Comments By Christopher W.

Hey, Christopher W. We have the same first name and middle initial lol.

Oh, the W actually stands for Williams, my middle name is Collin. :P

Man, I was living at home when I was 22. That's actually the year I moved out and started in retail for the first time. I had moved out and moved back in before that.

Yeah, the thing about it though is, sadly I didn't really have a choice. All throughout high school I was going to be that guy who goes to college for an IT degree, but when I graduated for one reason or another my parents decided more or less that they didn't want anything to do with me. I moved in with my aunt for a while but after she started stealing and selling my video games, I decided I wasn't going to deal with her anymore. I ended up moving in with my grandpa, which wasn't so bad, but he lives too far out in the country to walk into town, and even then none of the local places were hiring because they tend to hire people and keep them for years and years. I guess to make a long story short, it was a commuter town and I didn't have a car. No car no job, no job no car.

I am just going to share my personal opinion with you. Take it for what it's worth. I am not an official spokesperson for the website or anything like that.

My personal opinion is that, despite a lot of what you hear, driving experience of any kind is beneficial before starting trucking. Highway driving as well, since that's when you're usually going the faster speed and posing the most danger to the public as well as to yourself.

Well yeah, it's really common sense and I'm kind of kicking myself now for not realizing this sooner. Then again, up until now I knew little about trucking other than what you learn from TV and movies, and this website has really changed my opinion. I've even gone and watched a few trucking vlogs, and it seems like a fun job. I understand it's not all sunshine and puppies, but compared to anything else you can do for a living, especially at my age, it looks nice. :P

My advice would be, go take the test and get your regular operator license as soon as possible. Drive as much as possible. Get a cheap car, or ask your parents or whomever to let you drive as much as possible. There are instincts in driving that develop over time that can't be learned any other way than actually driving. In a car, a close call is nothing to shrug off, but in a truck, that margin between a close call and outright catastrophe is mighty slim. Let me tell you, I don't doubt that if I hadn't had over 25 years of experience driving other vehicles before starting in a truck, I would have had a major accident or killed someone or myself by now. People will do stuff around a truck they normally wouldn't even do around another car, and it takes every bit of skill and luck combined sometimes to avoid a messy, messy situation. Truck drivers can go to prison over accidents.

Yeah, I was looking into getting a $500 Craigslist beater before I thought about becoming a trucker, rationalizing that when I can afford the Beetle I want to eventually own I can give whatever I get now to my friends. As for asking someone to let me drive, the closest thing I have to parents is my roommate, sometimes she lets me drive on grocery runs but never anything major. Driving a truck does seem like a somewhat frightening task, but I'm sure they wouldn't pass me for my CDL if I wasn't ready, y'know? I'm pretty careful, but I realize sometimes accidents happen... It's a sad fact of life. I considered bus driving, but that will hardly earn you a living wage. :c

Well, I've sat and thought it over, and I think I'm going to go ahead and keep researching to become a truck driver. In the meantime, I need to find another job to hold me over between the time I get my license, and the time I become eligible for training. Any suggestions? I'm looking at call centers and cell phone stores now.

Oh, well that's a shame... I guess it's not off the table, but I'll have to find something to hold me over between now and that one year mark... I guess if you guys have any more advice though, it couldn't hurt to know ahead of time. Thanks.

Hey there! I just completed my company sponsored schooling, and there are some pros and cons to both ways of obtaining your CDL, outlined fantastically on this site. On the plus side, I got my CDL, with tankers and doubles/triples in just over three weeks. Good luck with it!

Thanks a ton! Yeah, when capable I've been reading a few of the articles, and I might copy a few of them over to my iPad for reading while on break at work tomorrow. (They don't give us the wi-fi password and I can't afford iPad service right now, sadly.)

Three weeks to go from complete newbie to licensed driver is pretty quick!

Hey! I'm 23 and started trucking as soon as I turned 21. I'm basically you in the future, I also worked a warehouse job that both didn't pay the bills and drove me nuts.

How long have you had your regular drivers license?

This is very possible. I did it, so can you! You just have to be very determined.

Haha, man, when it's not the physical part of the job it's the co-workers ehh? The group I work with are... Excitable to say the least. Very loud, look and act like they're my age but some of them are in their 40s. By contrast I'm 20, look 15 when I shave and am very relaxed and quiet. :P

I actually, despite having completed my Texas Driver's Education course, haven't obtained a class D driver's license yet. I've held a learner's permit since 2010, and occasionally will drive to the grocery store and back with my roommate, but already having missed nearly a full week at my current job (TL;DR: food poisoning) I haven't been able to get proper time off to schedule and take the actual test. I've failed it twice, once in 2011 and once in 2013, both times due to nervousness. I'm really hoping this won't disqualify me, I've never been ticketed in all this time, and when it comes down to it the only things really standing between me and my license are confidence and time off from work.

"The only thing that lack of experience has done for you is that you have not yet formed any bad habits... I hope!"

Heh, I hope so too! I play a lot of racing games but I do have a somewhat realistic idea of proper driving speed, I definitely don't have a lead foot. :P

"It can be done but it may take you longer to get there. You might consider a community college course and keep your present job until you have your license in hand. That type of course will not be as fast paced as a company program and I believe you can get grants or financial assistance for the tuition."

I'll look into a course at the community college, but worst case scenario, what are the downsides to being trained in-company other than not being able to leave for another company without re-training? Could I take the in-company now and two or so years down the road take a legitimate paid course?

"It is also a longer course but since you are only 20 you have the time. To go interstate you have to be 21."

True! I turn 21 in February. :)

Thanks for the help!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone here could help me with something? I'm gonna' try to make a long story short, I'm 20 years old, can't afford college, can't just move back in with my parents and my current warehouse job is both not paying the bills, and driving me absolutely insane. A few days ago, a friend told me to consider a career in trucking and linked me to this website, particularly the article regarding free training. At first I wasn't sure this was the way to go for me, but after reading over a few of the articles and weighing pros and cons, it honestly seems like a better option than anything else I'm capable of at this point.

Pros - I like being alone, so not having loud, annoying co-workers or an overbearing to deal with won't be an issue. - While trucking does frighten me a little, I've enjoyed what little driving I've done so far. - I'm no stranger to pulling all-nighters, and I can deal fairly well with an erratic sleep schedule. - I prefer a job where I don't spend a lot of time on my feet, as I'm rather tall, heavy and not all that athletic. I have "natural big guy strength" but I don't lift weights or anything, and my feet hurt after about seven hours standing up.

Cons - I've never driven any vehicle on the highway, I've passed driver's ed twice now (Once in high-school before I moved, once for my Texas driver's license) but I've never really had access to my own vehicle.

So there are more pros than there are cons that I can see clearly by this point, but the lack of experience is a pretty big con... I just figured I would go ahead and see what some experienced drivers think about my situation, and I wouldn't mind hearing from some beginners as well! Thanks in advance!

- Chris W.