In over my head??

Howdy y’all. I have a question...

About five years ago I got my CDL via a trucking school out in California. Long story short the labor company I was working for at the time went under and I was granted some money to go back to school. Trucking school was at the top of the list so I just said hell and took it. I went to work at Swift for six months but hated the low pay and eventually quit. I got back in to construction and never looked back til very recently.

I’ve been looking for a new job recently just because my body is tired of manual labor. I posted my resume online and attached to it is my class A. I get a call from a guy who says because I’ve been “licensed” for two or more years he can and wants to hire me for a dry van class A run. Cross country, FL to AZ 2500 miles one way. He doesn’t want to road test or train me, and says he can put me in a truck by myself right away. The pay is good for somebody with only six months of experience from five years ago. It’s more than I make now in labor and way way more than I ever made at Swift.

Sorry for the rant but my question is basically am I in over my head to accept this without recent experience and with no additional training or guidance? What are some issues I could run in to? And would it be worth it to just go back to the low paying companies who train for a little while instead?? I’ve heard horror stories about inexperienced drivers messing up so bad their lives and careers are over. I did well when I was at Swift and had the pay been better I would have stayed. But I’m realistic in the sense that I know I’m not very experienced. Thanks for the advice!!

 

The Job is based in California and pays with a W-2. I was offered a 1099 once in my life for construction and it was the stupidest decision I ever made so that was the first question I asked. I should clarify that although he didn’t give me an actual “road test” he did make me drive around the block with him just to make sure I didn’t take out any light posts or pedestrians lol. I guess that counts? Although it was nothing like the one I took at Swift or for the DMV. The thing is my over head is high I can’t really afford to go back for lots of training at an extremely low wage. My MVR is clean and aside from a lack of recent OTR I don’t have anything in my background that could be considered troublesome. I would like to make this work but I guess I’m just second guessing myself because it seems a little too good to be true based on my luck of recent experience. I have no endorsements but was told by DMV I could add some without having to road test when my renewal comes at the end of the year. Is it worth it to just wait till the end of the year to return to trucking with those endorsements? Would my options really be more expanded with them?? Or would my lack of recent experience still be an issue??

 

... Yeah he mentioned something about assembly bill 5 and told me now everyone who drives for him is on a W-2 now so I’m guessing that before he might have ran 1099s. I would never make that mistake again, I’m still paying the IRS for it. I guess I’m just more worried about being in states I’ve never been before (only drove 11 west with Swift) and being out there by myself. Appreciate the advice, thank you!

 

I have no idea tbh. His equipment is newer (2018) and automatic and it’s literally a straight shot route from AZ to FL then back the same way up through California. I’ll get a better idea of what to expect on my first run I guess. The way he sold it to me is that he likes to hire drivers without recent experience or with very little experience because they don’t yet have “bad habits” and he doesn’t have to pay them as highly, but the pay is still a lot higher than I’d make at Swift so idk?

 

excellent post thank you. Yeah I’m running 40 all the way to Amarillo, then down through Dallas and on through LA, MS, Floribama and the panhandle and then down to Tampa. It’s all dry van and no touch I asked and the fact that I won’t have to chain was a major plus I can’t even lie