Hello! And a few questions.

Hi! My name is Matt, and I'm currently a full time retail associate in north-east Ohio. I got my Class A CDL in fall of 2003 and was hired by Swift right out of driving school. After driving for them six months, I requested a dedicated run and was given a nice gig right near my home! I found out after a few weeks that they were losing the account and I was just brought in to fill the gaps caused by drivers who found other positions. Long story short, it was an interesting time in my life, and I was more interested in being home, and partying with my friends at the time. (I was 23 then) I quit driving for them in spring of 2004.

I did some driving since then, but mostly straight box trucks for small local companies. Much of my time was spent working part time and going to college. In 2008 I moved from southern NY to Ohio and got a job at the local branch of one of the 'big box home improvement stores' driving their 24' straight flatbed. Since then I moved out of their delivery department into sales (just threw up a little in my mouth )

I'm 31 now and I've been thinking a lot more about my future than when I was 23. It was at a local Love's Travel Stop on a flatbed delivery one day that I was struck with the notion that driving may be the way to go, career wise.

My driving record is spotless, tank and doubles/triples endorsements, and I have not been in an accident (at least not in the past 14 years). I've been following a few of the threads on these forums the past week or so (tips for newbies, stories, and situations similar to mine) and everyone seems nice and helpful. I've also been doing some research online and contacted a few 'puppy mills' as I've seen them referred to.

Schneider was near the top of my list and I was informed that I'd need to take a 'refresher course'. It's a little late for business phone calls at the moment, but I've seen prices online ranging from $1-2k. My question is, will I find this is the case with every company? Is there a way around it, or is this federal law?

I've also heard (unsubstantiated rumor) that there have been some important changes to FMCSR in the past couple years, particularly regarding accidents (no fault or even if it's the fault of someone else), and more stringent DOT guidelines. Is there any truth to this, or anything notable to mention?

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

Thanks for the welcome Gears. I'm working full time now, and I have some things to take care of over the winter. I was planning on seriously looking into a driving job toward the end of February. I have to see what this refresher course is all about, and if it will interfere with my job. Having to leave my current work to do the 2 weeks of that, then 1.5-2 weeks of orientation would be a month with little to no pay. Ouch! I'm 87.535% sure I'll be getting back to driving, it's just a question of how the next few months play out. More phone calls tomorrow I guess!!

 

"The itch" is exactly what I have. I just need to make sure it's something that I'm really going to take seriously this time, and not just a whimsical fly-by-night notion of mine. If I still feel the same way after New Year, then it's sayounara retail.

Thanks for the advice and the info Gashauler. I do plan on saving some money in the event I do switch jobs. I have no kids, and my girlfriend and I don't plan on it. No mortgage either, so we can basically walk away from here, no strings attached. My girlfriend said she would want to go with me, so part of my list of questions with companies is about rider policies.

I'm not really sure how she would handle 2... 3... 4+ weeks of living in a truck. I'm going to take a day and bring her to one of the local truck stops. We've got a TA, Flying J, Love's, and Pilot within 30 minutes. While I'm there I'll take your advice and pick up a copy of the FMCSR.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Hahaha. Of course. "Ok honey, I'll pick you up in a few hours. Have fun!"

No no no, I love her. And I wouldn't leave her alone anywhere I think she'd be in danger. That said, if some idiot said the wrong thing to her, she'd probably pop him one.

What I want to do is show her what we'd be seeing most of the time at the end of the day. Rows of idling trucks, questionable buffets, even more questionable looking characters roaming around. My impression of this line of work is that it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. Sure, common sense, a good judge of character, and maybe a 4 cell mag-lite come in really handy. But most of the people I came across during my short time driving were friendly and helpful. I met my share of #%# holes too.