Won't do OTR

Im sorry, one thing to add. The reason it is so hard for a person right out of school to get a local job is because all the drivers with otr experience are waiting in line for these jobs!

 

Look into logging or construction outfits, that's what I did and I found one that was willing to train me from CDL-B to CDL-A. With an added benefit of learning a more challenging sector of the industry from very experienced truckers.

It is definitely possible to skip the "necessary" OTR step of a trucking career. Beverage distributors are also an excellent option (they usually have good pay and benefits too).

 

That's good advice. You can make a career of gasoline hauling and make very good money but you need to start at the bottom. I say gasoline because it takes extra training and once you're trained and experienced you have a good job just about anywhere.

You can do the same thing in construction hauling and work up into the heavy loads. However, I believe there's more types of petroleum jobs available to enhance your chances. Especially if you live in cold country where you could start hauling home heating oil.

Any time you become trained in a certain type of hauling then you become in demand if the jobs are there. The trick is to keep your record clean and develop good work habits. Take the loads that no one else wants and help the dispatcher once in awhile. It will pay off in the long run. I believe the whole reason behind working local is to make top pay and get paid for every minute you're working. Plus being there for your kids and wife. I feel good money is $60,000 to $80,000 a year plus benefits. That's a target to work for.

 

Gas Hauler just made me think of something else, propane. Around here it's great (for my situation) because you can work all winter and get laid off in the summer (collecting unemployment) and be able to farm while the sun shines. Right now I deliver garage doors for a company out of Lansing. Get my 40 in by Wednesday (maybe short day on Thursday) and have at least a three day wekend to get my field work done. Just another thought I had.

 

I got into pepsi,with a month experience, and I have been there ever since, making 26 an hour plus benefits.

 

Our marriage is alright, the difficult circumstances is not having the bills paid. Financial problems have a tendency to destroy marriages anyway, life aint like the Bon Jovi song "Livin on a prayer", this is the real world, we both will have careers and when we do get together it will be quality time, besides absence makes the heart grow fonder and if she dont' want me after I start haulin, then I'll realize that it wasn't meant to be and I'll get me a round mail-order bride from Kentucky and we will live happily ever after...

 

Oh man!

One of the troubles is getting a regional haul without the OTR. What is funny is when your OTR is 10 years old they won't consider you anyway...like pavement changed.

They know once you get away from the OTR that you won't stick with it if you go back to it. And that is not true either.

The industry just cheats themselves out of decent drivers.

 

If you do a little bit of checking, the true average pay for a truck driver is about 35K.
If you are happy with this, great go for it. Attend the driving school of your choice, then hire on with the OTR company of your choice.
Or you can go the unconventional way, and make real money. I screwed up, but it only took me 18 months to realize it.
The school and just over 1 year at the great pumpkin was a waste. I'm not spending my life doing this. I knocked on doors, all the darn doors with in about 50 miles of here.
I start late this month, training, making a good wage, PER HOUR-not that mileage bull, with benefits to die for.....................

I guess it really comes down to what you really, really want.