Just a few Newbie questions

Hello rich..

Imo you should avoid company schools.. find a company you want to drive for and ask them to recommend a school in your area but not one from a trucking company that will make you drive for them to pay for it.

Most companies have a tuition reimbursement program.

Expect to make upper 30's your first year.. maybe 40 if you are willing to drive otr for extended periods. . 3 to 4 weeks out..

I drive for Gordon trucking and would recommend them.. pay I am not sure of but you can call recruiting for that.
They will also be able to recommend a cdl school.

When picking a company you need to identify how you want to run. There are a lot of companies to choose from that offer different things. Unfortunately there are a lot who will promise you everything and never deliver.

I have been driving 11 years now after my former vocation was taken over by China. It can be frustrating finding a company that is the right fit for you. There will be drivers who do well with a company and another driver will hate that company. I have driven for several companies in 11 years but I have been with Gordon now over 4 years and make over 60k a year.

Find one with good csa/safety scores for starters. If they have a bad record then stay away.

Good luck

 

Swift is a bad choice if you have a family as well as kkw and covenant and crengland so ya gordon or knight are good choices

 

Don't be afraid to look up some locally based companies and see what their requirements are. I went to work for Old Dominion right out of CDL school because I found out that they needed drivers and were willing to take a chance on a newbie like me. It never hurts to ask, and if you're working for a locally based company, hometime will be easier to achieve. Good luck!

 

Nice question, I really need to know that also.

 

well your best bet is to go to a community or a technical college for your truck driving experience if there is any in the area that offer that.. Because then you are not going to be tied to a specific company under contract and a lot of times you can even start with local companies and not have to be on the road if you would want that..
General wages well it depends the first year I made 45,000 and now I am close to six figures with no expenses company driver
I dont know about knight from a personal experience but I have heard a lot of negative things there kind of like a swift
Security clearence will really have no bearing in the general trucking unless you haul goverment loads or explosives or radioactive
Good luck from a old jar head

 

1. Yes.
2. 30-40k gross.
3.Not the highest pay, but equipment looks OK.
4.Not really for a new driver, but hazmat , doubles and tanker are.

You might miss the kids growing up . . . and the wife might have to back you 100% on this one.

Good luck. Thanks for your service.

 

Just curious about your trucking attraction.

Many of us have/had and still harbor romantic notions about trucking. The public is, on whole, oblivious to the poor pay, long hours, isolation and health issues that go with trucking. Read a little here and you'll run into the 100% turnover of OTR, for example.

Yet, on a good day those of us who drive love it at least on those good days. It's a job with limited face-to-face interaction and for many that isolation from others feels like a really good thing. Maybe the best part some days. Whether it really is... and there are good jobs, good $$, good companies out here.

As tow said, you can make $50-$60 grand here--or chicken feed. There are bad companies just waiting to rip you off for your time and finances. Blowing smoke and purposefully misleading you because they only want 3-6 months of your time. You can be gone for weeks on end or home daily. As your experience increases--if you keep your CDL clean of accidents and tickets--your options increase. The best jobs are a year or three down the road.

You don't need OTR unless you want it. Much of the OTR world has you put in two work-years every year for the pay of one work-year.

It's an extremely diverse industry. Local work, long haul, tankers, intermodal, flat racks, heavy haul, dump and cement trucks, straight trucks, less-than-truck-load cross dock operations, package delivery and on and on. So I wonder what story you tell yourself when you think about a future in trucking.

What do your dreamy thoughts conjure up? Because soon enough, if you go this route, you'll have to bump up against reality. Is it sleeping rough in your truck on a twin-sized (think bunk bed) mattress at diesel-fumed truck reservations (truck stops)? To my mind, the happiest drivers would be driving something somewhere if they weren't driving what they're driving now...

Is that you?

 

I am looking into becoming an OTR driver. A few things I am trying to concider are the option of schools and the timeline of getting to a decent wage/happiness (Not that the two are directly related, but they are indirectly).Most people seem to perfer a independant school over a company sponsord one. The main differances I see are with a independant it takes a longer time to complete and they do not provide a hotel to stay in. The benefit of a independant is better training and no commitments to a particular company.

I already have a CDL-A, but with no tractor-trailer experiance. I drove straight trucks with equipment trailers. I have never been OTR, (btw is that ON the road or OVER the road?) but feel that I would be happy with it provided that other people (dispachers and managers) have just a little common decently. I always try to trat people with respect. I am figureing that I can gross out at 30k the first year (maybe a lil less or a lil more). I am wondering waht is an acceptable cpm rate for that figure, I am expecting .30 and dont want to settle for much less. I will earn it, but you will get what you pay for. I fell that 2800 miles a week is an obtainable average to start. I am writeing this to explain what I expect and I also expect someone to knock it down and give me the facts as they see it.

One last thing, I am willing to be out 4-8 weeks at a time, but want 5 days or so at home after that. I want to split home time between NC and NE (thats the state not the region). Is this an acceptable plan? I have kids in each state, and one of the top reasons in picking this career is so I can see them each equally. (I live in NC now and only go to NE once a year). I make 30k now, and dont see that increasing anytime soon (Maybe if I demand it I could get 35, but more likely Id get nothing or a termination).

Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks in advance.