Considering joining the trucking world

You've touched on many topics. If I had to start over again, here are the three I'd consider (in addition to the excellent suggestions already supplied by Chinatown):

Prime - The pickiest about who they'll take, but one of the best to work for.
Veriha - Drivers average $70k their first year.
YRC - Paid while you train, no contract or obligation. Teamster scale when you finish training. Insurance 100% PAID for you and your family.

The best company depends on what's important to you. Do you want to bring a pet? Do you want to bring a passenger? Do you want to be home daily/weekly/whenever? Do you want to see the country, or just your section of it? Do you want a camera pointed at your face while you drive? Do you like to watch tv? I made a list of the things I didn't like about my first driving job and then looked for a job that eliminated or reduced the problem areas (unpaid work, uneven income, home time only after a 3 week lead time, etc). Linehaul was the answer for me but in my neck of the woods I'll need another decade of driving experience to be considered (in some parts of the country they hire new drivers straight out of school) so I settled for Linehaul's slightly heavier, less attractive cousin - Dedicated.

Who would I avoid? Team driving. You're putting your income and YOUR LIFE in the hands of a stranger. They have their place as second chance companies or companies with lower hiring standards but that doesn't apply in your case.

About the pay. It's pretty much the same with all starter companies. You're paid by the mile. You start at a low cpm rate and work your way up. I started at 38 cpm but by the end of my first year I was up to 51 cpm. Your miles will get better as you prove yourself to your dispatcher.

Trucking is a lifestyle, not just a job. The rolling clock, managing your clocks, trip planning, backing the truck, etc. will all take a while to master. I'd suggest keeping it simple and sticking with dry van your first year. When you get comfortable with that you can branch out to flatbed, reefer or whatever else tickles your fancy.

My CDL class graduated 30 CDL licensees, all veterans with an average age over 40. Eight months later two of us were still driving.

 

impressive but you arent trying to sell me a job? If you meant to send to someone who was looking it wasnt me

 

Oy, 1st, welcome aboard, you even got a super rare "Chinatown" thanks, and in threads suchas these, the next 20 or so posts are usually from Chinatown, with literally DOZENS of great jobs, however, let's be frank( and Frank has nothing to do with this) coming from a well disciplined job like LEO, or military, you will be appalled at the lack of common sense and respect you may be used to. Many times, after retirement, many think, "ahh, what a relief, just sit here",,it's not like that a'tall. Weather, miscommunication, civil unrest, repair nightmares, sitting in a truckstop in some God forsaken town in Nebraska over the holiday weekend, because your "delivery place" knocked off early and didn't tell you. It's a long ways from dads Mack, and you want a cushy job for about the same wage for a retired person, I'd go to Walmart as a manager, but I almost guarantee, you don't know what you're in for with no trucking background, btw, LEO is right up there with military, thank you for your service.

 

This.

 

Greetings, Mitch!

Welcome to the Forum--and THANK YOU for your service in the world of law enforcement!!!

Oh, it's definitely interesting. To say the least.

In addition to all the above...consider this....

As a driver, whenever you go on duty, you'll work with 2 different clocks.

One is an 11-hour clock; the other is a 14-hour clock.

The first is your drive time clock. The second is your on-duty clock.

This info should be a clue for you that trucking involves A LOT OF HOURS.

If you are looking for a typical 40-55 hour per week post-retirement job, then trucking is definitely not your answer.

Those jobs do exist in trucking, but they are few and far between.

Do you have a spouse? Do you have a family? Do you have friends? Do you like/enjoy spending lots of time with them?

If so.....trucking probably isn't a good option for you.

Trucking is a great gig for introverts/people who like to work/be alone for extended periods of time.

Also--many dispatchers and receivers will not give you anywhere close to the levels of respect that you probably are accustomed to, as part of law enforcement.

They simply won't care what you used to be. Many simply won't care--period!

The washout rate for new drivers is something like 90%, first year.

I would also echo the earlier info given--team driving is definitely "the deep end of the pool," and is no place generally speaking for a new driver right out of CDL school.

I got into trucking because: no spouse; no kids; no pets; no criminal history; no previous driving accidents/citations in last 10+ years; no health issues; sick of office life/games; sick of human stupidity/dysfunction/drama; "gearhead" mentality; & a very bad case of wanderlust.

The bottom line: much like your career in law enforcement--your first year or two in trucking will truly test your mettle....all over again.

If you should decide to try trucking, anyway....do like I did, & go dry van for your first year or two (again, as suggested above)--and stay with the same company, if at all possible, during that time.

Also--during that time--don't hit anything.

That way, when you later switch over to tanker duty (more disclosure: current fuel hauler here)--you'll truly appreciate the differences/upgrades that the tanker world offers MUCH BETTER!!!

--Lual

 

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE have any dealings with CR England. They are easily the worst big trucking company. The majority of their thousands of drivers have less than 90 days in a truck. CR England pioneered the 3 bunk truck where they put 2 trainees in a truck with 1 "trainer". The trainer may have as much as several weeks more experience driving than the 2 trainees. Pulling reefer freight is a lot more hassle than dry van and the customers will treat you like a diseased rodent. There are many hours of more waiting around at reefer customers. Companies claim to pay your for this waiting but the fine print will succeed in reducing the pay for waiting to 30-50% of your waiting.

I believe CR England also has virtually stopped allowing for solo drivers, except on some dedicated accounts. There are other trucking companies that are more dishonest and have worse equipment than CR England, like Western Express and CRST, you should avoid them as well.

 

Nobody relocates to Wyoming to become a truck driver.
Nobody relocates to Wyoming period.

You couldn't have picked a worst state to live in
To become a truck driver.
I-80 through Wyoming is the meat grinder.
It just chews up tractors and trailers 6 months of the year.
I've seen more death and destruction on that road than anywhere else.

Start practicing now , putting on and taking off chains.
Your have to do that just to get home and back out.
Good luck.

 

A plethora?

 

There are sand hauling and water hauling jobs in WY supporting the oil industry. Look around craigslist.com The sand hauling jobs often don't require a tanker endorsement. Obviously, water hauling and crude oil requires tanker. HazMat & Tanker endorsement required for crude oil hauling, but they don't hire newbies for oil. Finding a place to live is the hardest part. Wamsutter is a real "gem"