Retired LEO to Trucking

The dept I retired from is 24 officers short, we were never that short when I was there..usually no more than 3 or 4. A neighboring city that's quite a bit larger is over 160 officers short..years ago they were rarely more than a dozen short.

 

$50G pension will go a long way in some states that don't tax pensions plus lower cost of living than in CA. $50G pension is not considered small by any means in those states.

 

You are perfectly suited to enter trucking as a retired detective. You don't have to start with OTR as EVERY company is hiring. There are local jobs everywhere, obviously big cities have more local jobs. Food service and beverage delivery (beer or softdrinks) are generally considered a young man's game, but if you are physically fit and active, or nearly so, you are certain to get a job and be home daily. Of course, driving in the city all day may not seem ideal. I'd jump off a bridge before I drove around L.A. every day.

I would strongly urge you to do as much research as possible and find the company you want to work for BEFORE you go to CDL school. CDL school, in most cases, is very quick, and you will not have time to thoroughly research trucking companies before school is finished. You would likely also over value the trucking companies that make presentations to students at the CDL. EVERY trucking company making presentations at CDL schools SEEMS like a great place to work. There are thousands of other places to work much better than some of those companies.

I use the analogy of shoes. Finding success in trucking, and everyone has their own definition, is like buying shoes. The most expensive shoes that don't fit you or don't fit the purpose you have for shoes, are horrible shoes. The cheapest pair of shoes that fit you, and your needs, are better shoes. The "shoes" you buy that have the durability you need, fit in your budget, do the job you need, and are pleasing to you are the "right shoes". Don't work for any trucking company until you have communicated with currently employed drivers doing the type of work you are considering for that company. Talking to an OTR driver at the same company can give you important info about pay and benefits, management style, equipment quality, etc. It is very common to only work at your first trucking company for 1 year. It's very difficult to research and get definitive answers to everything that will REALLY make a company or type of trucking fit you. After 1 year of trucking all of the intangibles nobody would have though to ask about will be apparent to you. Some things you thought were unimportant or very important will change in your mind after a little experience.

With your super-clean background, my first suggestion would be to look at the big LTL, less than truck load, carriers. Old Dominion, Estes, Saia, FedEx, UPS, and the big players in CA. Their drivers have long tenures and many more of them retire from those companies that most of the other trucking companies. The job can be stable/boring, depending on your need for variety. Personally, I like big companies because their rules and procedures are like rules to a baseball game, we all know what they are and there should not be much confusion. It seems like working at some small companies there aren't many rules and it can feel like trying to play Calvinball.

The more reserach you do and the more specific you can be about the type of freight/trailer you pull, the hours you work, the pay you need, the area you drive, the variety you need/avoid, etc the better your chances of getting a "pair of shoes that fit you." You are a golden prospect. Don't settle for companies that are not also golden.

 

No matter what type of trucking you do, I would recommend everyone get the 3 standard of General, Combination,Air-Brake plus the extras of Doubles/Triples, Tanker (even if you never want to pull liquid tanker, it's required for certain freight). HazMat is up to you. Most endorsements are just a few questions on a computer test and $15-25 each. HazMat is at lest a $200 expense when you pay for the fingerprints, background check, and the endorsement/training that is now required. The more endorsements you have the LESS obstacles you have for every job. To be safe, I would get the HazMat when you first get your CDL and then decide whether to renew it when it expires in a few years. HazMat endorsement can be a 1-2 month exercise in bureaucracy, while all other endorsements are nothing but a fee and a computer test. HazMat is the only endorsement that expires and every time you transfer your license to another state, you have to re-test. Other endorsements don't require all of that.

 

Old Dominion is a coveted job. Try for the line haul position.

 

OD is maybe the best company in trucking, not suited for everyone. If you can get on their LTL board you can eventually make $100k per year and driving the truck would just be a really good job, where you go home after work, instead of your full life with a few brief non-trucking episodes.

 

16 years in LE and left in 2016. I had enough. Started my trucking career at 52 with a smaller company, 75 trucks, that trained me to obtain my CDL in January of 2021. No contract, but I promised myself I would stay the entire year and then look at other opportunities. I really wished I had started a driving career earlier as I truly enjoy over the road.

Go for it. With your background you will have several opportunities. Good luck and let me know if I can answer any further questions as a, just over a year, driver.