Getting Experience Without School?

you may be able to get a oil feild job, but your going to VERY limited. NO medium-big truck company will touch you......Your going to have to do ALLOT of door knocking to try and find a job.

Other wise you'll have to go to school





American Trucker

 

As long as there is nothing OBVIOUSLY wrong with the truck, there shouldn't be any issues at the DMV. It isn't undergoing an unnecessary DOT inspection, just a walk-around pre-trip inspection that should be done each and every time you are about to climb into the truck to drive it.

Lights work?
Mirrors?
Glass?
None of the above cracked, broken, or missing?
No fluids leaking.
No broken/loose lugs.
Tires have appropriate tread depth.
No audible air leaks.

Most of the "pretrip" during the driving test is walking around the truck talking about what you are checking...the inspector isn't getting on a creeper to roll around and get dirty. They have a checklist that they are watching, and as long as you talk about the things on their checklist and remember to say it isn't "loose, cracked, broken, or missing" you are good.


Getting the license is the easy part, though. Once that license is in your hand, you'll still get doors slammed shut in your face due to lack of experience. School covers the experience requirement for some carriers, but you don't have that...just a license.

One place you can look, is local farmers. Harvest time is coming, and sometimes they have difficulty finding enough part-time drivers to haul their grain from field to silo. That may or may not count as "experience", though, since you don't need a CDL to drive a farmer's truck hauling the farmer's grain from the farmer's field....just the proper classification for the vehicle size...that and you aren't subject to the HOS while driving a farmer's truck hauling the farmer's grain from the farmer's field during harvest. A smaller outfit may count it as experience and give you a shot, though, since it is essentially the same truck, just a different operation.

 

The days of finding a company to work for without formal training is getting very limited. You might want to look around for a grant or a community college for schooling. A lot of places have good training at the community colleges and it's much cheaper than a regular CDL school.

You can also go around to different companies that you might like to work for and go in and explain your situation and what it would take to get hired on. Sometimes that's good because it shows the company you really want to work for them and they will go a little extra to help you. The big item you've got to always remember is to go about job hunting differently than the masses. Don't just fill out applications on line and expect to get a great job. If you file on line all you are is a name and they've got stacks of them already. Some companies require you to file on line but then you need to go in as well so they can place a face to the name.

 

That right there is great advice for ANY job hunter in ANY profession. Leaving your application with the minimum wage employee behind the counter is no way to get hired...always ask to see a manager, and hand it directly to them....talk briefly with them about what you are looking for, ask a few questions about the job, and try to leave them with the impression that you want the job and will be a great employee.

 

Pedigree Bulldog is correct the inspector wants to know that you know your way around the truck and know what to look for. He's not going to be looking at the truck so much as looking and listening to you.

As far as jobs go, a mega carrier is going to make you ride with a trainer no matter what. Go to the Prime threads and look around. They have a short orientation and then you go out with a trainer and get paid while you train. Community college isn't always cheaper and you're not getting paid. I feel your situation but don't just jump into trucking without doing a lot of research. Or you may find yourself back here a few months from now telling everybody how bad it sucks. I know it seems like the answer right now, just jump into a truck and start making money. But it's a lot more to it than that.

Now, you may say to yourself what's he know he's just a student himself. I know because I've spent the last year on this forum researching. Believe me, for every newbie that makes it work there are dozens that don't because they didn't look before they lept. Take your time and have a good game plan. I wish you luck.

 

Welcome to the TTR Forum and the industry. Without experience or training scoring a job is going to be worse than a nightmare. A CDL is nothing more than a license to learn. After about three years of driving you will become a seasoned driver.

Now this being said, I wouldn't say you can't do it. You're in Texas, oilfield work could be the ticket. It will be hard work but you might start hauling water.

Since you are new, I'll give you my standard advice. Maybe there will be something that will help you. There are many things that call stall you career.

You need to research and find out what the important questions are. You can make an above average living but you will make sacrifices that other jobs don't require. Read the "good companies" and "bad companies" section on this forum and get an idea of what company you want to work for and what kind of trailer you want to pull. Don't just go to school and then try to figure out where to go.

I don't know your financial situation. Don't take training from a company if you can afford it or get it with financial aid. You will be their slave for up to year. If you leave they will trash you DAC and credit record. Check out your local community colleges and employment office.

Just know that most training and trucking company recruiters will do nothing but lie to you. They will let you talk about what you want and then tell you what you want to hear. Trucking is about moving freight to make money for the company. Your home time, family, paycheck and everything else comes second.

It is not like any other job. Local is usually backbreaking delivery work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. Often you unload dozens of times a day or you are a salesman. In my area most dump truck jobs pay less than a good factory job. Regional is lots of loading and unloading time, fewer miles than OTR and not as hard as local but will wear on you and push your HOS limits. OTR is out 3 - 5 weeks with 3 - 4 days home, less manual labor and more miles.

You'll probably have to pay your dues before you get the gravy job. Weekends off, if you are lucky enough to get something like that starting out, may be home Thursday afternoon and leave Saturday night or home Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Loads deliver on Monday early and you leave in time to get them there. Often your home time will be in the middle of the week.

Regardless of your driving choice, after school you will go through company training. For OTR this can be six weeks to three months with little or no home time. The first phase is usually $400 a week and the second phase is $500-550 a week. Some pay less. One company pays 12 CPM for training.

You don't want to wait around too long after training or you'll have trouble finding a job. If you get out before you have a year in, when you try to come back a few months later you will find they want you to start over.

One last thing, if you have anything that makes you less desirable than your competing job applicants, a phone or in-person interview will often bring the best results. Even if I am the best candidate I will choose face-to-face if at all possible and phone if not. Sure you may have to fill out that online application but that isn't the best way to get a good job. You have to do something or be someone who stands out from the crowd. Do regular follow-ups by phone on the jobs you really want.