My First Post...As Green as a Grasshopper

CDL learner's permit requires you drive with actual CDL driver, right? what difference does it make if it is a CDL holder who works for a trucker school or somebody with a CDL doing it on their own time?

 

If it requires a CDL you have to account for all hours worked driving and non.

 

so are you saying the only way to learn how to driver a commercial vehicle is pay a trucking school?

 

Or rent one and take the test. Most companies require a class for insurance reasons.

 

By sprinter van, if yoi are talking about the small white Mercedes vans, as long as the gvw is under 26,000 and hae no air breaks, which it wont, you wont need a cdl and can use a normal drivers liscense. If you are talking about the Panther type trucks you will probably need cdl class b. That being said, if you post a pic of the kind of truck you want to drive we can better answer. I will answer your question, assuming you need cdl:

1) You can get the manual and study on your own, however, no one may hire you because insirance companies want that class experience.

2) depending on the cdl you get you may have to use a bigger truck, but there are companies that can rent trucks for tests.

3) 3-8 I cant answer as no experince in this area.

9) It is always good to make yourself more maketable.

Good luck

 

CDL Laws per vehicle weight.

A we all know what it is. B starts at 26,001 GVW, C is vans and buses. Under CDL seperate. Still valid as big boys with same rules generally. You can even have a Class D CAR with CDL if you use that car in hire commerce for a living. There is reflective markings and other considerations INCLUDING HAZMAT Placarding etc where required by laws.

You can have billy bob teach you how to drive a truck in a field. But you need a CDL Permit to break in your spurs at a license test place usually with a school issued truck. For me it's a refresher course to break my rust off, no harm no foul but for everyone else, yes dear, you cough up the money.

 

OTR expediting in a cargo van looks like a fun job but I read on an expediter forum that they are really suffering now. Don't know if it's the truth or they're just saying that because they don't want new people entering their industry. I will address your questions:

1 and 2: You don't need a CDL to drive a Sprinter

3) You get hired with an owner operator who has vans leased to a company like Bolt or Panther. Or yes you can buy your own if you have the money.

4) Driving for a contractor anywhere between $400-700 a week.

5) Expediters drive around 400 or 500 miles a shot then wait for another load. Couriers do mainly city deliveries and once or twice a week take a long distance job. Those long hauls are were you make money. Sadly they are few.

6) When waiting for a shipment is when you sleep.

7) There are no company driver expediters as far as I know. Either you drive for a fleet owner on a 1099 or own your own van.

8 ) You do the shipments your boss (fleet owner) assigns you. If you're an O/O you can refuse any shipment you want.

9) The Great Lakes cities like Cleveland, Chicago, and Toledo are the hottest areas for van expediters. If you want to do courier work than a big city like Chicago is best otherwise you'll starve.

As long as the van is under 10k lbs GVW you don't need a CDL or even a logbook. Between 10k-26k a logbook is required but not CDL.

 

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/types-of-drivers-licenses/

 

There are differences between states but how is a "commercial vehicle" generally defined? Technically a Toyota Yaris driven by a 16 year old to deliver pizza can be considered a commercial vehicle. I read that unless a Haz-mat shipment is over 1,000 lbs it does not need to be placarded.

 

To get a CDL you have to take a test. You have to do a written and you have to do a driving. The class of CDL is determine by the class of the truck you are driving. I have a Class C Passenger endorsement. That means I can drive a van that carries 15 people or less. I got that by using the Church bus to take a test in. That is all you need to drive a sprinter van.

$35K is not enough money to relocate anywhere. Set your sights higher.