Profile For WCBuckeye

Hi Guys,

Just joined TT after a year of lurking and looking for some guidance.

First about myself: I am a 32 year old Ohio transplant currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area working as an IT professional for a multinational company. I started with them while in Ohio and when the offer came up to move out to SF, I jumped for the adventure, packed what I could fit in my Ford, left my folks, and drove the 2500 miles to the west coast in less than a week. From a professional stand point, this has been a great decision, but personally and slightly financially a bit of a disaster. So, after about seven years in IT I have been feeling like I am in need of a major change. I was already planning a move back to Ohio at some point by mid-2016 in order to move back in with my folks (I know, 32 years old and living with parents ... Again!) to cut down my cost of living and start really paying back my old student loans.

Now, I have never been much of an office worker and swore up and down when I was younger that I would never become a desk jockey working in cubicle. That was not the life I envisioned for myself and really still is not despite the fact that it is what I am currently doing (on the plus side, between the two places I support, I do have my own office to myself and my boss is located in AZ). In fact, I worried my dad when I was little by aspiring to be a garbage man because I was in awe with the truck ...what kid isn't? I started looking into trucking around this time last year which is when I found this site. But, at that time I really was not personally ready for a career change. As 2015 went on, I kept thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons until these past few weeks. I feel like I am ready and that this is the right path for me to take at this point on my life's journey.

This site has been an insurmountable resource and thank you all for it even being here!

I have looked at my options and decided that I really want to go to a school/community college program to obtain my CDL instead of a company sponsored program. The reason for this is mostly financial since my current situation with my apartment lease and the already high cost of living out here slightly dictates how I go about this. And as with starting out with any new career, I am expecting to take a huge hit to my pay. I have been there before and know how hard it is to adjust and climb back up the ladder. I also still plan to change my residency to Ohio at some point this year. So, this has led me to two options:

1. Acquire my CDL via a school in the Bay Area such as Area Trucking School, relocate officially to Ohio, transfer CDL and find a starting job driving out there.

2. Relocate to Ohio, acquire CDL via school or community college and use their placement to find a job.

I have looked into companies ...a lot ...and really do not think that at this point I am ready or even need to make a decision on that, correct me if I am wrong. But, I have already reached out to Schneider (since they have locations in Marion and Columbus, Ohio) for more info and may send in their pre hire card when I begin the process of getting the CDL. I am still leaving that option open.

I know that this is not much to go on and as with any life-changing decision, this is ultimately on my shoulders and only I can make the call. But, any guidance is appreciated.

A couple of questions:

Is it better to wait on acquiring the CDL if I know for a fact that I am planning on moving to another state? How hard is it to transfer the CDL which I assume varies from state to state?