tell me if my expectations are way outta line.

VTSharpshooter. that's a great post. kudo's.

 

working 9-10 hours a day now, and that seems normal

 

No offense to anyone here, but I would never recommend that anyone with a family and a decent job get into trucking if you will be starting from scratch. I wouldn't even consider it if I had a family unless it was a last resort. Simply because of the risk involved. When I say risk I mean you never know what you're gonna make.

I would take the 40k in hand and not gamble. You could always get your CDL at night while you work and then apply to local/LTL as the thread up top suggests, but I wouldn't even think about OTR if I were you.

Again to reiterate this is just my opinion. Good luck to you whatever path you choose brother.

 

or have no freetime.i was on call 24/7,and had to ask permission to leave town on my hometime.when haliburton calls,your expected there yesterday.

 

Good luck with the demands. Long stays away from home are common and even if you could #### happens. As in people are slow to unload or stuff breaks down.

 

I agree with this. Keep your 40K.

 

Based on this I can honestly say trucking is not going to be a good move for you. You will not be happy. Your time off/hometime requirements mean going OTR is not going to be an option. That leaves local and some select regional positions.

It isn't impossible to get those kinds of jobs right out of school with no experience, but it is far from the norm. Going OTR is the norm. And virtually none of them (OTR included) are going to pay $40k to start. A few of them might get you to $40k after several years. Others will never see $40k.

If you're going to do it, I would suggest getting a license and then getting a job on the dock at a Fedex freight hub or UPS freight hub and then try to transition from working the dock to a driving position. Drivers in those positions seem to do ok. But again, it will take you a while to get there and you might be making less than $40k during that time. Also when you get a driving position with those gigs, you'll be at the bottom of the seniority list which means it might take you a while before you get a schedule that you like. Working the overnight shifts for a few years is not unusual for those gigs.

Add all that up and I'd say chances are good that you won't like what you find if you decide to go into trucking. My advice is to look elsewhere if you really want to switch career fields. Trucking ain't gonna be for you.

 

Well Whiteshadow you pretty much just listed every driver's wish list. With that being said, get in line!

I have 16 years experience and can't find a job like that!

Plus you have a wife and kids, well that just super compounded the problem!

So you are saying you want to cut your salary in half to be gone from your family for two months at a time and bathe and brush your teeth twice a day in a public restroom with 50 other disgusting truckers and when you are done go out in sleep in the parking lot in your diesel coffin.

 

What a ridiculous thing to say. You think truckers brush their teeth, and twice a day!? LOL.......

 

I know, I was really pushing it too with the whole bathing thing!