Lady truckers and CDL training

I'd consider looking for local work around you before you ever get the license. Take a look for daycabs in your area and see what companies they are. Look into any linehaul terminals around you.

You could also try for ups/fedex delivery. They are all in full swing of hiring seasonal drivers right now and that should be local.

There are also loads of companies that hire and get you home on weekends. Keep in mind that being home while driving local might not be as awesome as it sounds. Chances are you'll be working a full 14 hour day five days a week, add a commute to that and you'll be up before everyone wakes up and back after they all go to bed. And in the hours left between shifts you won't exactly be a fun person to be around. Doing a regional run and being home for the weekend might end up quite similar to that.

As far as companies that train you, unless you sign a contract to work with them after, you could quite easily use them to get your license and then go work somewhere that will have tuition reimbursement. That's what I did and it's working out perfectly fine. There are also a lot of other options for getting your cdl other than driver mills at megas

Add your location to your profile and people should have some suggestions of where you could look for work in your area. @Chinatown seems to know every company out there, but your location is kind of necessary to start.

 

Where is your location? Old Dominion hires new cdl grads for line haul work.

 

The old school way was find a driver willing to train you on an actual working truck and then loan you his truck to take the test when you are ready, this method produced a lot better drivers than the school route in my opinion.

Smaller local companies still do it this way in California, driving schools did not even exist when I got my CDL.

 

At least with trucking there is no male/female wage disparity.

Good Luck!

 

Very true! When I started they said "you want a raise? Make another load!"

 

Typically, driving is not a career choice for those that want a normal home life. Even local is usually 14 hours or so plus the commute. Sure, there are exceptions but usually those jobs don't pay enough to live on. Again, there are probably some drivers who work 8 hours, 5 days a week and make 70k+. But, before you believe them you should probably ask for some type of proof but truckers love to tell tales.

If you want to drive then you have to expect a home life that is not ideal for most people. If that is an issue for you then I would advise you not to do it.

 

Trucking demands large amounts of your time and energy. Even a basic dump truck paving material building driveways or parking lots etc will take all the time from sunrise until you cannot see anymore past sunset in the summer thats pretty close to about a 18 hour work day no logs either. You run until you drop. Get enough sleep and do it again tomorrow.

It does not sound like you will get that sleep at home with the kids on your time off between driving time.

If you worked on the dock side, you will know better than anyone how long it can take waiting for a dock and unloading. Driving is the easy part. It's the docks that will be a time sink. You will never know with any precision what time you will get off work today and go home. It might be 2 am before you do.

Companies go through dozens of OTR drivers quickly because they burn out, burn down, wear out, get hurt, get fired (Most especially.. for the literally rubbing a pole and hurting the paint on your trailer and mashing a 10 dollar light fixture. For which you now are charged with a preventable accident and generally are removed from the industry by firing when you cost a company enough money in losses) and sometimes if your logs or paperwork, weights etc are not totally correct, you youself can stand liable for the tickets incurred. You have to pay it or show up in court for a trial and plead or fight it. If you don't pay or show up, a bench warrant will be issued to arrest you possibly. Then it could be months to more than a year in county jail before you get to see the case completed. Or possibly make bail and that may be in the thousands of dollars.

Companies do pay the training school which could be as much as around 4000 dollars. YOU have to pay the company back. SOME companies might pay half and you pay the other half provided you remain with the company a certain amount of time, carefully established to be somewhat longer than most of their 90 day wonders who get tired, fired, hurt etc.

If you took a student loan from Uncle Sam, you have to repay this loan, no bankrupcy no refuge from collections and no defense to garnishing your bank account, refunds, social security etc. Until that bill is paid in full. No one pursues collections activity more intensely than the Government who will call you several times a day.

Trucking is not a bad industry, but it is something that takes something out of most people. You have to really love trucking in general to even consider yourself to be exposed to various abuses on the road. You will need savings for the weeks your mileage or work is not that productive resulting in 0.00 paychecks or even a negative one that has to be paid. Companies are not banks. But if you borrow money and owe them they will very cheerfully deduct your whole check, several checks if need be. Your own bills, mortgage etc is not the company problem. So that is not a valid defense to such activity. You might even be fired for borrowing too much.

Finally but not least, to physically be in a big truck and expose yourself to the traffic around you, some of whom are parasites or predators out there working against you possibly by setting their car up in front of you and then stopping faster than you can ever get a 18 wheeler stopped. You hit him or them and by the time the state gets through with you, you will face a civil lawsuit in court for which everything you own is at risk. This example I provided you is a known insurance scam because most trucking companies will pay them a hard check to settle out of court rather than to see their image dragged in the papers with the typical big rig killa truck image. The actual story don't matter.

Im not a negative person in general. Im a nice one who had a wife join me on the road OTR as a reefer team. The experiences she had most of the time with me is not typical of most people who are new to trucking because for example, they don't generally get to run Donner without at least some mountain experience without trouble. She got to run it with me. Turns out that is not the problem with her. It happens to be walls in construction. Even in a car with the walls on our freeway it's a problem. I generally drive so she does not have to deal with the big bad walls.

I can only fight what I see coming. And in trucking there is a awful lot that can and will go wrong. And at the same time there are things that do go right and it's wonderful.

But you sure picked a industry. You might want to consider staying where you are in that office dealing with truckers and their loads. It's not that bad.

 

Yes, trucking is not a bad industry. It just requires your time, it's pretty much the one constant throughout the industry. The problem with trucking is that it is not consistent, this is because truck companies have little power. We are picking up someone's freight in their yard. Then we deliver that freight to someone else's yard. We have no control of the schedule, equipment or personnel. My point is, things dont always go as planned. And no matter what happens or who screwed up, the trucker is the one who deals with it.

 

I am also a female driver. Have been at it for ten years now. In my opinion the most important factor is how your husband and the kids can adapt to doing all the Mom's chores so that you can focus on the driving. My husband has a "normal" job, 9 to 5. He cooks, does the groceries, cleans (badly!), etc. He's fine with it now, but when I first started it was a struggle. This is a decision that will affect all of you. It's not easy, but doable. And the money is pretty good. Good luck to you!