This trucking is confusing, help.

I will do that today. I get it, why pay more to get the same results. I'll call and read about cdl schools this morning. New York State , pays for some of the schooling if your out on unemployment., which I will be in two weeks. Thanks.

 

Best advice I can give is try and skip the school route and save your money and make a company pay to train you! The trucker shortage is real you should be able to find a company that is willing to hire and train you. The first step is to go get your CDL learner's permit, you can take the test for your endorsements at anytime and I would recommend getting all your endorsements before you get your CDL, to save money as you would need to buy a new license Everytime you get a new endorsement. For hazmat you will have to get fingerprinted and a background check with costs about $80 and you can find info on that on the TSA website.
Knowing what I know at this point in my career I wish someone would have told me this starting out. Try to get on at an LTL carrier! They offer the best home time, in the NE probably home daily, also the have the best pay in the industry ( outside of oil and fracking). As I said the trucker shortage is real and a few LTL companies are hiring drivers into their training program that would be absolutely the best situation to walk into.

The top LTL carriers ( in order of likely hood to provide training)
YRC
New Penn
USF Holland
NEMF ( new England motor freight)
Estes
ABF
Old Dominion
Saia

There maybe others in the NE that I do not know of but those are the industry big boys and to get on at any of them you will need your doubles / triples, hazmat, and tanker endorsements.
I work for Saia I'm home everyday as a linehaul driver and our top pay is .66 cpm in Ohio.

Good luck on your journey hopefully I've helped.

 

It sure did help. Thank you.

 

It is good to dream.

Then you work to get to it.

If you don't continue dreaming, then you don't have life or a future.

I hope you do well, but I gotta tell you this. Don't be taking that 18 wheeler into the Lincoln Tunnel. It's too low and I think banned from there.

I used to run our Old Harbor Tunnel on 895 downtown before the new McHnery 95 tunnel was built about a few decades ago. That one is 13'5 inches. There are lasers protecting that tunnel on various inbound routes where if your truck (With a high sea can container for example) fails that laser, you get a sign specifically telling you OUT. or Exit. You must exit. You wont fit.

Trucking is good, but it's not so good in some ways. 9-11 was the day of days for us. A literal dividing line between what was in life overall and what happened after that is permanent.

However. As long you are alive and have dreams thats all that matters. So if this is what you want, you are fixing to be into it up to here some days. Just hold on to that sunshine when you have a really bad day with a horrible load on that truck and truly dangerous people or simply incompetant or lazy dispatchers, dockworkers etc.

One last thing. Money makes all of this go around and around. The wheels that is.

And don't be crushed if they did send you home. That means something about your situation is not welcome in some way, fix it.

I don't know if you done any traveling around USA. If you never got out, boy you are in for a treat.

 

Without Fear, it is impossible to ever be Courageous. Every time you face a fear head on, you become a new person. Each new version of you is a vast improvement over the previous. No one starts off as a great person. Greatness is the end result, not the beginning.

So, figure out if this is really want to do. Then make your mind up that absolutely nothing's going to hold you back, deter you or stop you. Go all in.

 

Well, here is the thing from my point of view, you have some technical background - not afriad of changing oil is a big thing. You know how to check things out, learn a routine and so on.

So to be honest, we have truckers who for some reason or another have been driving for ten years and can't figure out how to check the oil on the truck, they get confused with the marks on the dip stick, but that's not the worst of it. We have drivers who can't tell when to stop a truck and call for road service, they think that clanging and banging noise coming from the engine is what a diesel is supposed to sound like.

That said, I think you will be alright. Take this as a profession not a job, learn as much as you can, ask questions and even if you are told they are stupid, get an answer because the only stupid question is the one not asked.

Start with New York's CDL manual, download it (if you can get in print, then get a copy or two and go through it with a highlighter). Read the manual cover to cover, no exceptions even if you are not going to be a school bus driver, read it anyway. DO THIS before you even pick a school.

take practice tests, this site has them, take them for everything you plan on getting and then take them again. Just because you pass doesn't mean you will pass the state examine.

AND relax, the licensing tests are so easy, I had all my kids take it when they were 10 or 12 years old and they passed.

The road test has a lot of BS to it, it is also easy, but again there are important things to learn, others can fill you in on those, but to me learn how to do a good pre-trip, learn the tire depth limits and what item does what and how to tell if it is bad. You can get ahead in class by knowing this before hand and as I said if you can change oil, you can do this without an issue - and you will be surprised how many will struggle through it, most don't get it until their third or fifth time trying in class.

I am a fleet owner, I have a higher standard than most and don't like people driving my property without knowing how to drive it safely, so I suggest you get to learn at least one of the safety systems out there, the Smith System is the easiest and actually free for the most part. IT is a requirement for my drivers to go through it and practice it, so do it before you get to class, and stick to it even if your instructor tells you otherwise.

 

There are a lot of options, personally I would research larger trucking companies that offer CDL training.
What happens there is the trainings free but will have some kind of stipulations that will require you to work for them a certain amount of time to pay for the training, or if you leave them early you will have to pay them back.
As I mentioned before research, check reviews and find the best fit. Whatever you do, don't go for any kind of lease purchase, no matter how good it sounds, don't do it. Be a company driver period. You will learn as you go with there $ not yours, today's trucks are more complex than the first lunar lander.
I have been in this industry for over 30yrs, I learn as I go.
Only 1 company stands out above the rest I for sure would not consider is cr England, from what I seen I don't think they get much of any training?
The smaller the company the better. Schneider, swift etc seem ok, people give them crap because they are big companies but you have to start somewhere.
Remember, distracted driving kills!! I have approximately 4 million miles experience and no accidents, why, I keep my head in the game, if you have to reach for something in the cab, look away to find your phone, look around at your surroundings, make sure when you lean over to pick something off the floor, make sure no other vehicle is in the other lane, etc When you lean you tend to pull the steering wheel, 2 inches of movement of the steering wheel = 4 feet of truck movement, keep your head in the game!! Good luck

 

I just wanted to say, the research and everything your doing is awesome. But don't let anything scare you too much. The job and the life itself takes some getting use to, but it's not rocket science. The cdl schools will teach you how to pass the test. Then your first company will teach you the basics of the job. From there it's up to you to learn how to make your job easier or twice as hard. This forum helps a lot with tips and advice on how to make this job easier. Endorsement tests are very easy. It is nothing more than a few multiple choice computer tests. There are even free practice tests online. Having all the endorsements will definitely help, but they are not necessary. Hazmat is simple. There is no face to face interview with a TSA agent, lmao. Once you pass the multiple choice test they take your fingerprints and TSA starts the background check. After a few weeks you get a letter stating that the TSA has determined your not a terrorist and your new license with the hazmat will be sent shortly after.

Driving the truck will be complicated at first, it is to everyone. But again, not rocket science. Backing the trailer is usually what most people have the most trouble with, there are TONS of videos on youtube that can help. Some drivers have issues remembering to swing wide because they have a massive trailer behind them, these ain't no 23ft boat trailers being pulled by a little pickup. If you misjudge a turn, you can take out various street signs real fast. Now, in a perfect world, you would check your mirrors and come to a halt before you plowed the stop sign over with your trailer ... but in 2018 most truck drivers don't believe in using their mirrors, too much hassle I guess. When I was new, I think the scariest thing for me was how wide the trucks were. You don't have the wiggle room in your lane like in your car. I had very unsteady hands when I first started, and every little jerk would send me poking into the next lane, aha. All this stuff you will learn in training though, just make sure to take it slow and easy.

Just remeber this forum, and remember that no question is dumb. The long time users have answered the questions 100x before and will probably answer it 100x again to the right people.

 

Find a company you want to work for THEN decide about school. School only matters to your first company. If you pick well your first company you can be there a few years.

You don't need much mechanical knowledge. You might be asked to replace a fuse in the truck's fuse panel. You might need to screw an airline into the airline fitting. You're not a mechanic, the company doesn't want you doing mechanical work. You drive.

 

may i make a suggestion? That the school you choose plus your first "training" job use manual transmissions. When you apply for a different job down the road, all the experience and safe driving awards won't mean squat if the potential employer uses manual transmissions.