Looking For Insight.

Where are you located?

 

I second @Ssand Man with Millis Transfer.
Also look at Western Dairy Transport school - www.wdtmilk.com
FFE (Frozen Food Express) has good training also.

 

Ok so here is my 2 cents. I have ran reefer for the last 16 months and most of my appointments are between 0600 and 2000, remember I said "most." So it really depends on what company you work for and who there customers are. Now when your just starting you will most likely have to do otr 48 and can exspect to be out for around 6 - 8 weeks at a time.

Once you get 4 - 6 months in then you can look into going regional (that's what I did) or if your lucky local (most local places want 1 year). My recomendation would be to stay otr for 2 years that will open a lot of doors for you. With regional you can be out for 2 - 4 weeks sometimes weekly also.

Now about company sponcered training. Don't be afraid of the megas, thats where I started. Who cares where you start your goal is to get your CDL right? You will get the same CDL everywhere. There are companies that will train you and not require you to work for them. All they require is for you to keep your payments for your class current. I started with Swift ( yes I said the dredded "S" word) and all I signed was a contract saying that I would pay the remainder owed for the class if I were to leave the company before one year. Just look for a company that doesn't require you to work for them to do there class.

It sounds like you have an eventual goal your looking to achieve working local so I would go to some of the companies that your interested in and find out what there requirements are to work there. Then you will be able to come up with a rock solid plan.

Now for the most important part, your family. The first 6 months are the hardest and if you can get past that you will be ok. Here are some things you will want to talk to your wife about.

• She will have to take over the responsability of the house maintaining, bills, etc.
• Money. Is it worth being apart for what you will be making (around 30k your first year).
• Is your relationship strong enough to endure being apart. Trust is a huge thing.
• What you hope to achieve by doing this. Make sure it's for the right reasons.
• If your both for it set a specific time frame that you will talk again about all of these things.

It is not easy doing this and not because of the job itself but because of everything you give up to do it. Make sure it is something you really want to do before you jump in. I wish you luck.

 

Check with local beer distributors, lots of them hire and train you. That's one way of getting your class a.

 

Honestly, I'd say wait until your kid grows up to start driving if you want to go OTR. You can't get time back with your kiddo... It's one thing to run hard for a few years to save up a down payment on a house, but driving is hard on relationships in general. Maybe try local? Or at least choose a company that gets you home every weekend like McElroy. You can get free cdl training through Texas Workforce- just go up to your local office and say you're underemployed and want to learn to drive a truck. It takes a few months to get you a spot, but likely they would send you up to ATDS in Elm Mott/Waco for 4 weeks. With the training course and your cdl you can still get on with local outfits, even hauling frac water down there starting around 14/hr. Maybe even get on @ the Walmart dc down there as a yardmule.

 

I started at Millis its all good you will get trained right I wrote a year blog on here.. I was home everyother weekend. Never an issue getting home for anything..

Be Safe Out There

Captain Dave

 

Or if you're willing to commute hard find a LTL outfit in Austin. Most have driver trainee programs, you work the docks while practicing in the yard. But you're looking at 12-15hr shifts plus your commute time each way.

 

Millis Transfer drivers post they make $50K+ per year. That's just a tad over the $20K you make now.

Maverick Transportation - flatbed is good and has their own cdl school.