How much experience is "experience"

• Old Dominion Freight Line
• Must have 12 months previous tractor-trailer driving experience and/or be a graduate of a State Certified, Licensed and Safety Department approved driving school, and/or have satisfactorily completed the Old Dominion Truck Driver Training school
• Old Dominion Freight Line is currently recruiting for a Local Pickup & Delivery Driver or City Driver. Our P & D Driver will successfully operate various tractor-trailer combinations between company terminals and customer facilities or work sites within the terminal's geographic service area. Truck drivers also sort, handle, load, and/or unload freight at various companies and customer locations.P & D Drivers are critical members of our OD Family; they help to accurately deliver and pick up our customer's freight. Allowing OD to help keep our promises.
  
• You can start out as a city driver and work your way up to a line haul driver.
• Click here to apply and more information > Apply On Company Site

 

Take as much time as necessary as it takes to find a company you want to work for for the next year. You need one year of experience to have good choices later. If you change companies after 90 days you are severely limited to companies that are hiring anyone except active axe-murderers. That mindset will also lead you to make a poor decision about the first company.

You can get out of CDL school these days and avoid OTR from the start. If you have family avoiding OTR is probably good. This job isn't meant for everybody. We already have far too many car drivers driving in big trucks like the same idiots that are killing 35,000 people per year. We don't need any more of them. OTR is a good testing ground because you see a little of everything and develop your mental skills, not just driving skills. You alos get to see parts of the country you won't see driving a daycab around the same city, in traffic, day after day.

 

Trimac Transportation has jobs all over North Carolina and also has tuition reimbursement.
They have tankers; dry bulk and liquid. Some of those jobs are local.

 

Unemployment pays for it in most states

 

The guy from the school is a salesman, and he's blowing smoke up your butt. I heard the same song and dance from schools before I finally decided on one, and after I finished it really didn't matter where I went to school. Companies want that one year of experience without accidents or tickets. Some want 2 years it just depends on the company. Going straight from CDL school to local hauling, especially in cities can be difficult. OTR is where most drivers cut their teeth and learn to become a good driver. Getting away from the cities you don't have to worry about narrow congested streets, tight loading docks and rush hour traffic. You stay at truck stops every night and hone your parking skills.

Some companies offer tuition reimbursement, so if you pay for your own school they'll pay you back over a year as you learn to drive, and that helps increase the paychecks. I would look for a company that hires recent graduates and will offer a dedicated run that gets you home on weekends. It will be an adjustment for you and the family, but working long hours locally really isn't much better because you get home late and leave home early. All you want to do is sleep and you aren't in a great mood for your family.

 

That guy is a salesman, so he is saying what needs to be said to make a sale. However he is only sorta kinda blowing smoke up your butt. If you go with an otr company. This isnt 1980 You do NOT have to spend 3 weeks out for a weekend home. You may do that because of finances but then it was a choice. Unless your extremely lucky, or go with a moving company or food service company. 90 days is not gonna cut it for changing jobs. Your doing the right thing asking questions. Keep doing research but once you commit. It has to be for 6 months at the very minimum. Even that will only get you into another company like the first one.

 

90 days?

really a bunch of BS.

We already have enough drivers, it is a problem that there isn't any good drivers in the pool.

I would think you want to jump companies, a year or better a few years is good.

If you want to stay close to home, you should look into dock work at UPS and FedEx, they will sometimes help you get your cdl and you work for them for a while LOCAL.

 

Foodservice companies, you know them - gfs, sysco, sigma, mclane... you know product, speak the "industry language", that's half the battle.