I'm being tempted again...need advice.

Realistic expectation for pay for a new cdl school grad is more like $55K - $60K. Some do even better.

 

Money isn't worth your sanity. I went from 38/hr to 28/hr and have never been happier. Do whatever is gonna make you happy.

 

You still living in Portland, Oregon?
I can give you some company names that run local and regional if you don't want coast to coast.

 

I will add that otr, local, or regional is all up to you some guys like @Chinatown live for tearing up miles and seeing the country. I like the physical aspect of local work and being home a lot. Then there is regional which is right in the middle of the two. There are no right or wrong answers to that one and it's a decision only you can make.

 

In one way of thinking, i would not tell anybody new to get into the driving business, on the other hand it can be a decent way to make a good living. NOT get rich, you don't see a lot of rich drivers. I do know of drivers that have moved up in the transportation industry and gotten pretty well off.

I would not even give automization of the industry a second thought, there will be some, but I doubt it means less drivers in your working life. There will always be a need for drivers, period.
I have been out of the game in the lower 48 for over 10 years now, but don't think 40,000 would be too hard to do even the first year, but may well be wrong, depending on what a guy does and how he goes about it.

Now, it sounds like your job has some stress, you are tired of drealing with, and I sure don't blame you, some people stresses bad driving, just so you know. I never knew why, but some folks stress out pretty bad with traffic, or schedules or what ever reason they can imagine to get stressed over.

 

There's 3 trucking companies in Missoula, Montana that hire Oregon drivers and have their own cdl school.
Jim Palmer Trucking
Wilson Logistics
Jones Bros. Trucking

 

Here's some that hire Portland drivers right out of private cdl school. Some are picky and only hire a few and some hire any that are qualified and have any required endorsements. These are local or regional jobs.
Read the fine print because some may have something like, "Must have 12 mos. experience OR graduate from certified cdl school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diamond Line Delivery Systems
Lee & Eastes Tank Lines
Space Age Fuel
Estes Express
Sygma Network
Old Dominion Freight Lines
A&M Transport
James J. Williams
World Fuel Services - www.drive4wfs.com
DHL Supply Chain