ok, now that I've chosen a school and been reading a lot about the industry ...

I would call Werner, Swift, Squire and Wil-Trans directly and ask them if they consider grads from this school

 

first thing to look at is your meds and find out which co might disqualify you for them. A note from your physcian that your meds will not keep you from driving helps, But make sure your employable before you go to school. Schools wont tell you this they really only teach you enough to pass your test with DMV. I was deemed unhireable for sins of my youth 30 years ago by many companies

 

If you are going OTR, you sleep in the truck, if you want a hotel, you pay. You pay for your own food too. That first year can be a year...or two...or three, it depends what you mean. They say a year because most people start out working for a lousy company and the better places usually want at least one year of OTR experience before they will hire you. You might get a great job right away, you might never get a great job, it all depends on what your idea of great.

You can go home if you want, you just might not be able to get home when you want to or as often as you'd like. There are some threads here about living on the road. Expect to be out from 3-6 weeks at a time.

One sacrifice is that if you go OTR, you rarely see your family and friends. This works for some, not for others. The pay fluctuates, you might make $87 one week, and $870 the next. If you are single and have few expenses, you should be fine.

 

If you haven't committed to that school you might want to go to the community college. There are many of us that feel the colleges are better and cheaper and with the rating it wouldn't hurt.

It's true that if you follow what the schools tell you then you are going to end up at a mega carrier and you will have to scarifice a great deal money wise. I recommend that you have 6 month of living money stashed away when you start driving. There are other ways to find work than following what these school say. You can down-load a list of trucking companies in your area and get out to see them. The advantage of that is a good company has no need to advertise for drivers. They will have drivers seeking them out and you also will have drivers that stay at good work. But you never know until you get out there and look if you would get hired by a great company.


Anyway, you look at it the first year or two are going to be hard and it all depends on how much you want to drive a truck. If it's in your blood then you go through whatever to get where you want to be. It's a good idea to write down a list of what you want in a school and a job. Start now with a career path and go for it. It's getting tougher today but you still can move up into great pay and benefits when you have the experience and clean record.

 

Keep in mind that the companies the school recommends are being paid to do so. Usually are the top 5 mega-carriers. Do your own research and choose a company that is going to best suit your personal needs and wants. There are many other good companies to choose from. Like I said, you just have to do your own homework. You don't necessarily have to follow the herd!

Good luck....

 

The bolded statement, that is dream hours for OTR!

Try delivering a load at 8pm. Sleep til about 7am.. no new load yet, but you have had enough sleep. More than usual in fact.

At 11 am dispatch calls to tell you that your next load is at 11pm that night!

Now what do you do, to be able to drive 11 hours starting at 11pm? Pop a sleeping pill and sleep again, all day, after a full night's sleep?

Stay up all day, and get behind the wheel at 11pm and stay up all night?

Mikeeee

 

I personally went to NETTTS (New England Tractor Trailer Training School). The DOT required 300 hours combined classroom and road training so I'm suspect with your 30 hours and only 120 road. That's hardly going to cover what you need to know. I've never heard of them, I'm betting that NO-ONE on this forum has heard of them. Solomon & Solomon, NETTTS and of course, Werner and some of the other Companies provide excellent training (DO NOT USE C.R. ENGLAND... they are a driver mill and will toss you out on the road without really knowing what you're doing... how do I know?... I got a couple of their students in my truck when I was working for them). If you can't shift, you shouldn't be driving. If you can't negotiate a turn, you shouldn't be driving... at the very least, you shouldn't be out of the parking lot yet.
OTR will take you away from home and don't believe any promises that aren't on paper. They will make them but, speaking again, for myself, I was told I'd get home AT LEAST once a month with C.R. England. When I left, 5 months later, I hadn't seen home once and they tossed me out on the street. I had to pay my own air fare home (over $1000 because it was short notice).