Hi From NC

I am working out going to CDL school, paying for it myself, and trying to learn everything I possibly can so I don't get taken advantage of when I start out. So this is one of the places I am doing my research legwork at. I have been at home for a few years, worked a full career as a nurse before I had my daughter, and idea of being a long distance truck driver is really different from my life at present and very exciting. I have also read horror stories of new drivers, so trying to avoid those kind of problems. So that's me. Hi. Any words of wisdom would be gratefully accepted.

 

Well gee thanks

 

Hi and thanks so much for your thoughtful responding to my post. I hope this reply does it justice.


I can sort of understand your feeling that a person shouldn't have to pay to learn how to drive a truck weighing tens of thousands of pounds or more. For my part, It's hard to get my head around the idea that I shouldn't have to pay in order to learn a new skill under the best circumstances I can arrange. After all, when I became a nurse I had to invest a lot of time and money into the front end of that career. So I figure it would be the same way going into professional driving. I also don't have professional drivers in my immediate network. My "network" is mainly tech, health, education, and social services. Not a professional truck driver still alive in my family. The ones that were drivers in my family, however, were people who took care of their loved ones and I remember them with great respect. So there are certain challenges in my doing what you recommend. But it got me thinking and I wanted to share my thoughts, see if you have any further ideas.


When the idea of becoming a professional driver first stirred in my mind, my initial plan was to get my CDL testing out of the way before I even started driving school so I could better focus on what I can't learn academically (how to make sure a truck is mechanically safe before I drive it, how to "make it go", how to actually drive the truck, and finally how to "make it stop" with life and property intact). So I could learn the practical stuff at the school and also start getting a network of my own going. That was my first thought. When I called the local truck driving school, (a feeder school for Schneider, not sure about what other companies it feeds into), the guy told me not to take the test before I start, they would tell me everything I needed to know when I am actually attending the school. Now, why would he say that? Why wouldn't they want their students to be as knowledgeable coming in the door as possible? A little outside of what your original response to my post was, but still it makes me wonder....


Now, after reading your thoughtful response to my original post, I am wondering why not take the non-driving portions at the DMV and actually find a local job that could over the course of a few months teach me how to do the other parts required for getting a CDL? But then, of course, there is my total lack of network to consider... Do you think it would help having the test portion taken care of in terms of finding a local job by hitting the pavement and submitting applications? I have no trucking network, like I said, and frankly half of my family is aghast at my even wanting to try it out as a career. After all, they say, after a moment of silence, staring at their coffee cup and the plate of cookies in front of them, why not just get a clean hospital nursing job or better yet, stay home, join the PTA and take a pottery class. They hear that stained glass is a beautiful art form that I could try as well. My answer, btw, is that I need something completely different, and it would be good if I could also make a reasonable return money-wise for my time and effort. I have been home 7 years because I have felt it was the right thing to do, my family has benefitted enormously. Increasingly, however, the positive edge given my family by my staying home is diminishing. It has come at a financial price and I have also lost my employment edge. I can't omit the idea that the open road has great appeal to me, for reasons that must be obvious.