advice on local trucking and class b cdl

Hi... Im new to the forum, but I have been lurking for a few weeks. Im in the process now of enrolling in a trucking school. Ive thought long and hard about it and decided I really want to drive a rig but dont want to do OTR this early in my life. Im very close to my family and friends, and being young Id rather still do some other things in life than being on the road constantly. So Ive decided to just stick with a class B and try to get a local job driving a dump truck, concrete truck, or similar. Now my question is, am I going to have much of a chance getting a job with a class B right out of school? Im 21 also if that helps any. Obviously companies are going to be looking more for experienced drivers, and probably prefer someone with a class A, but I figure Ill take the chance. Thanks!

EDIT: Also I forgot, if anyone could give me some sort of a ballpark figure for the average pay driving a dump truck?

 

Hi Mr. D
If your going to spend money on classes, you might as well get your Class A. If you get a Class B and then decide you want an A class you'll just have to back to school and pay more money. Dump truck, as well as other driver positions will pay depending on your experience. Equation is (low experience= lower pay).
We all have to do our time. I'm not sure about dump pay, but many grocery/food service type companies look for new drivers. Pay can be between $15.00-$18.00 per hour in the Chicagoland area. Not to sure about Ohio. I would contact some of your local dump truck companies and ask them what kind of training would be best for you to have and what kinds of wages should you expect in your area.
Again, as I was told, you might as well just get your Class A, at least you will have it.
Take Care-
Toby

 

The local companies I talked to require 2 years exp. They said the insurance is to high for anyone with less than 2 years. I was advised to work for one of the big companies for two years and then apply for a local company.

 

I guess it depends on where you live. Being in the Chicago area, I found two local companies to work with right out of school. One of them was Dutch Farms, they started at $15.00 per hour. I worked with them 2 months during the winter but couldn't survive on 2-3 days per week. I left them and I was hired on by Lapri Foods at $18.00 per hour and have been there ever since. Lapri is self insured. I think it also depends greatly on the age of the driver. I was told the same thing you were about the experience. If you keep sniffin around, you may just come up lucky!
Good Luck in your career.
Toby

 

Thanks guys.

 

School for class 'B license? Just get your 'A. I don't know what the price/ciriculum difference might be, but why cheat yourself. I've been driving for Amerigas (bob-tail) for a few months now. Started out at $13.50. But that's in semi-rural Michigan in a sagging job market. Good luck! BTW, I graduated from Fox Valley Tech (WI) with my "A license last June. Trained with Davis (flatbed) for a week before deciding to bail. Glad to be at Amerigas.

 

By the time you finish school with a class b you gonna wish you had gotten your A's. You might luck up and get a local but like someone posted you might need 2 years exp. I lucked up and got a local job, I love the fact of being home every night but I do miss the road. Dont limit yourself. Get the A's and go local but always leave something to fall back on. If you just got the B's and couldnt find anythinglocal what are you going to do? Cant drive OTR with a class B. See what I mean?

 

GET YOUR CLASS A, IF YOU STILL WANT TO DO 10WHEEL DUMP YOU CAN AND IF YOU WANT TO DO CLASS A DUMP YOU CAN.GET THE CLASS A BECAUSE IN THE FUTURE YOUR GOING TO WANT IT AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY ALL OVER AGAIN.YOU WILL KICK YOURSELF IF YOU DONT.
I WAS LOOKING INTO CLASS B FOR DUMP OR WINTER OIL COMPANIES BUT Y BROTHER INLAW SUGGESTED I JUST GET THE CLASS A AND THEN I CAN DECIDE.THE CLASS A HAS MORE OPTIONS.YOU CAN DO ALL CLASS B JOBS PLUS UNION DOCKWORKER WITH A CDL,NON UNION, YARD JOCKIE, CEMENT TRUCK,CESSPOOL YOU NAME IT YOU CAN DO IT. BEST OF LUCK.
YOU CAN ALSO CHECK WITH CONWAY.WORK THE DOCK AND GOTO SCHOOL WITH THEM FOR FREE.

 

i got a job at culligan water--they had a couple trucks that where class B--They let me practice on them while i was being trained and then let me test out-

CDL tests are all about the pre trip=== you can hit 9 cones on the backing test and still pass----jeesh

don't waist time at school for class B---only class A

some company's will train there dock workers to drive as well..If you want to be local then i don't think school is the best option--
better to look for a small outfit that will train ya on there stuff.

I got a job at a beer dist. and they promised to train for class A---I got sick of waiting and went to school . Now im training OTR and we should be in our own truck at end of month.

I think its good to work your way up----get experience driving in cities in straight trucks before the big rigs..(just a thought)--its allot of fun making wrong turns in these huge rigs I tell you what ;O

Good luck

 

From personal experience I can tell you that you should go ahead and get a class A CDL. I got a class B through a lumber yard I worked at..they trained me on the job. I worked there for 2.5 yrs and I was paid $11.63/hr. When I looked for class B jobs else where what I found was there weren't many jobs out there. You can find tons of class A jobs, but not so many B. I would suggest looking into a LTL carrier that will let you work the dock as they train you to drive. New Penn, Old Dominion, Yellow, ABF...just to name a few that have jobs available like that. You can earn money while being trained and be home every night. Or go to school and get your A license and just look for a class B job and have the option to do A in the future.