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Hello and Welcome to the Site

Unless you can find a company that will hire you to run within your own state (Intrastate), then you would be faced with the fact that trucking companies require a driver to be at least 21 years of age.
You could possibly get some heavy equipment experience through a construction company. They might even help you to obtain your CDL.
Best of Luck!!!!!!!

 

Sara,
You really should do as much research as you can about the business. Plus the fact that your so young and female, being out on the road like that could be a bit dangerous for you.

I wish you luck on your choices but be careful. If you happen to get into an OTR company make sure you research any lease in detail before you agree to sign it, if your thinking about leasing a truck. Go to sites like this, talk to drivers that have been out there for a very long time and also research companies. Just make sure you really want to do this as it is not for everybody.

I'd recommend having a partner to go with you if you could. At least until you get the hang of the business and can handle things on your own. That is my two cents. I am sure many on here can give you more advice than I can.

by the way one other thing, a lot of companies don't care about the drivers. It's an unfortunate reality. Your more of a number to them and when things go wrong you will be blamed more than likely. There are good things to drive truck but you need to know about the bad as well.

You got to be on top of things so you don't get blamed for something that may or may not be your fault.

 

There's nothing quite like driving a big truck.
I'm just getting back into it after a six year break doing something else. In the midst of my work, I would frequently say to myself, "I miss trucking". lol

Why do I love trucking? Hmm, must be that feeling I got when I would pull out of a shipper on a long haul. Ya know, when I'm gettting on the highway and grabbing gears trying to get up to speed. That feeling of leaving everything behind. That feeling of freedom. Even with all the problems and frustrations in the industry, there is no other job that I've done which gives that sense of abandonment and freedom.

What did it do for me? Well, it really was the first job that I had which payed pretty well. Then when I leased a truck, it payed even better, lol. I don't know how the lease operators are doing now, but when I did it I was financially secure. That's a nice feeling too; although, I really didn't know enough about the industry to be leasing my own truck. Kinda foolish there. The sad part is that I actually want to do it again. This time just purchase a truck out-right. Pretty sure that my money would be better off if I left it in the bank right now, though. The economy is pretty shakey.

Stories? Hmm... Ah, yes. The first time I went over Donner Pass solo, rofl. It was pretty intense. I knew that if I made a mistake that it was potentially lethal, both to myself and to other drivers. Maintaining that level of hyper-awareness for so long was exhausting, lol. I think that I was clenched up for the whole downgrade. Once it was over and done with, I was sooooo relieved.

 

Go to college. Get an education. You can't drive OTR until you are 21 anyway, so you may as well do something until then that will give you something to fall back on if the whole trucking thing doesn't work out.

Business related majors are probably a good choice, especially if you want to own your own truck and run your own business someday. If that doesn't interest you, pick a major that does. Remember, it's your back-up plan.

You are still young, and there is no substitute for life experiences. Go get some.

 

Sounds to me like your best bet then would be to go to college and get that education. Once you have your degree, then go after your CDL. Once you have that, talk to your dad and see if his company would let the two of you run together as a team while you train. Especially being a young female, having your dad around to help while you learn the ropes would be better than getting stuck with a trainer at one of the "training" companies for a couple months...where that "trainer" may or may not act in a professional manner towards you. Heck, he may be only 3 months out of training himself....

If your dad drives, that would be your best bet. Nobody else you could possibly be trained by would have your best interest at heart like he would. You will still probably have to go to one of the CDL schools to get the actual license...but once you have it, well, you just gotta ask. Talk to them BEFORE you spend the money to get the license, though, because some companies want you to go to a school they approve in order to take you on as a trainee.

 

The endorsements are up to you when you want to get them.

Tanker = Written test only. Take it whenever you want or need it.

Doubles & Triples = Written test only. Take it whenever you want or need it.

Haz-Mat - Written test only. Take it whenever you want or need it. However, you also need a background check...which takes around 6-8 weeks to get the letter back that you take to the DMV to get the endorsement and costs around $95. If you think you'll need Haz-Mat, you need to get started on getting it far enough in advance that you'll have the background check letter to take to the DMV.

Passenger = Written test & Driving test. You'll need a passenger vehicle in order to get this endorsement, and it comes with a restriction as well. On my license, the restriction is "J12"...meaning that the passenger endorsement is only good on vehicles up to a class B, because that is type of vehicle in which I took the driving test in.

The more endorsements you have on your license, the more types of vehicles you can drive...which means more potential job opportunities available to you. Of course, the ones that only require a written test, you can take any time...so if a job became available that you needed the endorsement to qualify, you could go to the DMV and take the test and get it without any trouble.

However, one thing to consider: They like to change things up from time to time...add new training requirements and such for various endorsements or license classifications. If you have it on your license, it's yours. If you choose to wait and they add a new requirement, you would have to meet the new requirement.

 

Quick question- Where does one go to do the Background check?

I have to go to the DMV Sep 16th to get the Intrastate Restriction taken off my CDL and would like to add Hazmat, I already have the rest of the endorsements.


American Trucker