6 Months Down The Road.

Pardon the pun

I will soon be done with my schooling and will be headed off with a trainer for my first 10,000 miles. After that, I'll be hitting the open road, but it's not something I want to do forever...

Now truck driving is a career I'd definitely be happy with for a lifetime (if it came to that) and at least for a good few years if not more, but being on the open road is something that I don't want to do for more than 6 months if at all possible. I understood what I was getting into when I accepted this challenge and don't mind one bit, but I have some one who's very special to me that I don't want to have to have to live with that lifestyle. Me and my girlfriend live in the midwest (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and have a very good relationship (thank god, or I wouldn't chance this). While I think it's quite splendid up here, I'm originally from Southern California and cold weather is something I don't deal with very well. Some very close family to me moved to Phoenix Arizona not long ago and I lived there awhile as a kid and have always wanted to go back (visted not long ago). Me and my girlfriend are also both diehard motorcyclists and want to live some where that we can ride year round. I'm sure there's other options but Phoenix is the place we want to be and it's been in our plans for awhile now.

I've worked office jobs (banks, call centers, etc) my whole life up till now (I'm 25) and got sick of the lack of job security, unstable market, stressful work and very low pay. I wanted a career and experience I could put time and effort into that would reward me for such. I've always loved traveling, road trips and after having driven this truck lately absolutely love it, but I don't want to be gone forever.

Me and my girlfriend have planned for awhile on moving to Phoenix this summer (in about 6 months from now). Once we get there, I want to be able to show her around and spend time with her, I don't want her to be all alone in a new place while I'm on the road. She's already begun setting it up to where she will be transferring schools to ASU. For the next 6 months she's going to be going to school full time and working two jobs to help save up the money (she is one hard worker and quite smart...) so she's going to be extremely busy which is why we decided that me being OTR for the next 6 months won't be such a huge deal.

The thing is, when I get to Phoenix I want to keep driving a truck, but I would love to be home nightly, or even daily, or at the very least not out for more than 2-3 days at a time. I would love to do something locally... Now I know good and well that for those kinds of jobs most places want one year of experience, but I've seen some that will allow 6 months. I don't mind working hard at all and as long as I made 36k+ a year I'd be content. Another thing is, I'm with MCT and they've already told me I could transfer with them to Phoenix, but I'm unsure if they have anything (fleet owners, owner operators) that would have local or regional work there. I've also heard some discouraging things like "Freight and trucking is a bad business to be in Phoenix for right now" but I'm not going to let that discourage me, I know I have to be realistic but this is a major life decision I've already decided on.

What are my chances of landing something locally in Phoenix where I can be home every day or every few days with that 6 months of experience? I forgot to mention, once I've graduated my schooling here at MCT I'll have a Hazmat endorsement as well. I've also heard some people say you could drive locally if you owned your own truck, but I thought that to make any decent money at all, owner operators had to stay on the road CONSTANTLY, is this not true?

Sorry for the long drawn out post and thank you very much for any help or advice.

 

I like hot weather myself and it's not always that hot, just like it's not always 40 below in the Midwest, but I'd much rather deal with that heat than the blistering cold. I've lived in Phoenix before as a kid and visted there a good many times even when it was super hot. I love the place. I also think Arizona has some of the nicest roads I've been on and don't know quite what you mean by no room for expansion They are constantly expanding and a growing city by all means.

 

Thanks for your helpful advice as always Pokerhound I wouldn't mind hard physical work at all. I'm no muscleman but I'm definitely not in that bad of shape either and actually like some hard labor. I've heard of everything from fuel, to oil, to milk, to car hauling, to tandem trailers and places like FedEx and other local companies. I honestly have always liked Fuel Trucks and figured with a Hazmat it might help me get into that? And yeah, I'm not quite sure how being an owner operator home every day would work but I heard some where that it can? Like I say, as long as I bring home 36k a year I'd be happy (you can always make profits grow) but I'd definitely not be paying cash for the truck and would have to make payments.