Before I sign the dotted line . . .had a few questions

My best advice is see about a technical school before you indenture yourself for a year. Might not find one I understand. However you might save yourself a huge amount of headaches and heartache later on.

 

In Arizona, there is a program called "One stop". It pays for retraining us old people into new careers. Trucking is one of those careers. They'll pay 100% of your school if you jump through a few hoops. It took us a couple months, but for 5 grand, it's not bad money. If you need other help while you wait, they can help there too. Look into it.

 

Right on - that's why I am willing to pay the extra $1000 to get the manual training - and I will definitely ask for the manual test. Didn't realize if you tested on an automatic, it would mean you would be limited to automatics. Thx!

 

Thanks for the info, I looked it up - they have a Pima County One-stop Center in Tucson, for Pima county elders - in a directory for the Phoenix/Maricopa area, I found this website for AgeWorks, an elder career reentry program
https://www.aaaphx.org/program-services/ageworks/
I have to be 55 or older, so can't fit in - I won't be too upset I'm not old enough for this!

 

Thanks for the info - I figured at worst case for the first year, I would make 40-45K, if I ran OTR and didn't need a lot of home time. The Schneider job I referred to earlier,
Team Over-the-Road (OTR) LTL Driver - E-Commerce Freight | New Pay Increase | Up to $0.65 cpm | Phoenix, AZ
indicated UP TO $90K/yr, UP TO .65 cpm - I figured those numbers were for guys with 5+ years with Schneider. What I don't know, is since their regular OTR truck driver makes UP TO $72K, yr, UP TO .51 cpm, would that likely translate to a significantly better 1st year pay - hoping 50-55K, instead of 40-45K.

After reading all the other great responses here, I do think I need to find some smaller companies in the area, and talk to them before going with Schneider - maybe Schneider should be plan C.

A friend of mine had an interesting insight, he quit his first trucking job after 3 months ( a team OTR position) and tried going to another company. The other company told him they would have hired him directly out of CDL school, but since he worked 3 months for another company, he should check back with them after 2 years. Not sure why, but makes me think I should talk to a number of places before signing on.
BTW he also told me the Phoenix trucking market is hot, he's pulling down $1300/wk easily.

 

I will look for those smaller companies, but probably have to find a way other than Google searching - if anybody from the Phoenix area knows some smaller trucking companies that might hire new CDL's would love to hear about them.

 

I am 53, and I fit in just fine dude. I am on my way to school next week with the help of one stop. 4k for me, 4k for hubby, we're going to team. I was a techy too, and it's time to retire from that. One stop is a good deal for us.

 

Job Seekers | ARIZONA@WORK

 

I clicked on the job seekers link, looked around, couldn't find where one stop is - I'll keep trying. I live in Phoenix area/Maricopa county, maybe not the same program here? Nice to know there are others my age taking the dive into trucking, where are you going to school? Have you thought about who you might like to drive for yet? Good luck!

 

Hey FD, if you read this forum long enough, you'll see a lot of ppl our age are looking into this career. Did you see my link to the phx program? You just go in, as if you were any job seeker. There's an orientation class. Then they determine what you want in a meeting with a case worker. I have education, so I didn't need to do some things. I have a current job, so I didn't have to do other things. Then, there's a set of specific steps to get the grant. Interview 3 drivers, do a bit of research into where you could work, get your resume together, show proof of income, and visit at least 3 schools, yadda yadda... typical Govt nosey stuff. It's taken a bit of time due to the appointments and some personal life crises, but it's been worth it.
I'll be going to a school called hds. They have a few branches. The thing is, I looked at all of the schools in my area, and chose the best one. It also happens to be the least expensive. The school has been working with me to finish up the paperwork for the grants - the dot physical, the drug testing, the "pre-hire" letters, and such.
Places I'm looking to work are based on my desire to go full on otr, and never come home, lol. I also want to team with my hubby, so training together has been a priority, and not a lot of companies allow 3 ppl in the cab of a truck. Covenant does, and they're not a bad company to work for, if you read these forums. I also have been looking at some of the LTL companies, because they could train us in a way to be home daily, until they can set us free.
@Chinatown is the guy to listen to about who to work for. Here's his list for our state...
"
Team outfits that hire new cdl grads in Phoenix:
Freymiller - www.drive4freymiller.com
Butler Transport - www.driveforbutler.com
Titan Transfer
TWT Refrigerated Service
Transport America
Danny Herman Trucking - no Northeast runs
Navajo Express
"
But do the research for what YOU want. Read these forums, and look into their reputations. Not all carriers are created equally, and the more they advertise, the worse they probably are.
Good luck!!