Recent CDL? Cant get a job? Here is how I did

Majority of companies want formal CDL schooling.
Many smaller "mom & pop" outfits don't have any benefits or pension plan.
Whatever makes one happy, go for it.

What you did is OK for drivers who want local work. If you ever decide to go OTR or regional, the local driving or agricultural driving doesn't count as experience.

 

I kind of did the same thing Big Jon.

I took my written test then I rented a truck to take my driving test. I went on the wheat harvest as a truck driver to get some wheel time. When I came home the guy that just recently started hauling our corn needed someone to run his corn planter. I did that and then he hired me on to drive truck for him.

It's worked out real well for me.

There is a way to do it and avoid being someones slave for two years it just takes a little creativity.

 

Hell, I'm having a hard time finding a farm thats needing a driver.

 

Check the feed mills and farm chemical suppliers.

 

I'm sorry but a company will hire a self taught driver before a school driver always. We have more skills. Your not telling us the whole story.

 

I went to work at my current company in the shop working on the trucks/trailers. After a year, I decided I wanted to drive. I used a company truck and trailer (no cost to me) and took my test. Then I did "training" with my company. It was all local stuff monday through friday in a day cab and a couple weeks of regional stuff (still home every night) and then they turned me loose in my own truck running in our local division. I started my training in July and I went solo in January. I had also applied at a few other companies that said "where did you go to school"? I said "no school, I did it on my own". "Well we need either 3 months of recent OTR or recent grad". It sucks being stuck in the middle but it makes me feel proud that I could do it on my own rather than sit through a CDL school for 2 or 3 weeks and end up owing $6,000 before I even got a job driving.

 

Not everyone has the opportunity to do what you did. I was raised in tobacco farming country & still would not have had the opportunity you had. Some of the trucking company CDL schools are very good, plus you owe nothing if you work there for average 1 year & at the same time having a benefits package and 401K. One of those trucking company CDL schools even pay the trainee $600.00 a week while riding with a trainer. Entering the trucking career is not a one size fits all approach. Drivers with families usually can't afford the route you took because they can't afford a long gap in health/dental insurance for their spouse & children. Not everyones wife has a great job with benefits to fall back on. Also, not everyone wants a local or regional job; I'm one of them. Many of us prefer OTR & that's good for the trucking companies. Good for you for the success & taking one of several options available to become a CDL driver.

 

I was just trying to throw another option out there and I'm not saying that the way I went is the only way or the best way. I had health/dental because I worked in the shop. Although I was training on driving, I was also still working in the shop therefore, retaining all of my benefits, pay, etc. If someone can get in a shop and do like I did, it would help them greatly. By the time I decided to drive, I had worked my way up to lead man (2nd in charge of shift) and had learned a GREAT deal about these trucks/trailers. Everything I learned has helped me as a driver because I can fix the small stuff and not lose any time and I can diagnose the large problems and know when its safe to roll. I'm not saying that you have to work in a shop to figure this stuff out but it does help a lot. And I keep seeing more and more people going to CDL school, getting on with a company where they are locked in for a year for to have their school paid for and after a month or 2, they hate the company and they are stuck or they have to fork out thousands to pay the company back.

As for the local job, I didn't chose local. I wanted our regional plus division but taking the route I took, I have to work my way up to build confidence in the safety director and he stepped me up incrementally. If I wait a little while longer, I will be on the regional plus division but I have decided to move to a flat bed company because I enjoy hard physical labor and it will break up the monotany (sp) of sitting in a seat for 11 - 14 hrs a day.

In short, don't be afraid to explore every opportunity. Don't be afraid to call these smaller companies. There will be trade-offs. The total cost of all of my CDL training was $50. I didn't owe anything and I wasn't locked to a company for a year. But, because I didn't go to a school, I couldn't go to my company of choice until I built some time. Someone that goes to school can get to company they prefer quicker but they are in debt until their contractual obligation is met and a lot can happen in a year (family issues, health issues, etc). No way will be perfect until insurance companies will allow you to go buy a truck, take your CDL test in that truck, and you go get your own authority and haul whatever/wherever you want.

 

Yeah, because we don't know how to set the cruise control.