Should I continue to pursue CDL driving?

CT...just fyi....this place does a 1 year $2,500 contract just to send a newbie with a "trainer" for 3-4 weeks. A lot of unknowing people have fallen for that.

 

Certain criminal convictions (even misdemeanors) may make you inadmissible to Canada.

Might want to make a call to Immigration Canada, give them the particulars, and they'll tell you what you need to do if it's fixable. Some are, some aren't.


Good luck!

 

I did a 1 year $2500 contract with Millis. I got a horrible trainer and my friend from school got a great trainer. I chose not to pursue a "career" at .45 cpm.
My friend chose to stick it out for 3 months and discovered in 3 months what i knew in under two weeks talking to REAL drivers at terminals.
He's trying to drive garbage truck now for $24 an hour which is still more than Millis ($27 an hour IF you max the clock keeping wheels spinning).

I'm being tortured (paying my dues) driving tanker by my business owner who thinks running a company via text message is a good idea. I can tolerate this for a year because the checks are fat and don't bounce.

I went from being the worst in my class of four backing up (one important aspect of trucking of many) to be the last one currently still utilizing that CDL-A. If you are bad at driving, not just backing, i would certainly entertain a longer and more expensive training route. I already had 3 decades of safe motor vehicle operation under my belt and a tractor trailer is only different in the space needed to help others get to Chucky Cheese safely. If that last sentence is confusing go to tech school and hopefully they will show you.

Whether or not it's "worth it" is a matter of opinion well covered here at truckersreport. Read Read Read, knowledge is power!

 

Keep plugging away at a trucking career.
If you finally give up, here's some more jobs that will keep you traveling.
Many of us aren't cut out for punching a time clock in a factory, so don't give up yet. I tried the factory job one time and felt humiliated and degraded. Within 3 months was back on the road trucking and appreciating it this time. A deck hand on a ship would have been my choice if trucking hadn't worked out.

• No living expenses aboard the ship (room and board are included)

~

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With the above quote/info in mind...I offer the following to all beginning/newer drivers (and also....with all due respect):

Not all of us can graduate from a decent/respectable CDL school...and immediately go straight into a job that has us home daily, pays $100k+, has killer benefits...and our choice of shifts/schedules.

There will be times/situations where your first job (or two, or maybe even three) will genuinely suck.

It's called...."paying your dues".

Face it: if trucking were genuinely/truly an EASY gig....pretty much everyone out there who could hold onto a steering wheel....would probably be doing it.

-- Lual

 

Here's a job in Mississippi for a deckhand with training provided:
Golding Barge Line - Tank Barge Transportation

 

Try explaining that to the mega CDL mills.

 

I certainly didn't expect anyone/everyone to agree with what I offered....above.

Still--I think it's a fair and valid observation.

-- Lual

 

Deckhand