is this a good career Choice?

I would say no. Trucking is an awful way to make a living. Even the local jobs are rough.

 

Call a bunch of companies before you decide on one. I'm still considered "green" but I'm home every night running regional so don't let people tell you that it can't be done. It may be very hard to find something like that but not impossible. Think of it like this. The bigger the company, the longer you will be out. Smaller the company, the more home time you could get. If you go to a mega carrier, you may be gone a month and home for a few days because they have so much freight and they do drop-drop not out and back. If you go to a medium/small company, they usually will have dedicated freight and you could be home every night and off on the weekends.

 

If you live in or near a large city the chances for being home every night are better, that's why everybody's asking where you will be living when you get out. I was in training and safety for Swift, companies that train are usually not going to have a lot of regular home time Schneider, England, Covenant maybe Prime, Maverick, Martin are all possibilities for paid training But as a Vet you should get all of it paid, so maybe check private schooling in your area. while your in school recruiters will come by daily with free stuff and lots of promises to get you to sign up, take the pizza and do research, truckers board is a good place.
At Swift although they have 23 terminals around the country, it goes like this you Train in Phoenix, Greer NC or they have a couple of private schools they all charge 3500$ (no upfront cost) witch you should be free for you, had several vets none of them paid! You get your CDL permit( free stuff on the internet for this)on your own, they pay your way to the closest training school then 6 weeks in basic training; Rules, Shifting, backing etc... no pay! no draw! Then if there is a mentor available you leave right out after that, if not you go home and wait. Once the mentor picks you up you are with him until you personally log 240 hrs Driving this seems to take 6 weeks. You get 400$ per week during mentor-ship, no home time! if a truck is available you leave right out after being with the mentor. you get one day off for every 7 you work after that. usually you can take as long as you want off if you leave your truck at a terminal, they may give it to someone else so take your stuff.
Being a Vet they wont send you to collection for schooling if you quit. so id recommend as soon as you get out of school (regardless of what company you go with)and the mentor-ship start looking, Fedex Ground or Fedex Freight lots of local, have low barriers to entry pay is just ok. food service beer and pop companies all local but hard work usually pay is good.
I'm not one way or the other about companies that train drivers. Swift is good but they all have there pluses and minuses once you get 50000 miles (about 6 months) you should be able to get a local job, If you tell me your city ill give you some ideas Welcome to Trucking and thanks for your service.

 

Do your research VERY carefully. I would encourage you to spend a TON of time here analyzing the pros and cons of deciding if you want to do this.

I'm with a flatbed company moving lumber and related and have been there for almost three years now. My background was primarily dry van with a little refrigerated freight thrown in. It took me 9 years to get to that position where I could be home every night and have weekends off. Frankly, I love that advantage and I'm not even sure if I could go back to the OTR lifestyle unless I was an O/O.

Doing flatbed is probably the hardest work I've ever done. If you look at that line of work, tarping is dirty, nasty work that takes time. Going up on top of that load can be VERY dangerous. You certainly don't want to fall off! I know that from firsthand experience.

Tanker work? You'll never have to touch the liquids but that unit is round and there's always the chance of rolling it over if you take the curves too fast. Are you looking at a food grade or hazardous materials commodity? Tanker isn't too bad but you've got to be careful. And for heaven's sake, nothing can be worse than a spill. Keep that in mind.

Van, whether dry or refrigerated, has its ups and downs. What I loathed most about that was the waiting time especially when I was early for an appointment. I could be cool as a cucumber on the outside, but totally steaming angry on the inside because they were wasting time inside. I hated waiting, because time was money.

Trucking will be some of the hardest work you'll possibly ever do. The regulations are getting more unbearable by the year and with the buying power of the dollar, my money just doesn't go as far as it did several years ago. You'll also doubtless read the rants on here about the ignorant four wheelers and how they'll do some incredibly asinine moves. They never cease to amaze me!

But lest I make you think it's all bad, there have been MANY incredible sights I've seen that I wouldn't trade for all the tea in China. Being a professional driver has enabled me to travel the lower 48 on every interstate and some drop dead gorgeous back roads. I've met some wonderful people and have been a part of helping move America.

That being said, smaller companies do offer some nice benefits that you just might not be able to find with the bigger carriers. I like the appeal of a smaller company who knows me by name and has worked with me when I've needed to get off early for a special event. I like seeing my special customers and delivering their freight in a timely manner. You might not get that opportunity with a mega carrier. But if getting tons of miles and a good check are what you're looking for, maybe a bigger company just might be what appeals to you.

Listen to what experienced drivers are saying here. Look at the comments by those who chose to disregard their thoughts then read their regrets later. Spend a lot of time asking questions, reading comments, getting a general feel for the industry and then go from there.

I would pose this question in all honesty to you. Can you drive an eighteen wheeler AND do something else? If you can do something else, don't become a driver. You may find yourself frustrated and just wanting to get out before you ever get started. It's not an occupation; it's a LIFESTYLE!

Case in point: the logbook dictates my life, even when I'm off for the weekend or the holidays. I still have to fill out a page for those days off. (Yes friends, my company still uses paper logs but that will be changing in about 2 weeks.)

When I ran OTR, the truck was packed for about 2-3 weeks with what I needed for my time out. I lived in the truck, worked in the truck, slept in the truck, ate in the truck, managed my life in the truck. And even though I'm local now, I still have lunch in the truck.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and hopefully I've been able to share just a little different perspective here. Please keep us posted and share with us your observations, comments, concerns, what you're learning as you prepare for a transition, and yes, what you ultimately decide to do.

Happy New Year to you!

 

Roehl Transport has their own CDL school and different hometime options.

If you go to a private or community college CDL school, you will have more options. If you want to get in the game real quick, then Roehl would be OK.

Might get on with UPS after a private CDL school. Not all divisions hire new CDL drivers, but some do.

 

The DOT hours of service; if your company is a 7 day operation you can work 14 hrs 11 of that can be driving, then you have to have at least 10 hrs off before driving again. once you get to 70 hrs total your done until you pick up hrs. this is the basics, there's more to it but I don't want to confuse.

Not sure what kind of school nttr in Liverpool is but if its like a community college, truck driving class could be a semester if you have GI benefit and want to save time check into truck driver schools there 3 to 6 weeks, you shouldn't have to pay either way...

There is a company between you and Syracuse called Arnold transportation I know when they need drivers they pay for training, might be close enough where you would get home a bit. I've delivered some oil pipe for them, seem real nice, seems like newer equipment... I'm sure they have a listing on this site you could check out

Once again good luck

 

Great advice CHINA ....AS ALWAYS...except for 1 TINY little detail.....GSF comes in way ahead of US Foods....but after 33 years I'm just a tad bit on the biased side !

 

If you are into motorcycles you could go to a tech collage I believe that one of then is ITT, you can go and train as a mechanic and a
I am sure a local Harley-Davidson Dealer would hire after school, there are a few adds in the Milwaukee area for this.......