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How's the recovery from your injury going?

Did everything with the drug screen turn out ok?

Do trucking companies have some type of Covid mandate? I never got the Covid shot and I really don't trust it either. If anyone knows one way or the other, please let me know. Thanks!

None that I'm aware of. There's still a few shippers I go to that won't allow drivers inside due to covid protocols so you call them to check in then they bring you paperwork. I like it better that way anyways!

I've also filled out an application for Prime Inc. I'm just waiting for them to get back with me.

I'm not sure if you're aware but Prime has perhaps the longest training period. They will send you on the road for 3-4 weeks with your permit, then after you take your cdl exam you'll team for 40 or 50,000 miles which I believe takes 3 months, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

They're an excellent option as are many others, I just want you to be aware of that as you contemplate your options regarding your cat.

I have asked everyone around me if they could watch him. Anywhere I've looked as far as getting him a temp home is some type of money situation that I honestly don't have.

If you haven't already, reach out to animal shelters and see if they have options available. Several shelters in my area utilize volunteers to have them at their home to keep them out of the shelter until they're adopted. Perhaps that's an option as well as pet rescues.

If you're relatively healthy go donate plasma. Many places, like Biolife, you can earn $800+ your first month if you do 2 donations per week. I'm not sure about your area but to board a cat around here it's $15/day.

Is it possible to tap into your 401k to get by? Sell some of your possessions?

Go visit the private schools in your area. Most have arrangements with numerous carriers that are willing to finance your schooling with the only expense being your permit and license (less than $100 total)

Roadmaster has a location in Dunn. Unless things have changed they're owned by Werner and can finance your training. They also allow a cat om the truck when you're solo. You will need to make arrangements for your cat because after school you'll go out with a trainer for a minimum of 2 weeks OTR.

Doing a search on indeed for your location for "dock to driver" or "driver apprentice " may yield positive results as well. Although a physical job and not typically recommended, Pepsi, Coke and food service companies are usually hiring people off the street to get their CDL and those would be home daily eliminating the issue of caring for your cat.

What does your current state show when you look up your license status on their website? Was your medical card up to date, or when did it expire? Some states an expired medical card is all that's needed to bring your CDL active while others limit it to 6 months expired medical cars before you must retest for your CDL.

Julio the only advice we can really offer is to apply everywhere and see who is willing to take a chance. Make sure it's a W2 position meaning you're a company driver receiving benefits and work comp.

Anybody willing to hire you is going to want details and what you learned from this. It will be a tough battle given the current freight market but apply everywhere and see what happens. It likely will be for less pay than you were receiving just keep that in mind.

It looks like Keurig Dr Pepper drivers voted at 3 separate facilities in Wisconsin to get rid of the Teamsters. According to Freightwaves:

Local 200 has been representing us for the entire 20 years I’ve been working here, and in that entire time, we’ve had four contracts,” Cotts said in the statement. “All four have been poor. Constantly getting five-year contracts, which are of no benefit to us employees. Poor vacation, poor pay, subpar benefits, no real job protections. Our contract wages were way below standard for our industry.”

The article also mentions the union claiming a big win at US Foods but doesn't have information of the contract, and also a potential strike at Anheuser-Busch.

This just goes to show that local leadership for the union matters. Dr Pepper drivers at those 3 locations weren't happy with their contracts, but UPS and US Foods seem to be.

For some reason when clicking the link I'm trying to provide it pulls up page not found on freightwaves despite copy/paste. It may be due to TT censor putting stars in link as shown below.

Teamsters ousted at Dr Pepper Wisconsin, face off against Anheuser-Busch

Drivers have different preferences for where they like to run or maybe certain customers they service. In a standard OTR setup you're not likely to frequently get the same assignment as dedicated or local but I'm sure it happens.

For me, I enjoy a run a route I occasionally will take Wednesdays and/or Fridays. It typically consists of leaving Des Moines for 1 store in the Kansas City metro before going to Lawrence KS for 1 store and 2 gas stations with a backhaul in the KC area. It's a pretty laid back drive, rarely run into other drivers, the stops in Lawrence are easy and ends up paying about $500 for 12 hours. I have to hand unload at gas stations (with employee help) but it's usually 50ish cases and the exercise is nice. The only downside is the drop/hook backhaul frequently, but not always, paired with it. They have you check in then assign you 1 of 4 offsite locations to drop it a couple miles away. Go drop your empty and come back to grab your loaded. It takes about an hour so it's not terrible but it's 42k of butter we pick up. Fortunately I've done it enough I have a sheet of paper I've written down load weight and tandem placement for various heavy backhauls. I still hit a scale to double check but it saves time. Yesterday I scaled legal with 11,880 33,180 32520 with a total of 77,580.

What's your favorite?

As the other 2 guys mentioned keep focused on the task at hand. Do everything you can to keep a clean record and you'll have many opportunities after a year. We've had many new drivers pop in here and have their entire career planned out then can't make it through school for various reasons.

With that being said money isn't everything if you're not happy with what you're doing. After you get experience you'll have a better idea of the type of job you want. I see you listed Ankeny IA in your profile as your location. You have a lot of LTL carriers to the south like Old Dominion, FedEx, and a few others. We have drivers active on this forum that drive for them (different terminals) and are happy there. Personally I don't think I'd enjoy it due to running the same route every day/night.

I drive for PDI (Hy-vee) in Ankeny and enjoy the job enough that I commute 45 minutes each way. We don't have the turnover problem many companies in this industry face. To some drivers they wouldn't enjoy it because most routes start between midnight and 2am but it works great for me and juggling family life.

You also have Casey's and Kwik Star frequently looking for drivers. Kwik Star is advertising $105k a year for fuel haulers your first year with them. The opportunities I discussed are only a small fraction of what's available that gets you home daily in this area. If you're looking to stay OTR there's far more. Let's get through school, keeping a clean record then focus on what's next after you get a year of safe driving 🙂