Your Future

I know some of the new drivers really dig down and plan their future but looking at most of the postings a lot of people are falling short of a major life change. And that is what it is a life change. It seems that most are looking for a good school and a company then it stops. I know there's a milliom different situations and no one plan works for all but there are some basic steps one can take to look beyond their first job.

Of course we all have to start at the school. You should look for a school that is Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) certified and one that has a low student to trainer ratio, one on one would be perfect. Talk with former students and see how the traning goes. I've seen postings on this site talk about schools that only teach automatic transmissions because they couldn't waste time teaching other tranny's. To me that's a waste of money if they can not take the time. Some schools are state certified while others are just a waste of time. You've got to remember that a lot of laid off workers are flocking to CDL schools because the advertisements are very enticing. When they say you'll make $50,000 a year you'll jump at it when you have no other choice. I can only give you general recommendations on schools since I never went to one when I first started to drive. There were none around and you were hired on what you knew. Noadays the insurance companies run who gets hired and the one person that can tell you the most (IMO) is Rerun since he's an instructor. So if anyone is looking for answers on a school maybe you might want to shot him a PM.

Next what type of truck or job do you want? Do you want to just haul freight around or do you want to specialize like flats or tankers. You can plan either and/or go further and go for heavy haul or hazmat. If you do decide to go a certain way you must realize you're not going to find it easy and it will take a lot of hard work and sometimes low pay to reach that goal. But the end is much better than any general freight job. When a company invests time and money into your training you become an asset. Then you'll find it much easier to switch jobs if you have to. Like if you're a trained log hauler. You not restricted to a company but to an industry. They'll pay for that training.

What company to go to? That seems to be the majority of the questions. No one can tell you one company is better than the other because you might have needs that person does not have and the job fits you perfectly. You'll want to find the best job security you can. There's no one company that's perfect and will guarantee they will keep you employed until you retire but you can look which one is better than the other. You can see that the majors pay very little because they train the driver and have him or her for a certain amount of time. So their turn-over rate is very high. Once a driver gets the experience they move on to better paying jobs and the company knows that. So it's very tough going that way.

One advice I'll give and stand behind is investment in your retirement. Put as much as you can into the fund and leave it alone. It's almost impossible to do, I know, but you'll be rich when the time comes. Benefits are a major item that when you're young you tend to over look. They also play a major role in your life. It's a great feeling to know they are there when you need them and catastrophic feeling when they are not.

What I recommend is start making a list of what you want and your goals before you invest any money into schooling. Know what you'll be shooting for. Of course this is only my recommendation and what has worked for me. There's a thousand things that can changed and of course you'll need to adjust your plan. But it's much better to have an idea of what you want than to go into an industry blind that chews people up with no regard for tha person and their family.

Last, and I'm sorry if I went too far, is to keep your record and work history clean. Bulid a name for yourself then after a few years let the companies come after you. One DUI and it's all over or some other stupid mistake. PLAN,PLAN,PLAN.