Worth getting a CDL in my situation?

What red tape?

 

Gotta have pretty much perfect health, driving record, work history, and recent drug history. (Not even the slightest trace of THC in your hair follicles lol.) Then you pay to take a physical, pay to take a 3-part written test, pay to take mandatory schooling (thus putting your life on hold for a few weeks/months), and pay for any retests if you mess up the road test.

Then the companies do their own physical, drug test and road test. Then a trainer for 6 weeks. And if you've made it this far, one little road accident or bad urine test due to a poppy seed bagel can end your career. Boom, money and time down the drain.

So in summary... if you don't perfectly meet every single one of the two dozen steps listed above, you can't do trucking. And if you by chance make it into the career, one little mistake can end you.

 

What are the companies that offer a refresher course? I haven't used my CDL at all in the past 2 years that I've had it because I wasn't old enough at 20 years old.. Now I'm 22 and 7/12ths. I guess I'm out of options.
Edit: I recently updated my medical card earlier in June right before the new rulings came out that they now upload it electronically and automatically. I plan on getting my endorsements this week.

 

CDL school gets you to the point to where you can pass a test.

 

Dot Transportation has a terminal in Delaware:

Distribution Center
301 American Boulevard
Bear, DE 19701

Dot Transportation hires drivers that are younger than you are.

That's a good carrier you can retire from:

Training & Orientation

-- L

 

I don't think anyone mentioned the obvious flaw here. Your CDL will essentially be useless because nowadays if you haven't gone thru the full 160 hours of CDL school you can't even get hired for the most part.

 

Think about the jobs that have recruiters .

if there’s a recruiter, it’s a crappy job .

every town is begging for and actively recruiting police officers

but no town is recruiting firemen . cause it’s a good job ,
They don’t have to recruit .

 

There are a ton of Firefighter recruiters. I did that job in college, it sucks. 24 hours of running your ### off responding to crack heads with toe pain and waiting for the ambulance to show up. Rarely getting actual fire calls. Pensions are terrible, pay is even more terrible.

 

As long as you don't have to leave your current job to get it, and you're not paying anything out of pocket, there's absolutely no reason not to get a CDL. It may or may not ever help, but it certainly won't hurt. Never turn down an opportunity to get a credential for free.

With that said, if more than a year passes after you get it without using it, I doubt any mega will hire you without a refresher, maybe even all new training. Where it could come in handy is if you work a non-CDL position at a company with local CDL jobs. Many of those will absolutely put you in a truck when they get in a bind.

 

DO NOT TAKE A REFRESHER COURSE YOUR EMPLOYER HAS NOT DICTATED TO YOU.
It's like telling your current girlfriend, "but my last girlfriends liked yellow roses so I bought you yellow roses and you now have to accept me". The employer will have a particular refresher course they accept and alternatives to that one particular refresher course will not be acceptable. What employers A, B, and C accept will NOT influence what employer D accepts.