Californian wanting to become a trucker

try more reading and studying

 

What kind of job? 48 States, Regional, Local?

 

Yes, it's easy to become a trucker.
You will need a school, either private CDL school or trucking company sponsored school.
There's some pretty cheap private schools in California; do some google searchs for some in your area.
If you can't swing the money for private school, there's several trucking company schools where you won't need any money up front; just sign a 12 month contract to work for the company after completion of their school.

Scroll to the top of this page and click on "CDL Practice Tests" to get started.

 

It's really easy to get your CDL. Most schools are a month. Don't get it through a trucking company. The turnover in this industry is 100%, you want to have that option if the company you go with isn't working out.

 

I'm not sure how "incredibly easy" it is to get a completed package with a shiny new CDL at the end of it. Then, there'll be a trainer 999 out of a thousand times, that's not so "incredibly easy" either. Then, there's the learning curve. Same thing with that first year or two. That's after you decide on what kind of driving fits your future plans, and the people in it, if any. But, lots of people do it. Read around here. Oh, by the way it's just the same in any state - driving a commercial vehicle without a CDL, Insurance, so on is illegal. If you are on private property, no load or dispatch, and in a private truck? I don't pretend to know, and don't care, since you can't get a CDL that way and you can't make any money that way. In fact, I'm wish I'd never brought it up.

One more thing. There are at least 3 million driving jobs currently working. (varies from season to season, and with the economy) So don't worry about finding a vacancy. Lots of work available in a $200 Billion/annual industry.

 

California anti blue collar? I always thought areas like los Angeles were very industrialized? I guess it depends where you live in ca.

 

It may be easier to get into it but possibly a bit harder to keep it..

best to yah

 

Hi tommy, I can't say from experience what it's like to truck in Cal., but after a recent visit, it looks like a PITA. If you have family in the mid-west, I suggest moving there. Being from the mid-west, it seems trucking is going full guns. Not to say Cal. isn't, but it just might be easier trucking in the mid-west, to start, then see where your career goes. Good luck.

 

Read past the various headlines and sales pitches you may run into. Trucking is NOT a guarantee of financial success, and certainly not a guarantee of personal/family success. It is frocked with potential pit-falls, more-so for some then others ... hence the large failure rate of new entrants, hence keeping demand "high"