Profile For LadyDee

My husband wants me to get my cdl license but I have a super speeder ticket on my license from almost 2 years ago. Will that affect my from trying to get my cdl license? All feedback welcomed!!!

when i got hired in April i had 3 speeding tickets.

80 in 70 80 in 70 110 plus in 70 more specific 118 in 70 according to cop.

none were over 3 years.

also a seat belt.

JUST DON'T LIE and youll be ok try Swift

Well DAMN!!!!

All-in-all: Super happy with the company [CRST]

Awesome to hear! How do you like running team? It's one of those things that most people either love or hate it seems.

Worst part: Night shift dispatch (and worse), weekend dispatch

That's always the case at every trucking company in the nation. Nothing is worse than leaving your fate in the hands of night and weekend dispatch. You learn quickly to try to make sure your full time dispatcher never leaves you in their hands.

Mind you, it's not their fault. It's not that the night and weekend dispatchers aren't good at what they do. They're just in a really tough spot. Most customers aren't open when they're in so it's hard to make changes. They have no idea what's going on before they arrive for work and look at the screens, and they have way more drivers to take care of. A daytime dispatcher might deal with 50-75 drivers. A night or weekend dispatcher could have 150-300. Add to that the fact that you also have a different set of load planners and customer service reps at night.

So it's kinda like taking an airplane in mid-flight, telling the pilots to punch out, and bringing in a new set of pilots without telling them where the plane is, where it's going, and what problems it may be having. It's like, "Here, fly this plane and don't wreck it." And they're on their own.

All in all: Under $8 pay for nearly a full 24hrs..

Luckily we have a load to Florida lined up after this, AND a load OUT OF Florida immediately after (to a high school in GA).

Trucking is one of the most inconsistent jobs you'll find when it comes to short term earnings. Either you're running so hard you're begging for a break, or you're breaking so hard you're begging for a run. But it's never like, "Here you go driver. Just the right amount of everything."

It's impossible to put a number on how many drivers wind up quitting their job or quitting the industry altogether over a few bad days or a couple of bad weeks. They either take it personally like someone is out to get them or they just get too caught up in the day to day view that they lose the forest for the trees.

I always looked at my pay monthly. I tried to shoot for about 3,200 miles per week and 12,000 miles per month, but I didn't get too concerned over a few slow days or a slow week or two. Over the long run it will all work out great if you're doing a great job for the company.

Keep at it! Sounds like things are going really well for ya.

You've given me a push here! Much needed ...

There aren't any rules that prevent you from obtaining a cdl and not using it right away. It's the same as a non cdl, it's good for however many years your state had set between renewal. ( Florida is every 8 years) Your medical certificate is only good for 2 years and without that, your cdl isn't valid. However there is a down side to having the cdl and not driving. If you let it go too far you'll have trouble getting a driving job without "recent" experience. Case in point. I maintained my A licence the 10 years I lived in Chicago but didn't drive a tractor trailer. I maintained my med cert the entire time. This year when I wanted to come back to driving truck's I couldn't get a job anywhere cuz it had been so many years without driving tractor trailer. I had to take an 80 hour refresher course thru an accredited school ($ 2,500) in order to get hired. I was basically uninsureable.

So the longer you go without driving, the harder it will be to find a job. Food for thought =)

Sir, what do you mean, your CDL isn't "valid" without your medical certificate?

As I stated, you must be physically fit to have a cdl. You must pass a physical to get a certification. Those are good for two years. If the medical certificate expires, your cdl will be recsinded by your state after 10 days. Some states have exemptions. I don't know which ones. I'll attempt to post the FMCSA link. FMCSA

Thank you!

Sir, what do you mean, your CDL isn't "valid" without your medical certificate?

You have to have a current medical card or most states will not issue a permit or a CDL. If you already have a CDL and your medical card lapses many states will demote you from a CDL to a standard license. For instance in New York if you go to renew your CDL and your medical card is expired they will issue you a standard license instead. You then have one year to get your medical card renewed and they will return your license to a CDL.

Thanks Mr. Aquila! I challenged that because, in Florida, I am not required to carry my MC while driving public transit buses with my Class B. Florida has a code in their DMV computers that allows for an "exemption" to that requirement. My current card is good until August 2016.

I don't have answer; just wanted say keep your chin up. Life often throws us roadblocks because we're headed in the wrong direction. There's hundreds of places in this country...you'll find the right one!

That may be true, about "hundreds of places in this country", but I (unfortunately) am financially challenged, which is why I was focused on company-sponsored programs. Roadmasters Truck Driving School charges about $7000 for their training. And their recruiter said that whichever company picks me up, would cover about 90% of that via tuition reimbursement. That (still) sounds like a contractual obligation to the trucking company of some kind, plus I'd still have to pay the balance to their lender the same way that you would pay any other bank loan (a note every month). The recruiter is trying to convince me that, going through them is better because my starting pay out of school would be higher, and I'd have more "freedom to move" to another company if I felt the need, or if a better opportunity pay-wise presented itself.

Of course, I'm skeptical. Roadmasters said that they deal with several of the large companies, including the ones I originally named. So again, I'm interested in feedback from you guys and gals - specifically about Roadmasters.

Check with you department of labor in you state. There's a federal program WIA (Workforce Investment Act 1998), and a follow on program, administered through states. You may qualify for a partial or full grant, depending on you circumstances. Worked for me. Hope this helps...

I will do that. Thank you!

I know for a fact that Prime hires from FL (this includes their training program).

You might want to give them another call. Their training program is very good (I know, I went through it) and they have some of the best pay of anyone in the country for company drivers.

Ernie

Thank you sir, will do!

I know for a fact that Prime hires from FL (this includes their training program).

You might want to give them another call. Their training program is very good (I know, I went through it) and they have some of the best pay of anyone in the country for company drivers.

Ernie

Will do!

Knight still offers cdl training but they only recruit out of certain states now. FL is not one of them unless according to their website. They have a terminal in lakeland but its just a terminal........no training.

I've learned something else from you and the others: Terminal and training center are two different things entirely! So I won't be calling Knight back after all. I'll stop whining about Lakeland. I will follow the advice I've been given and check out the other funding sources. Pinky swear

@ Thomas H. from OR:

I saw one of your old posts (a little over a year ago) about Knight having a terminal in Lakeland (which is closer to me than Ocala). So why didn't they tell me that when I called? Or is it that they don't do CDL training there ...

A recent post from someone looking for trucking school has said Knight no longer offers training school at all.

@ Realist

That someone was probably me. I stated in this forum, what a Knight Refrigerated Recruiter told me herself. That still doesn't explain why there was no mention of the Lakeland, FL terminal, which I understand is a little over a year old. I found out about it, by trolling around this website in order to get information about all the Florida issues. So now I'm going to call Knight back on Monday.

Senior FDOT Weight Inspector Dennis Hegman has over 22 years on the job. He explains the inner workings of a sophisticated weigh in motion scale located in Wildwood, Florida.

Video

D'oh I hit the wrong Submit button

This was very interesting. I'll retain it for future reference. Truck driving is a serious thing!

There aren't any rules that prevent you from obtaining a cdl and not using it right away. It's the same as a non cdl, it's good for however many years your state had set between renewal. ( Florida is every 8 years) Your medical certificate is only good for 2 years and without that, your cdl isn't valid. However there is a down side to having the cdl and not driving. If you let it go too far you'll have trouble getting a driving job without "recent" experience. Case in point. I maintained my A licence the 10 years I lived in Chicago but didn't drive a tractor trailer. I maintained my med cert the entire time. This year when I wanted to come back to driving truck's I couldn't get a job anywhere cuz it had been so many years without driving tractor trailer. I had to take an 80 hour refresher course thru an accredited school ($ 2,500) in order to get hired. I was basically uninsureable.

So the longer you go without driving, the harder it will be to find a job. Food for thought =)

Sir, what do you mean, your CDL isn't "valid" without your medical certificate?

Anyone living in Florida looking to obtain their CDL check this out:

http://ctltransportation.com/main.cfm?pagename=job_training

This is the only company sponsored program I have seen that teaches you to drive a liquid chemical tanker. I remember speaking to one of their drivers at a Nalco plant in Texas somewhere. He was a local driver. Looked like a professional, equipment looked good, and the guy said he was happy with the company.

You have to sign a one-year commitment to work for CTL, but that goes for most company-sponsored CDL programs.

Brett maybe add this to your list.

@ ThinksTooMuch

I'm going to do that!

Companies will use your license address as your "home base address". So claiming another (out of state) address, and not changing your license is technically not legal.

What part of Florida are you from?

Here in Fort Lauderdale, there aren't many companies that hire. South Florida is difficult to get outbound freight - so companies are reluctant to hire folks they have to get in/out of here for home time.

The other side of the equation (for me at least) is TAXES. Florida is one of the few states without city/state/personal property taxes - so if I ever make the jump into the industry, I would want to keep my "legal residency" in Florida. Though if I do make the leap - I'm going to do the "homeless thing", as there's no reason to maintain a homestead expense (being single/grown kids), that I'm only going to see 2-3 days a month.

Rick

The "homeless" thing? PLEASE tell me more about that ...

I should say, since you don't technically live in FL, you could use a family members address to make yourself more available for hire to more companies. For instance, if you have a sister that lives in OK you can put your residency as OK under her address and then you won't have to strictly look for companies that hire from FL. Just a tip, but Knight is a great company - you'll be in good hands with them.

Someone on here suggested I try doing that (I think his name was "Joba" or something similar). I still think most companies want your principal residence state to be the same as your license state - but what do I know? I just got here.

I work for Roehl and I have "met" a couple of Florida drivers in our Roehl driver group on Facebook. I think they like it well enough but I am fairly sure they slip seat. I am not positive, but most of the extended home time plans Roehl has involves slip seating.

The more things I find on TT about Roehl, the more I want to work for them. I tried to get in there, but they won't take me because I live in St. Petersburg (moving to Pinellas Park in 2 weeks). I'm shattered. So how did you all get in?

@ Ds H. @ Gunner

Thank you both. I will look at Swift and Prime again.

@ Thomas H. from OR:

I saw one of your old posts (a little over a year ago) about Knight having a terminal in Lakeland (which is closer to me than Ocala). So why didn't they tell me that when I called? Or is it that they don't do CDL training there ...

@ Daniel

Thanks. It was easier for you to get started because of where you live.

As far as the tuition reimbursement, I've found that trucking companies are paying something like $100 a month to drivers who come in on a tuition reimbursement plan, and they state that YOU (the driver) are responsible for making the monthly payments to your lender. If I go to Roadmasters @ $7000 tuition, I would have to stay at my hiring company for about 6 YEARS. I don't believe that this arrangement is "portable" between companies. If any of you knows anything different, please clarify for me.

@ Renae S. (Angel)

Thanks for the motivational words. Good luck at CR England. Tell us how it goes for you. I'll be watching.

Thank you Robert B. for your input. I will keep trying, and I'm happy that it's worked out for you.

Florida is a tough state to live in for a lot of the larger companies to hire from and has been for a while, Brett has mentioned a few times as to why.

The thing that gets me is that you're worried about the commitment to a company that is willing to foot the bill for your training? Big company is willing to put you in an expensive vehicle, carrying even more expensive loads and trust you to not destroy the equipment or get anyone killed. In the meantime, they're going to take you at your word that you're going to work hard for them, not give up like around 90% of new drivers do, pay off your school or a large portion of it and all they ask is for you to do your job professionally and make a small commitment in return? It's really not that much to ask.

Sir, you've got it wrong about me. I'm fully aware of all the points you made. You don't know me so don't judge me. I don't have a problem with driving for 6 months, 8 months, or a year to repay a company for their trust and their generosity. I have a stellar driving record and plan to keep it that way. What I'm worried about is getting myself into deeper financial water than I'm in.