PTL has refresher & I think it's free if you stay a year; don't know if it's any better than USA Truck or not. They do have APU's though.
I'm well aware that its an employers market. Why do you think they wont even look at someone that been off the road for six months or more? There is a lot that I left out of my first post. You assume that I am just up and quiting my job and going back otr because I have a wild hair up my butt. Thats not the case. My current employer is trying to eleminate the whole sales team and replace us. I have entered their radar due to a small mistake I made and and now upper management is gunning for me and they will find something to let me go for, so therefore I have decided to be proactive and move on before they have a chance to blindside me. So that is why I am leaving, and the reason I am going otr is because no local company will hire me without RECENT experience. I dont have that anymore since I was promoted a year ago.
If you really need to go OTR, look for a small mom & pop outfit, or a small local company and I hate to say this but one that does not pay that great, they will have a turn over and need drivers, it's a start though......
I believe that USA Truck has been or is in the process of being bought out by Knight Transportation. If I was married with a wife and children, I would NOT feel good about her going over the road, (OTR), for long stretches of time. I do realize that this is all too often the case for a spouse to "bring home the bacon". The SAD and UNFORTUNATE REALITY is that OTR trucking is geared for a single person without any family responsibilities, whether it pertains to a spouse, children, aging parents or aging parent-in-laws. It reminds me of my days, years ago when I was in the U.S. Navy. A sailor would get a message of a family emergency. Sometimes they could fly him off of the ship, other times it could not be done. Back in 2006, my 2 sisters called me back to the east coast, from Wichita KS, to help care for our elderly mother. I did go back. About a year later, 2007, our mother passed away. My 2 sisters and I spent the next 2 years going through and settling both of our deceased parents' estate. I had returned to Wichita KS in 2009. If I had been an OTR truck driver back then, the scenario and circumstances might have turned out much differently, NOT necessarily for the better. God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!
