Looking into starting an OTR career, with a slight twist

Anyone so destitute that they'd consider a career in trucking simply for the purpose of shelter is either A) probably not that concerened with paying taxes anyway, or really anything that has to do with the laws of general society, or B) a contract driver with a starter company who won't meet the 10k a year filing requirement anyway. Think I'm kidding; There are guys at CRST making 600 dollars a month. Beats sleeping on a cardboard box though...

 

You are probably in a pretty decent situation for being an over the road driver! Trucking companies would love you if you don't have to ever take home time! When you do want to take time off or get out of the truck you could simply get a hotel room wherever you want or wherever you are at that particular time. Do your research and find a good company that is going to best suit you. Being in your position I would recommend company schooling because this will get your foot in the door with very little money up front and you won't have to foot the bill for hotel costs and such. Companies like Central Refrigerated would be great to start off with because they have their own school and will pretty much pay for everything for you to get started. You will most likely have to get P.O. Box at like UPS or FedEx so that this will provide you with an actual street address which you will be able to use on your license instead of a regular P.O. Box.

You sure you want to leave the island though? I'd be glad to trade places with you!

 

Ladyfire, thanks again for the Schneider approved school list. It is not clear to me what criteria they required to make it on the list, but since Schneider is a big player in the trucking industry, I don't need to know, I am going to take it on faith that the schools on the list are up to snuff, at least more so than I could find and judge on my own.

The Johnston CC 8-week program looks awesome! It would be worthwhile for me to spend the extra time and I would love to join the program, but several factors including the schedule mean it is not going to happen for me. Good luck to both you and KateL in completing your training and starting your trucking career. With course dates starting soon, I bet you are both excited to get started!

From the Schneider list I found the Commercial Driver Development Program at University of Arkansas - Fort Smith. 4-week program, $2,900 tuition. It is more expensive than some of the CC programs, less than most commercial schools. It seems solid and I like the fact that it is held at a large state school.

Some think the name/reputation of your school will not count once you get your CDL, I disagree, I will make a point to highlight it! It is all how you present it, we all know the standard interview question "what are your strengths" the fact that I have "solid training from a well established school as a foundation", will be the first words out of my mouth to anwser. The interviewer looks down and sees the name of a well established state school or CC and not a CDL mill, they will likely keep listening. It may not matter in every application/interview but in the course of a long career I think it will payoff.

MrEd is right about filling an itemized return with the IRS. However, in my first year I don't think I will make enough to worry about it, a standard return should work fine, time will tell. I DO plan on establishing my home address in Nevada as they do not have a state income tax. Filing my first year IRS tax forms using a Nevada address and only a standard deduction (few questions ask with a standard deduction return), will go a long way toward the IRS accepting that Nevada address without a lot of questions when I need to start filing one with itemized deductions.

 

Washington state also has no state income tax, & another advantage, it is not Nevada!!! ( I think we have better scenery & more moderate weather, but others may not agree.) If you establish an address near the I 5 corridor, you will have your share of driving options. Just another option.

 

Wow, thanks for all the responses, guys! You've given me much to read and look into. Passport220, I'm happy to see someone else in the same situation, I'll be following your posts and looking into Swift as well. But, uh, this is an incredibly newbie-ish question, but what are prehire letters? I've lived in Europe for most of my adult life and had never encountered that term. Boxxxtrucker, I definitely appreciate the reality check: training is far from being the only thing to take into account, duly noted. Chompi, I'll definitely look more into company schooling, it sounds like much less of a hassle since everything is in one place. The only downside seems to be less money, buy hey, like I said, that's not what I'm about anyway. And as far as taxes are concerned, eh, I'll probably be paying an accountant anyway and they'll know what my best options might be. I'll gladly pay someone to do paperwork for me, it's basically like buying peace of mind. All in good time, though, taking care of taxes is very low on my priority list right now.

So... maybe those of you who are familiar with recruiting procedures can answer a pretty naive question: should I figure everything out on my own, and then go through the normal recruiting process at whichever company (or companies) I choose, or is it possible to make a few calls to discuss options in a more earnest manner? Like, will they be busy and say "just send us a resume" or "fill in the form on the website", or will I be able to talk to someone for a couple of minutes?

Anyway, thanks again, you guys were really helpful. Much aloha!

Also, Chompi, wanna trade places? I might be able to make that happen, if you're willing to work 10-15 hours a week cleaning rooms and doing laundry in a B&B, in exchange for shelter and no money at all.

 

A pre-hire letter is a “soft” offer of employment. An offer of employment after some conditions are met. In the case of the trucking industry, that usually means finishing school, obtaining your CDL and supping required documents.

Most on the forum with more experience can tell you more and most will tell you to take a pre-hire letter from a trucking company with a grain of salt. They are written with broad disclaimers that will allow the trucking company to withdraw their offer of employment for many, many, many reasons.

A pre-hire letter is not a guarantee of employment, but it is at least one step in a gaining a relationship with an employer.

 

I work with a guy from Hawaii and he started driving a mixer truck on the big Island and then came here to the mainland. Try getting some experience in what ever you can if it's construction or not. I know in the winter up here on Donner Summit you can work for Cal trans driving a snow plow in the winter and the have employee dorms for the season. You can just get a Mail box at a UPS store and that can serve as a home address as well as mailing. Just some ideas. I am glad I went over the road just to know how much it sucks getting paid a slave wage to never be home and live out of truck stops and how happy I am to actually make good money and sleep in my own bed at night. I work less and make more now and am home every night.

Just fyi, pre hires are worthless, if they will hire you they will hire you. A pre hire doesn't guarantee anything. Best just to apply at the companies you want to go with. Everywhere I applied I never had a pre hire and was hired just as fast as anyone with one.

Truck companies at least the bigger ones and even mid size ones will chew you up and spit you out. If it means saving there butt from getting their insurance rates increased, they will kick you to the curb in a heart beat. I saw it happen so many times so be sure this is something you really want to do.

The life is hard and frustrating. I love to drive and see new places and that is by far the best part of the job but if you go with a reefer company be prepared to be frustrated with endless waiting and not getting compinsated for it. My company I last worked for paid detention at $15 an hour after 2 hours. If you drive for 10 hours and then wait for the phone call or buzzer to go off for your turn to be loaded or unloaded for another 2-6 hours that is a 12 -16 hour day and you are mostly getting paid for miles. Either way if you work 60 hours in a week that equates to $11.66 an hour to be away from home. That's not including living out of truck stops for weeks on end and babysitting the truck when you are not on duty. Then have a a couple of actual days off.

Good luck with your adventure.

 

I looked it up and there are 7 states with no personal income tax:
Alaska
Florida
Nevada
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Wyoming

Difficult to argure about the beautiful scenery in Washington State. When you see a new car commercial and the car is traveling down a winding road with a beautiful natural background, look close and you will notice the commercial was likely shot in Oregon or Washington.

One problem is the rain and snow in the Pacific northwest. I lived and worked in Oregon in the 90's and I am not sure if I have fully dried out yet! Also the snow in the Siskiyou Mountains as your cross the California/Oregon boarder on I-5 is not to be taken lightly. I grew up in Northern Illinois so I am not too freaked out by snow, but I think it would make sense to get some miles under my belt in the flat, dry southwest before I regularly take on that challenge.

 

Haha, so now I know what a pre-hire letter is, and also to take them with a grain of salt! Thing about working locally, though, is that I live on one of the smaller islands (namely Kauai) and there doesn't seem to be any CDL training here at all. So if I'm going to be relocating no matter what, might as well fly to the mainland rather than Oahu. As for the waiting thing with reefer jobs, it might not actually be that big an issue: I have another job that only requires a computer, so if I have to wait for work, well, I can just pull out my laptop and type away, changing downtime into productive time. I appreciate the input!

 

ExNihilo, Sorry I didn't mean you get paid less, I mean't that its less money out of your pocket for schooling. Pay should be the same.

Its fine to talk to the recruiters whether they are school recruiters or company recruiters. Just try to know some facts and what you want before hand. Keep in mind that these "recruiters" are salesman and will sometimes tell you anything you want to hear provided you sign on the dotted line. Also a school recruiter is always going to recommend the top 5 mega-carriers to you to work for. Reason being is that they get paid to do so. Try to have an idea of who you want to drive for before considering any of their recommendations. There are many good companies out there to choose from and the better ones are usually harder to find. Good companies don't have to advertise as much for drivers because their turnover rate is lower. The mega-carriers spend millions of dollars in advertising to get YOU to work for THEM!

Personally I recommend Central Refrigerated mainly because I have driven for them and had a very good experience there. Like I said, there are many others that are just as good, I just haven't personally driven for them. Everyone has their own unique wants and needs though and you need to find a company that best suits yours. Make a list of your wants and needs and start doing your research. Once you have narrowed your list down to a couple dozen or so then start calling around and speaking to recruiters to get the finer details. Also good to have a prepared list of questions for that too.

Passport, you to funny! I guess in the regular business world, yes, your statement about interviewing and applications maybe true. However in the trucking world this is kind of null and void. These companies for the most part could care less where you went to school! Most CDL mills are fairly the same and trucking companies know that they are there just to get you your license and prepare you to go with a trainer. Once you complete school by no means are you a professional driver! Your diploma isn't worth the paper it is printed on! They are going to send a copy to their insurance company and the insurance company is going to look at nothing but your name and the amount of hours you completed to make sure you meet their requirement! The term "interview" itself is weak at best in the trucking world. As long as your record is clean and once again, you meet their requirements, you have a job. Most will hire you with a worthless "prehire" letter before you even finish school! Most of these companies are looking to keep their seats warm and try talking you into making their truck payment! (leasing)

Anyway, ExNihilo good luck to you and keep us updated! Wish I could be in your neighborhood for the upcoming season! (Triple Crown!)