Private school or Company sponsored school?

Just curious, how much research have you done on being an OTR truck driver? If you're having issues working a 12-16 hour days, I'm not sure your would like the hours required for an OTR driving job. What are the other details of the $1500/week entry level job you saw on CL? did it mention what the cpm was? How many miles per week? Is the $1500/wk guaranteed?

 

Find your definition of happiness. And stick with it.

You hate 12-16 hours days? Guess what, you’re going to do a lot of 14 hour days. As many as 30 a month.

Yeh, I know you’ve read we use electronic logs. But there’s an off duty tab on it. You start working at 6am drive 4 hours, sit and unload for 2 (off duty) drive 1, sit for 5 (off duty) being loaded, then drive 2 to your delivery for the next morning.

Your total there is 14. But...

You’ve only worked 8 hours. And you can repeat this cycle 365 days nonstop and it’s all legal.

 

Some of those are probably paid on 1099.
Don't be attracted to cpm. It's the accessorial pays that help make the big paychecks.
If a company only pays you to drive, then you're being cheated out of pays that other companies have.
I easily made $65K and cpm was only .36 cents per mile. Lots of other pays; examples are layover pay, 34 hr. reset pay, detention pay, and on and on. Some of the drivers were making $72K every year. I didn't make as much because I took long vacations overseas where I own a home.
Break down pay adds up if your truck is in the shop. We got $12.00 and hour for 14 hours a day while waiting for the truck to be repaired. Also paid for hotel room and meals.

 

Thanks @SteerTire thats exactly where I was headed with my previous comment. Was just easing into it...haha

 

Contact Nick Strimbu Inc. in Brookfield, Ohio and maybe work something out. I think they reimburse cdl school tuition. Teamsters Union, so you can earn a pension in 5 years, plus have cheap, high quality health insurance.

 

OTR definitely is not for everyone and I'll tell you what there ain't nothing easy about it.

Go over there and look in that thread where they're talking about using a portable toilet in a truck. There's a reason that people are talking about having buckets in their trucks with trash bags in, to the poop in.

And if you don't like 14 to 16 hour days what the hell are you even considering long-haul or over the road for?

Like the previous poster said you're going to be doing that 300+ days a year.

Sure OTR might be where the money is but I guarantee you're going to earn every penny of it my friend.

I'm currently sitting in a motel in the midwest. My truck is two blocks over sitting in the parking lot of the Kenworth dealership. It's been sitting there since Sunday afternoon when I got towed in from 40 miles up the highway.

It's now what Wednesday evening and my truck maybe is going in the shop tomorrow and I'm losing $150 a day right now, after my breakdown pay.

Yeah OTR, real glamorous.

I don't know how it ever got this romanticized glamorous reputation but it ain't all that.

It's a lot of work and I'll tell you what man that you're pulling down money like that installing alarm systems I have no idea what the hell you're even remotely considering getting into Trucking for.

 

Well that's definitely what OTR is all about, eating Cheetos and drinking koolaide all day in the AC.

You'll have no problems at all pal.