Trying to decide if Truck Driving is right for me...

[ame]http://youtu.be/n1AQDxubvWE[/ame]

Check out the slip of the tongue towards the end.

My friend, I wouldn't worry about my crusade, because it has already started.

 

I live in Palatka, near the school you are thinking about. Do you live close ?

 

Is trucking for everybody? Not hardly. Can someone make a decent living in trucking, and enjoy what they do? You bet!

Some of it is like any other job, you get out of it what you put into it. If you start everyday with a bad attitude, "the worlds out to get me" outlook, you won't succeed.
Are there bad companies, bad shippers/receivers, dispatchers, equipment, weather, police officers? Yes. Those, for the most part, are things you can't change. At least not at first.
Just go into it with your eyes and ears open, get some time in with a company, and then a lot more, and better opprotunities will open up, from maybe something dedicated, or something local.

 

Experience don't mean nothing in this industry. It all depends on who you drive for.

 

You definitely got a bunch of sour puss answers thats for sure lol.

My advice, FWIW. Find a smaller company that will take you. Make it know from the beginning you want to go out, and right back home. No 30 day adventure for you.

Sure, we got lots of problems, but yet new guys come into the trucking world, and some even stick around for life. It may take going through a few companies until you find the one that works for you, expect it. Eventually youll find it, and its probably not even the type of company that will be on your radar for your first year or so in trucking.

All I can do is shake my head as the hoards of these guys get on here again and again and ask about the big box companies. And then theyre actually shocked when they get treated poorly, so they jump on here and cry about it. Whats their next move? To go to ANOTHER BIG BOX COMPANY. Some of these guys never freakin learn. They literally cant think outside the box.

Read the "Bad Companies" part of this forum, and tell me if you dont see exactly what Im talking about. Werner screwed me so now im going to JB. #### now JB did me wrong, so now im going to Schnieder. Uh oh Swift maybe? On and on it goes...

 

National training is a good school, they are a good bunch people there. they
dont loose there cool, and help the slow learners.been there done that.

 

That's the point . Slow learners get help in school so the school can pretend the person earned a certificate worth the cost of training .
At carrier orientation and road tests they have no time for slow learners . They might tolerate them for 4 to 6 weeks as $300 trainee team drivers but then they get rid of them . Many don't make it past the road test though . Trainees are a dime a dozen and very expendable .

 

Jessc, I went through the same process about 18 months ago, trying to decide if truck driving was for me. I am 42, former owner of a retail furniture store, single, no kids. I did get my CDL after I paid to go to a local training school, but decided not to go on the road and now I drive a bus for the city.

I ultimately decided to drive a bus because I did not want to be on the road; I could not accept the idea of waking up in truck stops at my age. There are local truck driving jobs, many of which involve construction or other forms of manual labor. I like driving the bus, I make as much or more than I would make over the road, and I am home every night.

Check out this documentary for a good look at life on the road:

Big Rig is a 2008 documentary film by Doug Pray about long-haul truck drivers. The film consists of a series of interviews with different drivers, focusing on both their personal life stories and also the life and culture of truck drivers in the United States.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ45iaQgJjk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ45iaQgJjk[/ame]

 

Also, try these links from the beginning for a play-by-play experience getting into the industry:

Beginning the Long Awaited CDL Process

This one is from Markus, 64 years old:

New Career ... From the beginning.