Would like some advise on this if you all don't mind

I went through orientation with a guy that was 5'8,495 lbs. He passed the physical with no problems. If you want to truck, go ahead and give it a shot. Just don't quit your job until you get another gig. That boring hospital job pays the bills AND THATS MOST IMPORTANT.

 

...but definitely get that weight off! Type II diabetes - and you're most likely pre-diabetic (at least) - is no joke. Trying to deal with it once you're in the seat on the road will be that much harder.

 

if you have medical insurance now consider lap band surgery
it changed my life 140 lbs later

 

I totally agree. You might not get on with one of the big companies but you will get hired and that company will have a Dr. that will pass your physical.

The way they handle the sleep study thing is ********. I started a long thread about how to get around the sleep study if you know you have apnea. You still get treated but you save a bundle.

I know you have no experience but I do and I can tell you there are a lot of companies that need drivers and if there is a way they will get you in a truck. If you can drive a truck nobody except DOT and some ignorant Dr.'s care how fat you are. There is freight to be moved and they need you to move it.

 

I disagree . Carriers know obese drivers are likely to have health problems that will cause downtime for the truck as possibly cause their health insurance rates to go up . There are plenty of healthy people out there begging for jobs .

 

There are a lot of nay sayers around here who tell you, you might fail or you might have a hard time. If you want to drive a truck go for it and don't let the nay sayers stop you. You can do this.

I couldn't disagree more with RickG. There are a hundred companies who would hire you right now. I am over weight and I would bet anybody that I could have at least one job offer by the end of today.

 

Sure you could . What would the pay be ? They're probably companies with high turnover or they wouldn't have openings in the first place .
We all know anybody with a CDL can get a job somewhere .

 

You made my point for me. Once you get hired and have your cdl and medical card you can make money and look for a better job at the same time. Almost any driving job you get will pay a lot more than your hospital job. When I first started driving a truck my wife was a

Respiratory therapist and when I brought home a paycheck for $1100 she said, "that's for two weeks right"? I said no, one week. She said "that's nor fair". It was more than she made in two weeks. She had a four year degree and I was making more than twice what she made.​

 

Well here's my 2 cents worth.

Stay where your at, its so understandable to want to travel and to get away from it all, you must at times feel so trapped, like a bird in a cage.

Trucking can be a hard, merciless life, and no life at all driving day and night, just working and living to only make a paycheck, which is all it really comes down to.

Trucking can be a job, but instead its a life style choice, and not an easy one at that.

All these other incidental issues, weight, bp, sleep apnea, all of them combined are nothing compared to the reality of the day to day nightmare that real truck driving can be.

Why not after all this time, just Grow Where Your Planted?

If you have that much ambition and drive, then it seems you could really find ways to advance in a hospital setting, sure it would take school and some hard work. But I believe your quality of life would be so much more richer if you stayed there, instead of thinking the grass is so green driving a truck.

If you really want to travel, then get in your car and go. But keep your job, because still, this economy is in upheaval, who knows which way it can still go. Why let yourself get into a situation where you could be poorer than you are and could still lose everything?

just some thoughts to you my friend.