Career Change

You can make a lot more than $48K if you get all the endorsements, mainly tanker/hazmat. Get TWIC card and a passport. Goggle for nearest TWIC office. You will need TWIC for entering sea ports, military facilities, chemical plants.
You're in the hiring area for some good companies with great pay and benefits that pay over $60K per year after all training is complete and you're driving solo.
Here they are:

Superior Carriers
Trimac Transportation
Tidewater Transit
Schneider Bulk
CTL Transportation
SVTN

With Trimac Transportation; after you qualify for their "Elite Fleet" which takes 24 months, then your annual pay is in the $80K+ range.

 

It's "doable" but the bigger question is it the career for you? If you're miserable or if you can't manage to get proficient with the skills, is it going to be a worthwhile venture? I guess you'll never know if you don't try, and I appreciate that attitude but it's been a costly mistake made by many before you simply because it never turned out to be what they had envisioned.

 

If you survive the first few years you will more likely end up with a job that matches your income now, working twice as many hours, with less benefits, and half the time at home with your family that you have now.
I'm not a cheerleader for this industry. I just tell it like it is, and as I've seen it over the last 30 years.
It will be interesting at first, but that wears off pretty quickly.

 

Not all CDL jobs are 48, over-the-road. Be mindful of that, as well. I'm not a cheerleader for the transportation industry, either - most of my time in a truck was spent in the construction industry. To that end, all CDL aren't jobs aren't limited just to driving, and there are some where driving isn't even the majority of what you do. You could literally run away and join the circus if you so wished, and use your CDL in that process.
Maybe OTR is what you want to do, but, if it isn't, don't be misled in believing that it's your only option.

 

These drivers are giving out some good info! I went OTR when wife and myself were young, we had problems, but we suffered through it. Next spring we will have our 33rd Anniversary, kind of rare in this industry.

One sign I recognized later in life, a sign that it was the wrong time to be gone. My 4 yr old Daughter was playing on the living room floor and every so often looking at me just to see if I was looking back, at that age I think it means a lot to see Dad face to face. The words "I love you" have no meaning to a young child.
If your family is ok with you being gone a few nights a week then that's half the battle right there. IME the more your home the less you make, up until you get that super trucker job. Best to ya...

 

Chinatown listed some tanker outfits,that's where the money is at.If you choose van your first yr will be the most hardest im speaking from the OTR side.Pay checks are miles are never the same week after week.Drivers tend to sit and sit waiting for a load or waiting to get unloaded which takes a huge bite out of the paychecks.You're living in a good area where you could probably find regional or a dedicated route.But local not likely unless you can find a company that trains.Many of the starter companies have day cabs.But they may not meet your pay ecspectations.It really makes a difference in what you haul that determines what kind of money you would be making.General freight and with a starter company,you're looken at 25 to 30k your first yr.If you wanna become an O/O you should wait till you get good solid exp and know the industry real well..So you're a teacher huh,what grade do you teach?

 

I made $48,055.13 my second year, 2005. That was driving for a Wal-Mart dedicated regional account that had me driving in 11 states.