Help a trucker wannabe out!

I don't want to give so much information that the company I'm leaving can figure out I'm posting here, mind you. So I'll be somewhat vague...I work in Customer Service in a management position. I process reports, payroll, and have a ton of customer service experience. I have a lot of experience in the industry but I don't have a college degree (which I've regretted).

 

I appreciate the information I'm getting. I'm taking it very seriously, even if I'm making it sound like I've made up my mind and will simply ignore that advice. Truth is, I haven't made up my mind. I'm convinced that my expectation of 3 months away from home only to get a regular and steady schedule may be unrealistic, unless I get lucky.

If I decide that 1 to 2 years of gaining experience while being on the road a lot of the time is worth it, I might go forward with my plans. I might not. We'll see.

Based on my location, what's the best Driving School I could attend? Does anybody know around how much they cost? Based on what I see, anywhere from 3k to 5 k.

 

By the way, here's some of the companies that appear to be hiring in my area (based on what I can tell):

JB Hunt (based on what I can see, I should stay away from their lease to purchase program and feelings on working for the company are pretty mixed).
CR England (I should avoid this company by all means).
Covenant (unless I want to sign a covenant to be screwed, I should stay away).
Prime Inc. (mixed reviews, both good and bad)
Heartland Express (don't know much about this company yet, but will read up on them. The name just makes me feel like driving a truck and celebrating 4th of July with some steaks on the grill).
TMC (don't know much about them, will read up on them).
USA Truck (shouldn't go with them unless I want to get USA well...it rhymes with trucked).


I'm sure there are tons of others, and I plan to make a list of them all and begin to learn about each of them. That's how far I've gotten so far.

 

Believe me, I'm just beginning to do my homework. I don't want to give the impression that I have a good grasp of the research I have so far, because I don't. I have so much to learn, I don't even know where to begin. That's why I'm here.

Some other thoughts of mine:

-I would love to own my own truck. If I had 125K laying around, I'd be tempted to buy my own truck. I wouldn't though because the advice I've read on here is to get a *minimum* of a year experience behind the wheel before I make such an extreme commitment, and who can argue with that kind of advice. Really I should get 2 or more years.

-I should stay away from the Lease to Own option. For starters, Lease to Own is misleading since you pay huge amount of money of your paycheck for more than the value of the truck and *generally* need to pay a HUGE balloon payment at the end of the lease in order to own the dang truck. So basically you pay considerably more for the truck then you would of when it was brand new. Not to mention, the truck isn't new when you first drive it, and it's 3 to 5 years older when you finish paying the thing off. That's just insane.

-So unless somebody can argue against it, I would be starting as a company driver for at least the first 2 years in this career.

 

Another thing to mention. Paying 3k to 5 k cash won't be an issue for me. Obviously I would love a company that pays that back on a monthly basis, but I don't care how they provide the money, as long as I'm making enough for a good living.

 

I'm going to start reading up on how much it costs to live on the road, and what that entails. I've thought about it, but I know there are things I haven't even thought of.

I have only a vague understanding of where I can go to shower and freshen up, and how clean those facilities are. Obviously things will differ on the road, and I'll have to figure out which are the good ones, and which are the ones to stay away from. I enjoy roughing it, and I know I'll enjoy travel (I love it already) and have had to travel to South America and parts of the United States frequently via plane.