I want to be a truck driver. Advice?

That was the most thorough, and coherent, Bio I've ever read on this forum.

No. You're not too old.
You're perfectly aged.
Not a kid... you're in your prime.

Your health issues don't seem to be extravagant.. albeit your weight will be a detriment to your ability to function in some job segments.
BP meds are common.. AD meds at low dose shouldn't be an issue, either.
Blood sugar will get you booted if it's not controlled.
If you can get motivated and lose some weight it will only improve your chances.
Being in a highly sedentary job like trucking typically causes most drivers to GAIN a lot of weight.
Find your happy medium before you start, because the food options out here are horrible. One must be vigilant.

Your driving record is fine.
Your WANT TO is there.
You're single, so you can ride like the wind and see things without having to get back every weekend.. they'll love you.

Your debt will disappear FASTER if you get on the job sooner.
First year drivers, with the right company can easily make over $50k.
That's more than the min wage you stated.

Paying for school on your own would be optimal.. it gives you freedom to change employers, but paid training with a 1yr contract is not all that bad.

DO NOT SIGN A LEASE TO OWN A TRUCK !!

 

Weren't you on here a couple months ago under a different screen name?
If I'm mistaken, I apologize.
Your bio is almost identical to someone else that posted from Kentucky.

 

Your BMI will require you to run a Sleep Apena machine and show record to the doctors that you are within what you need to be at each night back to doctors. You probably will be using the machine in the truck as well. The blood pressure has to be 140/90 to get a two year card medical DOT among other things.

The first thing to do is stop your medicines, if any. Particularly narcotic or heart, BP related etc. You will find that Pot being legal in some areas is absolutely verboten. You cannot be around that kind of illegal drugs. Federally regulated trucking will toss you out if you were caught with it.

The time frame goes back up to 7 years, you will have to account for that time working or not working (Caregiving, holiday or whatever) this is a accounting required by Feds indirectly to Homeland Security. Many changes since 9-11 in our industry.

You will need to build savings for trucking. Some weeks are feast and others famine the entire industry in areas are going through hardly enough freight because the Nation does not have need of it. Or willing to buy it. (To ship and deliver etc)

It's a good time to go to school it will probably be winter before you graduate. You will need to understand upfront that the actual schooling may not be the formal training out there when students just pull up and drive back 50 feet by turns when instructor is not around.

The trucks are almost sentient. Be prepared for facing cameras that see you 24/7 or equipment that is reporting heavy braking etc. You will buy your own go pro or other camera to record the things or accidents that will (Not if, not anything to I wont get into ... none of that. Things WILL happen around you)

Your food will change on the road. Truckstops are not truckstops anymore in many cases they are just really poor sources of fast food like subs. And you will be looking at laundry once a week.

Your school will teach you enough to pass the DMV road test etc. But your real educating begins with your first load after training. Training is a grab bag. You might have a good trainer, you might have no trailer or someone that is a very poor or no match to what you are willing to put up with.

Careful thought to trucking companies to haul in different areas, flatbed, van, reefer, tankers, doubles etc will determine the amount of physical work you will be doing or not. Unloading 45000 pounds of canned goods into a grocery is not good for many reasons related to todays rules within ELD.

This industry wants you to deliver yesterday. Your computer in the truck will violate you if you are one minute over doing something other than sleeping or parked. That leads to talk tos in the company office to find out why and if it is your fault etc then chances are... you will no longer be with them in time.

Hitting stuff or breaking things with a semi is your fault. Unless again you can avoid it or prove otherwise (Hence the camera)

It can be rewarding. However again this industry has undergone so many changes. And not for the better. If you are with a good outfit with Class as we say, you will do well. Depending on where you go, you will be away from home a long time. Getting home is not cut and dried. You will want to have your end of life preparations arranged and paid for before you go. Nothing is gauranteed out here, if you passed away 2000 miles from home it will be easier for your family to have the funeral home follow your wishes with the body. If you got sick or hurt requiring ER etc then your insurance may not cover the deductable which could be upwards of 10,000 or more. (Things have changed)

Thats all for now. It's not to scare you off. It's something that people are drawn to doing but its all you when you get into this industry. It is unlike anything you have seen if you are not a Vet etc.

 

You broke because you live above your means. Trucking is expensive just to eat. It is hard to do much better driving a truck. Try looking for a second job or just look for a better job. Try becoming a forklift operator that job is fun if you get the just of it. Sell your toys buy junkers. I'm not kidding.

 

I also was wondering how is he going to pay for school? We are runnign what? 6000 dollars? In case he is seperated from a company that provides training for rubbing a light pole he will be immediately in collections for that amount. (And probably a judgement)

It is never good to be negative in cost of living each month. I myself break even or have a little left which is savings. Managed to take care of everything ranging from piles of medical billing to repairs etc. No problems.

But trucking? I remember food and tolls and so forth running 200-300 a week depending on where and what roads, bridges you crossed up to several times aday in cases. (You get reimbursed usually but not if you were not to use that road by the company)

Wife and I ran on much less than that visiting a food store in Laraime once bi monthly. Everything there for the most part supported our year out for around 65% less costs over retail truckstop meals. Generally. We were paid very well, but not as well as a properly run team would have been paid. Paid very well meaning piles of cash stuffed into the bank to spend sometime later this year. And mountains of savings that kept us and medicines rolling without unemployment after 9-11 attacks killed our payroll dept.

Anything is possible. But living beyond means or negative cash is going to put you right out of the truck and back home on the porch broker than before. Really fast. I have seen countless drivers fail to manage their money and have not even a 10.00 bill for food to wife and kids waiting for them to get home somehow from 500 miles or more away after being fired. (For destroying truck on low bridge etc.)

This is not a lecture. Just truth. No cash, no eat. No eat no drive. No drive, no job.

A side note.

Here in the south our home was paid off inside half of a 15 year mortgage on trucking money. It's also cheaper to do it too with lands. 33K or so all in for a home valued at around 300K back home in Maryland.

It's cost of living as well that decides what you have in money or not. Tennessee would be somewhere in between the south and the east, living in prosperity these last 30 years.

 

I too am setting up for a launch into a trucking career in the spring. I'm older, 54, but my attitude is very positive. I'm also a veteran, so I'm looking at a community college and using my VA benefits. The posts here have been very beneficial....

 

I think you have a good head start that a lot of guys don't have. I have heard that the community college courses are really good and you won't be tied to a company owing them money for half ### training.

 

I don't know how common it was, or if it is still the same, or even if the trucking part was in the deal, but the community college at Tucumcari, only charged 20 bucks a semester to go there IF you had a local address, I knw several people that went to diesel or automotive mechanics school, and they had a good truck driving school too. It may be something to check out near you.

Now for the op, that 475 pounds is going to be a killer, and even if someone puts you in a seat, it will be miserable.

 

He could grab a job like mine, pushing pallets around all day would help take care of that.