Last week I interviewed and got a position for a local class B flatbed job. I have my class A. I spent about a month doing class A OTR fresh out of school. I hated it, so I found this job and the hours and pay are very good. But it is class B, and I want to make sure that I'm not shooting myself in the foot, should I ever would want to go back to doing class A, as most of my experience will be in a class B truck. Anyone here go from doing class B to class A work?
You sound a bit wishy-washy. If you stay in B you will need to do the A refresher course and go back out with a trainer, and be back to OTR for a while. Which you said you hate. If you like the class B you are doing, why worry about it? Stay where you are and do your thing. It really isn't a status thing, A or B. It is what you like to be doing most.
The class B job I just got seems like a great gig. I hope to stay there and do it for a long time, but I always want keep as many options open as possible. If I ever chose to leave or something came up that I was let go, I want to be able to do class A work. I'm okay with a refresher course, I just want to make sure I'm not shutting a door is all.
Then all you need to do is keep your class A active. That means the DOT physical when needed and keeping it in the DMV system. And not doing stupid stuff like getting a ticket for speeding in a construction zone or something. (That 'something' covers quite a lot.) If you want to keep your class A license you can not do anything to lose it. You have to drive anything (your B truck, personal car) like you are driving a class A.
Gotcha. I just want to make sure I don't wind up unhireable if I were to later apply for a class A job. It might be years or never before that happens but I worked hard and paid a lot for that class A and I want to keep it in my pocket. I don't want it to someday become unusable because it's been 'x' number or years since I was in school or drove a class A truck.
If you like the company, find the people are good to work with, see the pay is suitable, and have no issue with the work, why are you concerned about going back to a class A job that you admitted to hating? Stay with that company and make a career of it. Advance with that company and allow them the opportunity to show you that you don't need to consider working somewhere else. Maybe a move into like a fleet management position is possible, if you do the job you are presently in and do it well. Just saying that when you stay put, good opportunities arise.
That is plan A. I hope to be at this employer for a long time. I hated OTR, not tractor trailer. I don't think I'd ever want to go OTR again but if for some reason this job didn't work out, I'd consider working for an LTL or a local tractor trailer job. Again, I just want to keep my options open and I worked hard for that class A and want to be able to use it should I decide to.
I worked as a recovery driver (repossessed trucks). I have driven cement mixers as well as placed septic tanks. However, I never got far off from the open road. Nothing wrong with driving class B vehicles from time to time AND you are not any less a trucker for doing so.
Any truck co you apply to (class A) will ask you how much experience you have driving class A equipment. Yes, a 10 wheeler is big and has same tranny and diesel engine and air brakes. But it doesn't have that 53 ' trailer