuma as you travel through a windstorm. You have arsenic and everything else in trace amounts blowing by you as you breathe it in. It will take you and your body a while to readjust and maybe you run a big fever or something.

Most insurance have a 10K annual deductable. Meaning on top of your premiums you are already paying 10K cash before anything kicks in to pay it. It's disgusting. Medicare for me is 1350 deductable and 20% of whatever billing I pay. Example 100K trauma 8 days in Baltimore at the Crowley facility. I would have a 25K bill. That will take me 10 years to pay off on my pay of around 10K annually. Essentially bankruptcy. Ive already deferred 40,000 (Last month I said I defered 34000 in medical care and my doctors appt this last week revealed a need for yet another 6000 dollar procedure which is sort of immediate) so far this year on top of about 35000 in medical work and hosptial stays consumed last year. In short my body is degrading and will fail at some point. When it does everythng is in order as far as burial and so on.

Most people when they get sick, they generate big, bigger and omfg huge bills. My mother when she had her liver replaced it turned into a life support situation 40 days after. Her total billing was a cool 260,000 dollars from a total of 45 days in the hospital over what was supposed to be a then simple chop liver out, drop new one in. Turned out bacteria in and around her trachea is what was the real problem. But they did not know that. The liver went bad because that bacterial filled it with *&^% literally. The new liver would have filled up in 6 months too. What a waste. She was good as dead.

Out here on the road if you are sick and need a doctor to look at your gut or whatever specifically, guess what. Your dispatcher will NOT be happy. That truck has to be rolling to make money or you dont have a job. Someone 21 years old and healthy will take your job tonight and back home you go. With nothing.

And all for what?

How old are you anyway? It might be time to look around for private non obamacare health insurance or some other situation to get it started. 10K deductable aint going to cut it. Are are you trying to avoid paying say 700 a month with that 10K ded? You are going to pay anyway. Here or there. Might as well go as a cash patient and pay 10.00 a month in good faith like I do. That's how I am holding about 9000 in medical billing due. They will never be paid until I die and my estate pays them off through my life insurance But in the meantime, good faith payments keep the law suiting at bay. (Collections)

And you wonder why our entire medical system in America teeters on the brink of total collaspe. I run about 20 years in my time being carried to the ER now and then when I got hit really hard. All of that neglected medical stuff accumulated until I am here where I am now. What a shame.

I did not write to talk about me. What I am trying to show is trucking is the hardest work you can do for less than Minimum wage. Are you willing to get into this meat grinder and give up your 1000 dollar a week job? At least you can depend on your current job day in and day out. Out here in Trucking you CANNOT depend ON ANYTHING. CANNOT. You might have a load to NYC this week then you sit 8 days waiting and then get a piddling haul to say Ohio. Your paychecks will be less than preminums paid on your precious new benefits. Employers usually pay half, you pay the rest. Or go into debt and get negative paychecks until caught up.

Trucking is not going to give you the money you want right away. 40? Maybe 30? Quite possibly. Your first years out here is a time of learning what works or not. if I wanted back in I strictly go for McKesson Medicine loads at 1 million value high dollar per trailer delivered overnight usually detriot from Memphis and right back to Memphis. It's perfect for me. The money takes care of itself. No more grocery lumping detention time BS again.

That's another thing. You dont understand what it is like to race to say walmart in Denver then told to sit a minute turns into 14 hours then get a dock and wait some more. The last time I was there it took 2 days to get empty and the eff out of there. I was incandescent with anger leaving that place. Total pay that week? 145 dollars gross. Then the 70 dollars unloading fee will be pending 12 to 16 days reimbursements. It's disgusting, withholding and it came out to about 35 dollars net for that week. That's 25 years ago. Im still angry over it.

You SURE you want to get into Trucking? HA....

 

Tscott hits the nail on the head. I dont want to come off as an authority on your sitiuation, but you need to understand the chance of you landing a one of these high paying tanker jobs (or any specialized trucking job) out of school is slim to none.......that will come down the road after a few accident free miles, with proven experience in all kinds of weather and driving conditions. I would say it would be exceptionally hard to land a job like that without formal training from a school. Thinking it through, would you put someone in a piece of equipment like that, with only practice on a yard and driving a few miles to and from a customer for a limited time? I not trying to discourage a career change, just a few more real world conversations with the companies you wish to work for, I think it will be eye opening what they will require and expect.

 

I've been on the phone with WDT multiple times in last few weeks and was told by the San Antonio drop yard that making 45K + would be super easy depends on what you want to do . Route I was told about was driving to Dallas , stephenville and back to San Antonio 3 x a week and then the other two days just to stephenville and back to San Antonio 2 x would easily be 60k