Advice for a prospective new driver?

Whatever type of trucking you decide to pursue, make sure to get the Tanker endorsement on your license. Without it there is a lot of freight you cannot haul even on a flatbed or inside a van or reefer trailer. It's a simple test on the computer and it never expires. A Tanker endorsement IS NOT just for the round trailers that haul only liquids.

 

Its a journey, not just a job.

The USA is epic. Particularly in bad weather.

You are not going to be seeing this as a job. Its a very crazy world in this industry. Regulated almost beyond reason. Makes Mortimer weep some days. (A shot at a fictional movie character Broker who was margin called for much more than he was worth)

Employment is at will. Have enough funds to get yourself home from anywhere in North America in any way.

Trucks are nice. But they are gilded cages for Company enforcement not for your benefit. You will be tending to emissions and other flaws very often more than just trucking.

Finally build savings with every load every week. constantly build. When 9-11 came along wife and I had 6 weeks on hand in cash plus a 9000 dollar cost of replacing a storm damaged bathroom and the payroll company was destroyed. We kept on trucking running medicines in high dollar loads. The alternative was unemployment until a new payroll could be rebuilt.

Finally but not last. Get moving, yer late already.

 

They way you get into trucking is not always easy but it not hard also. What most people never explain is just have CDL is not enough because everyone know the requirements to pass the CLD test is not very much. So their are BIG trucking companies that basically hire new drivers. They train you and hire you. They also pay low. They are self-insured so they pay the bills when a new driver has accident. That part of the reason they pay so low.

Most insurance company won't get insure a new driver with CDL and no real driving experience. That what just having a CDL is not enough usually. So even if pay training your self you could get stuck working for one of the training companies anyway. Unless you call and see if a company will hire a new driver without any experience.

These BIG training trucking companies pay the first 1 Million dollars of any accidents themselves. They don't really care about the drives because they have new driver coming in every week for the free training. They have like 130% turnover rate per year.

 

The CDL school I used is now in Christiana, TN near Murfreesboro. I-24 Exit 89 near the Loves truck stop.
CDI or TDI at 800-242-SEMI

 

They hire thousands of drivers each month because they have thousands of drivers quitting each month. Pick a company, then decide about school. To the OP, when deciding be serious and only pick a company you want to stay at for a year. Every time you quite early your next options are fewer and often not as good. One hard year at A company gives you more and better choices.

 

Without reading the other responses... hubby and I started at 55. To prove job history, we had notes from ppl who could verify our self owned service business. We got grants from the govt thru the unemployment office to go to trucking school. And we read this forum to help us figure out a good company to start with. We are really happy now. Go for it!

 

Wait until you learn that the real world training don't do a #### thing out there other than keep the wheels moving against the next delivery appt to about a 10 minute breathing space or it will be late.

Horrible trainers will mule the trainee while they snore in the bunk. Trainee is left with a horrible situation in self learning as they go in fear.

You will either survive your first year or get fired, quit or be out of the industry for another reason within the first 12 months. Replaced by the next in line.

 

Being stuck at a company you dont like because you have a contract could suck. I stayed with my company over a year though, and I am really happy. I did school on my own though, and the company is reimbursing me for the cost of school about 100 bucks a month.