Newbie driver, looking for info!!

I agree with the others - if you want to drive, do NOT get your CDL until you're ready to drive. A CDL with no recent experience can be worse in some ways than not having one at all.

I like the idea of using this time to learn the mechanical side as it will serve you well, especially if you decide to become an O/O.

 

Yeah I remember when I was 19 I was making $9 an hour at a factory and thinking I could keep working there to get a huge raise of $12 an hour and have a bunch of money to live my life lol. It wasn't until I left that small town and moved to a larger city where making a lot of money was possible. Now the $25 an hour that I make doesn't seem enough to cover basic billls.

 

You are on the right track my friend asking questions with an open mind. Being an owner op is a long hard road, unless you already have like 100k bucks, which most do not o agree with everyone else wait on the cdl unless you already have a intrastate carrier willing to employ you. If making money isn't a huge deal at the moment find your local diesel mechanic shop, not a dealer a real shade tree type of guy and ask to just do something like an internship hang around turn wrenches and learn all you can. If you really want to be an o/o one day the things you would learn in a year working for free would pay you back IMMENSELY. Trucking is about long term goals there is not much instant gratification out here. Except for lot lizards and well to each his own I guess! Lol

 

I remember when I thought $324 a week was "good money" if I made that now I would be $200 short every week on my household budget! That dosnt even include the college stuff I pay for my fiancee lmao

 

Have to be 21 for a HAZMAT. I thought about getting a HAZMAT when I turned 21 last year, but realized it wasn't really worth it for me. It's kinda expensive if you don't use it, you have to retake the test every time you renew your license, you have to pay to get fingerprinted and have a background check every time (at least you do in ND, I would assume it's the same in every state). For me, who is probably not going to use it anyway, it is definitely a waste. I can still haul water in the oil field if I really want an oil job!

 

You can't drive across state lines until you're 21.