Contemplating

Hello everyone, hope everyone is doing well,

So, I’m sure this has been answered over a hundred times here..

I’ve always had a fascination with trucks.. probably since watching smokey and the bandit as a kid. I grew up either wanting to be a cop or truck driver. Well I chose law enforcement and and spent 20 years & change fulfilling that dream. Since then I’ve spent the last 5 years working as the safety officer at a hospital and thinking I could do that until I reached full retirement age (currently 49). But the thought of driving a big rig has recently re-merged into my thoughts. I’ve started researching CDLs schools as well as the different companies. What I have found is, I always circling back to Schneider. 1. I really like the one week with a OTR trainer. I feel like after spending 5weeks on my dime doing CDL training + another two week (basic orientation) plus a third week with a OTR TE showing I’m competent and if I don’t have the basics by then then I probably shouldn’t be driving. I also like that they don’t have driver facing cameras. But what has sold me thus far is choosing which field to go into(flatbed tanker or box/ dedicated, regional or over the road). Plus I really dig the orange !

so my question /concern is;
At this stage in my life I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to routine life, pay check and schedule. I’m concerned about switching gears into a field that has extremely high turnover rates. I continue to justify my fascination with this because of the potential for incredible earnings. I keep telling myself that after a year or so of learning the ins and outs plus the ability to properly manage my time I could finance a truck and start working on an early retirement(10 years or at 60yo). Do I have things all wrong or can a person really break the mold from structured living and move into a world of 70 hour work weeks crazy schedules and not being home for a few weeks at a time? But more importantly can a person with my background make this move and save $200-300k in ten years?

 

Yea, I looked at DOT but found they had driver facing cameras. For me that’s a no go. I don’t mind having forward and side trailer cameras but having a camera on me is simply an invasion of privacy. They say that it’s a third-party that monitors any events and they are supposed to be on loop. It just doesn’t sit well. I did really like their different scheduling but the cons are slip seats.