A Little Bit of a Situation...

What might you do you ask is if you wanna be a trk driver then stick with it.Not long after you earned your CDL you found another line of work.If you plan on coming back to this industry then do just that and stay.What were the 2 incidents you had?The training time depends on you.May only be one load with a trainer maybe 2 weeks maybe longer.But when you do go solo again,remember you are still a newby.Which simply means you'll be making what all the new drivers make.

 

Hi jparm, I wouldn't spend another dime to get into a truck again. There are so many job openings, over 100 on CL in my area alone today, you have more than enough qualifications, to get in. Might take some legwork, but I hardly think you need a "refresher course". I haven't driven in 8 years, so I would probably need a refresher course, although I'd tell them to cram it. Don't forget, the trucking industry NEEDS you, not the other way around. Good luck.

 

I've been in a similar situation. I have discovered it actually costs me more to stay home and work a normal 9-5 even as a local driver due to insurance, fuel etc. I do better out of the road. If I know I'm going to be gone well over a month then I save the fuel and insurance costs by parking my truck and filling a "vehicle statement of non use" form online with my local DMV so I can drop my insurance while not having to surrender my tags or face a flagged license for no insurance (which I went through once.) Thats saved me around $200 a month on insurance and about $500 in fuel while also not racking up miles on my truck. Then simply reinstate insurance a few days before I get home if I know I need to use my truck. If not then I just leave it as is and go out and start it for a few to charge the batteries. The money savings over the PITA of insurance and forms to do such is worth its weight in the long run. Of course Im the only one who drives my truck too!


In the industry you may just have to take what you can get to get your foot in the door. I had to go through being a 2nd seat driver twice a few years ago after being off for some time but if its what you wanna do then you do what you gotta do to get back up there. My mom has worked retail for years now and when I talk to her I ask her why she puts up with that crap and settles for it because there are much better things with better pay out there with her work experience. My first time out with a trainer was a grueling 6.5 months without going home because he wanted to get it over with so he could move on to his next trainee even though he went home a couple times and I stayed in the truck. So keep in mind whatever may come can't be anywhere near as bad as that was. After finally going solo with my first truck and going home, I felt out of place like I didn't belong. It was really weird to say the least.

I wouldn't sweat the incidents if they were very minor backing incidents or something. It happens but its not like it was a big DOT accident that caused injury which I assume since you say incident and not accident. Just keep in mind that if you get back in it, stay with it because going back and forth from 9-5 jobs to a OTR job ends up costing you more money than you would want to or even realize that your spending for the transition.

 

Okay, because what you are asking appears to be "financial" advise let me put my 2 cents worth here. Actually, it is worth much more then 2 cents. You will have to remember that some on here say I have no contact with reality.

First, if both you and your girlfriend are needing help from her daughter to pay rent, your rent is too high. You have to move. First thing. Stop paying rent. Today. The process of kicking you out of the apartment will take some time. Start selling things to raise money. All household items have got to go. You and your girlfriend are about to become a Team Driver. She is going to have to learn to drive or learn to be your traveling bookkeeper and lot lizard blocker. Living in a truck with someone whose economic fortune is tied with yours is the only way to team. Turn the disadvantages you are going through into an advantage.

Spend 5 years over the road as a team and you can easily pay cash for a new house. Spend those same years paying rent and you will still be in the same place. You know that what you are doing right now is not working so do something different. As a team you and your girlfriend should be able to make $100,000 to 150,000 per year. You should be able to save $200,000 easily in a five year period. Get a bank account with Ally Bank. They are the old GM finance. They have the best CD rates. Every time you get $1000 buy a CD. It is a very safe way to save. As a team you should be able to buy 1 a week.

Ask your Swift recruiter to find a place for your girlfriend to train.

Of course those who still have contact with reality may argue that I am wrong. Ask for input from the married or committed teams here.

 

Hi Wooly, I think you pretty much nailed it, although, I think your 100-150K might be a little optimistic, as the girlfriend might not be able to earn much while she's learning, as a team, 100K is totally plausible, however, but like you say, not while paying rent. I'm not sure I'd stop paying rent and burn any bridges, do it legal like, but I'm sure teams do it all the time, if they can stand one another for that long, that is.

 

You seem to emphasis the good/safe driver thing which makes me wonder how bad were these incidents?

not everyone can be good/safe drivers, even when they try hard to. I would reconsider the entire idea and look into something else.

 

Mobile is an excellent location for some good jobs after you complete the refresher and get about 6 mos. driving out of the way. SVTN has a terminal in Saraland and can make some excellent paychecks with that company, but get the refresher out of the way first.

Friend of mine in Pensacola makes over a grand a week working for Kenan and hauls a lot out of Mobile and home every day.

I-10 is a good location for some high paying tanker companies running between Florida and Texas.

 

Wow! Those are some incidents. In trucking there is no room for "nearly certain". You have to get out and look. My advice is you have to be honest with yourself. If you can't be honest with yourself there isn't an employer out there who will believe you will be honest with them. Not trying to break you down just trying to give you constructive criticism. If you do get back into trucking try to be a little more cautious. Best of luck.