Newbie looking at solo CDL

You're not too old; in fact, at 60, you'll be a young upstart in trucking.
IWX Motor Freight probably a good choice after graduating from a private cdl school.
No-touch freight and .55 cpm for solo driver.
Have a chat with someone at the company about hiring you; phone number is on the website.
IWX Motor Freight

• Directions
• Website

• Address: 2813 N Neergard Ave, Springfield, MO 65803

 

CFI - www.cfidrive.com is in Joplin and has a good reputation.
Has their own school and provides meals & lodging while in school.
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Wilson Logistics - trains in Springfield.
www.wilsonlogistics.com
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You aren't too old. Chinatown ain't steering you wrong. I have had at least 2 trainees here at Britton who were over 60. You will be fine if you are a quality applicant otherwise. Having said that, you will have to endure some time with a trainer. Not really any way around that that I know of.

 

You are not too old. I think the average age of truck drivers is 56. Concentrate on finding the company to work for. There is a huge difference between some companies and others. You wouldn't pick a wife based on which reception hall had the cheaper price when that is only one day of the rest of your life. Think of finding the right shoes for you. An expensive pair that doesn't fit is worse than another pair that does fit. The fit on YOU is the difference between a tough year and an interesting year.

Once you know the company that best fits you, then decide how to get the license, what school to attend. If you want the least hassle for the driver because of the freight look for a dry van company. The trailer is just a shell with freight inside. It's not refrigerated. It's just a box on wheels. All you have to do with those is open and close doors and slide the rear wheels for weight distribution. Refrigerated freight has the most hassles, IMO. The customers get many, many trucks per day. So they treat you like the DMV treats everyone.They also have the most problem with their freight and reject some or all of it if the condition is not exactly what they want. Once it's rejected you and your company have to deal with disposing of the freight. You are paid per mile, not often by the hour. If you do get hourly pay, it's usually after you donate a couple of hours first.

Obviously you are right in the neighborhood of Prime, Inc. Almost no trucking company will care about your age as long as you can pass the DOT medical exam. While Prime probably has the most organized and well-planned training for new drivers, the period you ride with a trainer is among the longest in the industry. For some of us riding with the trainer, 2 dudes living in the space the size of an apartment bathroom, is difficult. With Prime you stay out at least one month at a time before you get home time. As a trainee you will go to a hotel/home if/when your trainer gets home time. IMO almost every newbie vastly underestimates the value of getting home and doesn't quite understand it's not like that one long car trip you took that was so much fun. In 20 plus years I've never worked for a company that routinely kept me away from home for more than a week. You don't have to stay away from home for months unless you really want to. When picking a company think along the lines of "can I stay with this company and these conditions for a full year?" A lot of younger newbies seem to think they can get their 1 year of initial experience by working a 4-6 companies. Doing anything like that severely restricts which companyies will hire you and none of those companies are paying high cents per mile CPM and handing out easy trips. That's a recipe for a downward spiral in pay and conditions.

DO NOT WORK FOR CR ENGLAND, no matter what. I think they paid Google so EVERY newbie gets that company on every search. If you don't like sharing a truck with one person, imagine sharing with 2 other people for weeks, besides the low pay.

The YouTube videos and the ads make it seem like mostly what you do every day is look at beautiful scenery and see America. It's more like you visit America's industrial parks and fight traffic and hunt for truck parking over and over and over. After a short while the location where you are doing that is just a name on your paperwork except for the exceptionally beautiful places.

Find THE company for you, then decide about paying for school, letting the company provide "free training" or paying for school and letting your employer re-pay your school through their Tuition Reimbursement. Some companies only do TR if you have a loan. Sometimes they will pay TR even if you have paid cash out of pocket. Get the details from the company before you assume anything about TR. EVERY CDL school will find someone to loan you money for their school.

 

That’s some good advice!

 

You aint too old.

Im in the mid 50's myself and have been fortunate to be working on a possible return to trucking. My path is through Surgeries (Plural) as they replace bad parts with good ones. What would be left after all that would be a body that is in good working order.

When I went to school at 21 to learn trucking, certain years of labor goe by and boom there you are with a back in too dangerous of a venture. The main difference now is that medically there are option.

 

Though Ive driven large trucks previously, I got my CDL at the tender age of 61. I'm 68 now and still going strong. I haul jet fuel for firefighting helicopters in the summer and fuel tankers in the winter. I get about 5 job offers a month from various sources that I don't solicit for.

The main thing us "seasoned" guys need to do is to stay healthy. Everything you can do along those lines will serve to insure a long life as a driver (and a long life!). If you, as you say, have a good driving record that's great. Add to that the available endorsements for doubles, tanker, hazmat and a TWIC card and you become a valuable commodity.

Depending on the company, you may need to undergo a training period. However you don't need to do OTR, work for a "mega", or take a bad job with a bad company to "pay your dues". Those days are over and I'm living proof of it.

Bottom line: Go for it, dude !!

 

I would give Magnum LTD a call if your interested in no touch reefer work. They are based in ND but we run through Missouri alot.

You would have to front the money for school but they will reimburse you I believe. During training you don't run teams either. The trainer sits in the passenger seat from what I am told.

The trucks all have an Apu, fridge, and a 1500 watt inverter too which makes life on the road so much better.

Magnum isn't for everyone. But for a training company it's pretty good. And you can make decent money there. A grand a week take home pay is pretty normal for me and to be honest I don't work all that hard. The bonus program is also decent. My bonus is normally over 1k a month on top of my normal pay.

 

Look at transland or RBX. in straford mo.