Future driver here in a weird but maybe unique postion, need advice

How serious are you on the Lexington,KY relocation?

 

May be able to help you with an opportunity. Can you send a PM here?

 

I would not drive for the company that you know work for. Being in a vehicle without adequate, if not excellent, maintenance is bad for the driver, the company, and the public. I would put all of my free time into finding the company you want to work for, not just any ol company that will "do your the favor of hiring you." If your car driver license is clean, you have no criminal history, and you have a stable work history over the last 3 years there is no reason you should not be trying to get hired at the better companies. Many newbies coming from a low paying job seem to have a massive inferiority complex between the ears and think they are deserve a slight improvement in pay and conditions from the job they have now. You may do OTR, regional, or local trucking. Each one is difficult and uses all of your time. You will be working about 70 hours per week, and there is a good chance you get no overtime pay, only straight time pay for all of your work. Don't be quick to jump into anything but the best situation at a good company. Not only are the pay and conditions better, the work is easier and or the conditions can be much much easier than doing the same job at some mid-grade to low-grade company. As the quality of employer goes down, the chances of you still being a truck driver 12 months later also drop.

I would find the kick-booty job you want to do, and then decide where to live to work for that company. Also, once you have identified the company and the job at that company, you are now ready to decide how to get your CDL. Don't go to school, now, and then decide later where to work. SOME companies won't take you after CDL school if you didn't start driving right away. Some trucking companies want you to take a refresher course if you were not working say for the last 90 days. Not many companies are like that, but some are. Just about every city has home daily CDL work in dump trucks, waste hauling, food service, and beverage delivery to stores and restaurants. If you have a wife or girlfriend and she will stay home, I suggest starting OTR is starting a countdown timer to a break up. Regional driving might also be a countdown clock to a split up. OTR means you may not be home for weeks. Regional means you might only be home for 1.5 days each week and be gone for 5.5-6 days per week. Your "weekend" could only be 34 hours long, the legal minimum amount of time to give you a new 70 hours to work next week.

If you move South, nobody in your new town cares how you did things in Buffalo and they CERTAINLY ARE NOT ASKING YOU TO HELP THEM DO THINGS LIKE YOU DID THEM IN BUFFALO. Remember, you are leaving Buffalo for a better life, not to build another Buffalo, NY. Nobody in the South wants to live in Buffalo, NY and that's why none of them are moving there. For some reason every New Yorker I have known, even AFTER you tell them you are not asking them to "fix" your town is 100000% sure everyone, everywhere, is desperate to turn their town into the place they just fled. WE ARE NOT trying to become NY or CA. Tons of people for those places have already moved into The South and many of us are nearing the limits of our patience on the newbie trying to "fix" our cities. Some of us in The South don't want to flip the bird to 90 people a day and replace our auto's horn every 3 months when it wears out from over-use. There are lots of nice places to live and I would pick the job I want and then live in whichever city is most convenient to that job.

Ask as many questions as necessary. There are plenty of people that will do our best to help you find a great job. Don't rush into some dumpy job that will put you in bad situations and take advantage of you until you quit. It's not necessary and it makes everyone elses' job harder.

Here's how to pay for CDL school Money for CDL Training

Here's how to pass your tests for EVERY endorsement Passing your CLP/CDL Endorsement Tests - HowTo

 

Call your current states work force services department and find out if there is any funding/grants to go to school. Guy I know in ID had his school paid for and he was employed making $20 an hour at the time.

Call the state you are moving to and see if they have any programs as well. Importantly also find out if you have to be a resident for a certain amount of time to qualify.

It's better to get your CDL from a school than be beholden to a company.

What about your girlfriend? If she's OK driving that's big money as teams with just one year experience.

 

That'll change when y'all relocate. Many urbanites and metro folks have no idea what outside the concrete jungle entails. If they did you wouldn't hear another word about EV's.

 

I thought drivers made a good living in the Northeast? If you want serious money it ain’t down south. You can do foodservice in Buffalo and probably make bank. I get running away from family and all but it ain’t all roses and sunshine.