Worth getting a CDL in my situation?

Since you are never more than 3-4 weeks from having a CDL just by paying for school when you go, why isn't that the backup plan? "If I lose my job, we'll live off the emergency fund while I go to CDL school and start working the Monday after I finish CDL school." Then you don't have to pay $150 every 2 years to renew your DOT medical card AND your CDL is fresh and you are familiar with the current DOT regs because you just finished CDL school.

 

Good plan to have a backup plan. I had two backup plans plus my job.
I qualified for the CDL and crew member for Bell Helicopters servicing oil rigs and Merchant Seaman.
Two of my friends went with Bell Helicopters oil rig servicing and making great money. I had no interest in that after dealing with helicopters in the Navy.
Kept my CDL and Merchant Seaman qualifications up to date.
Just never know what life may deal you.

 

I can testify that he’s right. I drove buses on a Class B CDL for 20 years before upgrading to a Class A license and becoming a truck driver 6 1/2 years ago. Bus driving doesn’t pay as much as OTR truck driving, and I actually see my family more now as a mostly regional driver who’s home every weekend. Bus work is a lot of nights and weekends.

Also, as far as employers are concerned, it doesn’t matter if you’re looking for bus or truck driving jobs, they’ll want experience. And a Class A CDL gets stale in a hurry. If you haven’t driven in a while (like six months), they’ll want you to get refresher training.

 

In my state (not AL) when I tried to switch my CDL status as you described, I was still required to submit a fresh DOT medical exam and the state wanted employer verification for my new status. Once you go beyond the time period of your last DOT exam the state downgrades your CDL to passenger car license. In my state (not AL) once one is 5 years + 1 day since one was last CDL status one will need to re-do the road test for CDL. It's not clear if one's endorsements need to be re-done or not.

I have tried twice to simply change my CDL status from Interstate (medical exam required) to Excepted intrastate via a self-certification and was unable. So I keep getting new medical exams.

 

Serious question: How do people make it through all the red tape to even get started in this career? It seems the government has so many rules, regulations and hoops to jump through that it doesn't actually want people to drive commercial vehicles. And then once you get through all that, the insurance companies won't give you a chance to prove yourself in order to get experience. Finally, if you DO manage to get hired, all the trucking companies and customers seem to detest the people who drive/deliver. For a career that is the literal bloodstream of America, you'd think it would be easier to get into.

 

Very little red tape if the driver has a clean record and is fairly healthy and nothing too weird in his life.

 

Don't compare trucking to passenger car road trips. Compare trucking to restaurant business. Trucking, like other commercial ventures, are operating among the public and for commercial purposes so there are lots of rules and requirements. MOST people's experience with roads are with private cars/trucks where the govt barely has any interest except what it aims at manufacturers. Once you have a car, you only deal with the govt to pay for registration, maybe a yearly inspection in the commie states, and if you speed or wreck.

If you cook food for yourself at home you don't deal with the govt. If you make/sell food for the pubic you have lots of govt requirements about equipment and sanitary procedures plus the taxes and other things. The govt claims some right to do all of this for commercial operators to protect the public. Don't compare apples and oranges. Compare apples and apples or oranges and oranges.

 

It's already far too easy to get into trucking. That's why it was invaded by foreign operators with more skills in faking govt paperwork and processes than in driving on the roads. Some of that is being cleaned up now that English Language Proficiency is being enforced and the most recent fatal truck crashes have uncovered networks of foreign operators engaged in hiding from regulators and employing unqualified drivers, wholesale ELD falsification.

 

It's almost like a CDL will go stale if not used.