Im new and don't know what to doooooo-JD

Except you make more $$$
New hired will probably get 600/week
Company want atleast 6 months experience before leasing.
You would need $$ down which doesn't seem a problem

Idk man, if I had a baby coming I would wait awhile. It seem you're stepping laterally if not a step back.

Maybe @Chinatown can chime in

 

Schneider, Miller Transporters, Quality Carriers have l/p programs for tankers.
Best route though is attend a 160 hr. cdl school then become a company driver for a few months to learn about hazmat/tankers.
You probably already have TWIC card, but if you don't, get that for tanker work.
Here's some companies that hire new CDL grads:
SVTN
Superior Carriers
Tidewater Transit
Groendyke Transport
CTL Transportation
Schneider Bulk
Trimac Transportation

Superior Carriers and Trimac are real picky about which CDL school you graduate from.
Some of these companies will reimburse CDL school tuition. Schneider reimburses up to $7000.00

 

^^^^What he said^^^^
My son is doing the same thing, he is going to stay on the rig until he gets laid off or they run him off.

 

By all means hang on to what you have. January is the heart of slow freight season, bad time to start out.

 

Makes sense, I'd stay put too. the OP will likely take a 70 grand pay cut the first year.
And 25 grand is nice for savings, but not much with that pay cut.
But then I see a lot of people without jobs living grander than me.
Maybe he should go on welfare

 

Saudi Arabia is imploding. Burning through billions of dollars a month of their reserve funds. Their king is hospitalized with Alzheimers and his nitwit inbred son is in charge.

 

Quitting a 130k a year job to work at at most a 65k per year job your first year, where you will virtually be gone that entire first year doesn't seem like a smart move.

Moving to O/O and starting your own company with $25k savings and no experience in the industry? BAD idea.

Owning a couple of trucks and really getting that ball rolling is really tough, will keep you on the road 24/7/365 for a couple of years AT LEAST. It can certainly be done, but it's a high-risk, medium-reward proposition. If you pull it off, great. But the sides of the road are littered with would-be trucking magnates.

Just for starters, you'll need a bare minimum of $50k cash to get started so you have enough reserves to deal with major equipment issues as well as buying the first truck, paying the taxes, licences, etc.

If the plan is to lease on with a company that could save you some money, but you have to know the company you're signing on with.

Everyone I've talked with says to do at LEAST a year working as a company driver. That means at best you'll make $65k that first year, and from my own experience, chasing that paycheck usually means ZERO hometime for a year. I'm talking literally 5 days every two months.

If you want to be home about every weekend for 1.5 days, your income will average bout $900 a week at best unless you're incredibly lucky. (I've been at it 6 months and I have a local job making 1100-1300 a week which I only got because I know someone at the company and they're desperate). Working OTR I made a bit more, but like I said, FORGET time off. You can chase money or home-time, but very rarely both as a new driver.

Look long and hard at this. I know you said you've done a lot of research, so there's a start. Just make sure you have your eyes wide-open. If I was 20 years younger, starting my own company starting with one truck would be sometthing I'd pursue in about a year or so. At my age, it doesn't make sense for me (for now).

Meanwhile, you're used to 130k. How are you planning on pying your bills AND saving money making $65k a year? I predict that a 50% pay cut is already going to hurt a LOT. Saving up another $15-25k? Unless your wife gets a job that pays all the day-to-day bills, not going to happen. And seriously, starting out without that cash cushion in case things go wrong could cause financial disaster with one breakdown.

I was in a KW shop a few weeks ago and watched a guy get told his repair was going to be $17k. I thought he was going to break into tears on the spot. He just walked out because he did'nt have it and he was suddenly unemployed owning a truck that didn't work.

Opened my eyes a lot. Think about that. If you can't handle that kind of unpredictable, unexpected expense without going into hawk up to your eyeballs, being an O/O is not something you're ready for, especially with a couple of kids to look out for.

You can make a decent living driving truck. The dues you'll have to pay will be trucking school and a year as a company slave and gone a LOT, or home a lot at crappy wages.

Think about this a lot and talk to your wife about the prospect of only being home a few days every couple of months. No job is worth a marriage. If you've done all of the above and make this happen, my hat is off to you. And I wish you luck, whatever. Just make sure you aren't neglecting the potential disasters, because they DO happen.

 

Good post jubal