Wanna be truckdriver

WIlee81 · Oct 30, 2019

x1Heavy said: ↑

65000 a year income. Spend 10K annually in food. Never mind the other vices...
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I mean, 55k is still 20k over what I make now.

WIlee81 · Oct 30, 2019

I'll agree with the sentiment that you need to take your time and do your research. I made the decision to get my CDL back in early August. I found this site and started lurking. By the time I started school, I already had my company picked out and had even spoken to both the recruiter and the terminal to see how we meshed.

Got my CDL last friday and am currently waiting for a trainer to open up so I can get on the road.

Lurkin'n'Smirkin · Oct 30, 2019

tscottme said: ↑

Depending on where you live you can get driving job and be home daily or every weekend. Driving doesn't have to mean only getting home every few weeks/months like in the old days.

The only exploring you do if you drive a truck is looking for truck parking spots. Almost every minute of your week is already "spent" making someone's schedule happen, while most of the people you deal with don't care if they do their work in the next 30 minutes of 4 days and 7.5 hours. They go home when the clock strikes the magic moment. You can sleep/eat/go home once things are completed.

The only way to enter this field and not make a big mistake is to do a ton of research. Don't even consider getting your lisense until you have identified the trucking company job you want. There are a dozen ways to get the license. Almost anyone can get the license, assume you will get the license. What makes the job hard is not working at a place where the job that fits what you want is the job they have. This is not a sexist comment, I have been using it for everyone for decades. Think of getting the right trucking job like getting a pair of shoes. What matters is the fit on your feet. The wrong size shoes for you, even if they are super expensive and the highest quality shoes on the Earth, will not make you happy.

You need to idnetify exactly your needs and then find that job with a company near you that meets those needs. MOST newbies just assume they are going to work for the 5 biggest advertisers on Google. Just accept they are going to be poorly paid and poorly treated. 90% of those people quit the industry BEFORE they complete 1 year. Your research will determine your success. NOTHING is more important than your research.

The job is not especially dangerous for women. You don't need to be physically strong or tough. The difficulties are mostly mental. The stress of being in traffic with cars that would happily watch your truck burn to the ground if it meant they could get to the office or home 1.3 seconds faster is the hardest thing for many drivers. If you don't have people and family back home you will still need time off. When you decide where to work, you have just decided how much time off you can get. You cannot change a trucking company's operating tempo so you get the time off you want when you want it if they don't operate that in a way that makes it easy for you. You get what you sign up for. Choose CAREFULLY.

Under no circumstance work for CR England.

10-25% of trucking companies allow pets in trucks, but many of those companies have a weight restriction on the pet. Their pet policy will not be changed by you and you should not even think about sneaking a pet into the truck. There are dozens of ways to get caught you will never think of until you get fired because of it. The only reliable answer about "does company ABC allows pets" comes from Company ABC. Seeing a pet in a truck from Company ABC doesn't answer the question and taking the word of a stranger on the internet is not good enough.Talk to the company. Company recruiters will lie. An answer from the company HR or Safety Dept is a reliable answer.
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This is really, really, really good advice!!! Great post!!

FoolsErrand · Oct 31, 2019

You can keep the house. Trucking is how most of us keep ours.

Best of luck, you sound like a good fit for this crazy life. Liking trucks and challenges are probably the two biggest prerequisites to lasting at it.

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