Potential newbie at 62

There are local jobs. It varies with location and what you are willing or able to do.

First, decide what kind of money you can live with as a rookie driver. Compare that to the local ads you see. If you can do that amount of money for a while as you become competent at the job, then you go looking. Remember: You are not looking at a 40 hour a week job. You are looking at an $X a day job which may be a lot more than 40 hours. An entry level job. With experience you can make more. How much more? Where are you located and how lucky are you?

Find every company with trucks in your area. It doesn't matter if they are advertising for drivers, you go and talk to them. You fill out applications and meet people. The biggest stumbling block is your lack of experience and their insurance company.

Ag companies (Farms and the companies that support them) seem to have the least concern about the experience mostly, I suspect, because they have a hard time filling all the seasonal seats they have and also because I suspect their insurance profiles give them latitude a freight company doesn't get. The income can be pretty feast and famine, depending on the company, though.

Look at construction companies and small businesses that need local deliveries and staging done. Every company that has trucks gets a visit and an application, if they will take one.

A lot will ask for 2 years OTR experience when they actually will take any warm body that has a track record of actually showing up for work. Once you start looking at craigslist ads you will start to feel sympathy for how many companies can't find someone who actually shows up to do the work. Sober. Without 50 calls a day to the office by their psycho significant other. Without the police showing up with a warrant. Without an army of process servers showing up with wage garnishment orders. Without... Well, you get the idea.

You can't sell your driving resume, but you can sell the hell out of your work history, reliability and motivation. It's all you got.

 

Brian, what is your location. Chinatown can weigh in with some companies if he knows your location.

A lot of companies will want a year of experience to hire for a regional position, but not all. I had a local job in Iowa hauling grain for a co-op, but the pay was low.

Here in the NE, there are all kinds of regional jobs for drivers, and are home every night. I drove reefer from PA to NJ with 3 or 4 stops and always home at night. Paid 48 cpm with one year experience credit. Typical rate in this area.

Your age is not a problem. I was 60 when I was hired for my first driving job after cdl school, and I was hired on the spot. Same for my 2nd job, and 3rd job. Because if you are drug free, and have a good driving record, and no criminal record, every company wants to hire you, subject to their experience requirements. You are gold buddy.

 

Check out CRAIGSlist under transportation, that where most of the local driving jobs are and if you live in a metro area, you should have no problem to find one. That's how I find mine.

 

Some times a company's insurance won't allow them to hire a new driver. If you ask them, they have to tell you NO. But there are other options. I took a warehouse job to get my foot in the door. My kid sister took a job at the airport with FedEx. Then she got a gig where she would load at Amazon and run between Amazon and the airport twice a shift. $800/week to sit and wait for Amazon to load the trailer. Gravy job.