Profile For Michael G.

Congratulations

Welcome Michael! Your experiences remind me a little of myself when I was first considering this career. You sound like you've thought long and hard and consulted your wife about it, and you've decided to take the plunge, which is great! I wish you the best of luck!

PS, I think everyone here will strongly recommend that you try to get several other prehires. You never know what might happen with one company, they may decide you don't meet their requirements or you may change your mind about what you're looking for in an employer. Either way, it's always good to have options.

Thank you, Yes, it's true I should be seeking out other pre-hires. I have my eye on Schneider because it is the most beneficial for my personal needs. It costs $6,000 to attend the driving school and Schneider will take care of half of that and the other half will come from me once $3,000 of my sign on bonus is paid out to me. The Truck Driver Training School in Cadillac has a very good relationship with Schneider so much so that all the students are told that that company is highly recommended, although they can still choose to go to other companies if they saw fit. If something should happen and Schneider and I part ways even before I start then yes, that would be a very good reason why I should have others lined up. I've been keeping in good contact with the recruiter and it seems to me that he really would like to see me get in. After all, the recruiters don't get paid until their prospects are successful.

Greetings to all Trucking Truth members. I just now joined as a member of this site and I'm happy about it. First and foremost, a great thank you to Brett Aquila for creating this website, your stories and experience both positive and negative alike have helped to assist my decision to pursue a career in the trucking lifestyle.

It all started for me 5 months ago. Fed up with my current job (Wal-Mart cashier) and the decisions that the company was making, some good, most bad for people who had been in the business for well over 10 years (or even no benefit at all), I went out on my break to go have a smoke, pulled out my phone and started looking up careers that didn't require a degree or any "experience" which most companies won't give you with "Wal-Mart" on your resume. I do have a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Spanish language but for the last 9 years, I was never able to put that to use. I stumbled upon Trucking Truth and started reading about trucking. I had heard advertisements about Pinnacle Truck Driver Training in Cadillac, MI and decided to look into it after reading some of the stories of Brett and Trucker Mike, to name a few.

At first, my wife was not too fond of the idea but after doing a lot of research and soul searching I realized that while the industry has its downsides there is also a lot of good as to why you go through some of the misfortunes that you may encounter on the road. There's adventure, there's unique opportunities to see places you would otherwise not see working as a 9-5er and the potential of making double of what I currently make at Wal-Mart and beyond. After researching and visiting the school, I presented all of what I had learned thus far to my wife and she's behind me on it, neither one of us like the idea of me being away from home for weeks on end but we both know it's what I have to do to gain experience in the industry. I know that my mother would be vehemently against this idea without giving it much intelligent thought, but just maybe she'll get used to it. I'm sure there are plenty of you who can relate.

Currently, I'm on pre-hire with Schneider National and I intend to start classes with Pinnacle Truck Driving School in the end of September. If everything works out as I hope, I will be in Green Bay by the first week of November. Being on pre-hire, although I know it's not a guarantee of employment, is a very good confidence booster. For the first time in a long time, I feel that I'm being taken seriously.

I'm 33 years old and seriously putting this vocation to the test is one heck of a soul-searcher. I know I love to drive, I've always had an eye for the occasional adventure. The idea of driving a semi still makes me nervous a little bit but once I learn, I'm confident that I'll be just fine. To put it another way, with this soul-searching business you have to ask yourself why people are meant to do the things they do for a living whether they like it or not? For example, not everyone is meant to be a cashier. If it were an easy job to a certain extent, everyone could do it. Not everyone can put up with some of the people who come through my line. Every walk of life from the overly friendly who can sometimes be a pain in the butt to the downright stupid and intolerable who can't tell their butt from a hole in the ground. I've always loved being a cashier and did well dealing with the above mentioned but the job just doesn't pay the bills good enough, at the same time we need people in this world who can do that job. The same goes for trucking, while it is not meant for everyone, someone has to do it. There are tons and tons of freight spread out across this country and the country lacks sufficient amount of people who are willing to do the job. Someone has to haul that freight around. Why can't it be me or any one of you? "The harvest is great; but the laborers are few" as the good book says, lol.

I will post again once I start my schooling. Wish me luck.

-Michael G.