Laid off from IT looking into CDL

I went to CDL school with a Mega for flatbed trading out of Indiana.

Ended up getting hurt on leave time at home before I did my over the road training, Biggest Blessing on Earth that happened to me .

After laid up for 3 months I found a small milk hauling company out of Michigan that hired me and threw me In a truck.

Needless to say milk hauling in a tanker ruined me for any other trucking job.

I took home a $1000 a week , took 2 days off every 6-7. Was back at the yard every other day if I wanted to be .

I couldn't imagine having to be out 2 weeks at a time to just get 2 days off.
It takes one day off just to recharge your brain and catch up on some sleep and maybe get some laundry done.2 days is the bare minimum off.

When I would do an occasional 11-12 in a row I would get in a groove and lose track of time but approaching 2 weeks I was ready to get Out of That Truck for a couple days .

Did it for 18 months and Loved the job, grew to hate driving around Chicago up to Wisconsin from Michigan

Maybe it was the company I worked for that helped spoil me, but I can say milk haulers in general are all a bunch of pretty good people.

A lot of good old boys and even though they didn't care for my Beach Bum looking shorts and flip flops some days , they were nice enough to tell me or show me the ropes at some of the dairies.

Midwest Dairy has a training school but if you can get state assistance and train at a community college nearby I would opt for that.

You haven't Lived Until you haul 50,000 pounds of Condensed milk trying to Beat its way out of the Shotgun tank like a Pissed Off Gorilla .

 

Don't waste your time and money with a TWIC card. Half the people don't even know what they are .

I got mine because of my Captains license and after doing research here the majority feel the same way .

 

I was in your situation back in 2002. Was an IT professional in the Silicon Valley in CA. Lots of IT jobs but not a stable future due to labor shifts to India and company buyout. Always a massive layoff every few years. A friend of mine made the switch from IT to trucking and did very well. Then a bunch of my friends and I made the switch. Most of us are still in trucking after 15 years and doing great.

 

Trucking is what you of make it. Don't fall for recruitment tales of this or that. It's pretty much a sweet hard honest job. I been at it for 15 yrs myself though there are times and situations when I ask myself " why did I get into this" . But overall it's a job a real good job.