Comments By Ray A.

Let's face it this world has gone mad. Every single day in my job as a State employee in a high paying Network Administration position I was being inundated with backstabbing, political correctness, crazy feminists (don't take it personal ladies because I love you) and nepotism. It appears that every year the job was getting worse and harder as they demanded us to do more with less. The only way that I can describe my feelings is that I was a fish stuck in a fish bowel swimming in circles avoiding the bigger fish trying to devour me. I just couldn't see living for Friday for the next ten years for a lousy pension. Like almost everyone else there, I was stuck in the proverbial rut and all of my life energy was being sucked out of me between horrible management and self-entitled politicians. Not all but many of them are horrible people. It seems the good people never lasted long enough to bond with and jumped ship. I was one of the last to go. I struggled with a mid-life crisis shift and had no idea what to do until one day I saw a trucker at a rest stop happily enjoying his lunch in a lawn chair. Bingo, then it hit me that since I don't trust many people after my experiences maybe that would be a good thing to try. I did alot of research and I know that trucking is by far not an easy job anymore. With a landmine of regulations, long hours, high turnover, and possibly losing your medical card for just sneezing, I've decided to start School on Monday with Knight. I am paying for my own school out of pocket as well. I have to tell everyone that I'm scared but I am tough because I adhere to 3 principles in life. 1. Never let anything get you down 2. You can handle anything 3. Treat others the way that you want to be treated. Can anyone give any good advice for starting out a new career once I'm out of training?

Thx in advance,

Hi John, Reread the post. I believe that you've misunderstood what I've said.

This is golden advice my friend. I am a retired state worker on a second career. I was a Network Administrator for the state so I hope that any company that sees this takes note that there are alot of intelligent truck drivers out there with advanced degrees who are sick and tired of seeing these mega-companies take advantage of us. We are not all cowboys and I can tell you that some of the best people around are drivers. They beat the hell out of all of the backstabbing catalysts in the corporate world that is so cursed with political correctness, feminism, greed, and well... you name it. I worked with a guy who was a manager at the state who hated truck drivers and called them some of the dumbest people on the face of the Earth. I of course never led onto him what my real dream was when I stopped working and let him shoot his mouth off. I am also a certified Flight Instructor in my spare time. I also have my degree in advanced technical writing. Red Viking Trucker also has an advanced degree I believe. Never judge a book by its cover my friend.

Ray, with all due respect, you are a total green horn. You are going to get paid whatever they are offering. You have no ground from which you can negotiate. Do you realize how many rookies make really bad and costly mistakes? I know we all think we are going to be the best driver they've ever seen, but reality hits us usually about five minutes into that first solo load!

Your first year should be all about safely learning the business, and trying your best to not hit anything. We never encourage folks to go for the biggest money they can find during their rookie year. What we do encourage is that you find a company that seems to fit your needs in terms of what type of freight you think you would like to haul, what type of home time you feel comfortable with, and lastly you want to look at the pay scale.

As an employee with Knight, I can tell you that I am making way above average for most truck drivers out here. I don't know why you just don't stick with them and see where it leads. Wherever you get started, you need to commit to one year of safe driving, and then you can start thinking about moving to a different company. The way you maximize your income in this business is to understand how the game is played. There is soooo much for you to learn still.

That shiny new CDL in your pocket does not entitle you to the top pay, but it does open a door for you to go through and then start proving your worth. I learned how to get things done in this business at a very low paying trucking job as far as cents per mile is concerned, but I still made almost fifty grand my rookie year. I learned the importance of, and the methods to use to move my appointments forward, I learned how to manage my hours in a way that made me productive. I learned the times of day to get myself emptied out so that I was available for the best loads. I learned how the best loads were distributed and how to get myself in line for them. Those are the things that are important for making the top dollars out here. Right now you are still working on double clutching and taking wide enough turns so that you don't take out a light pole on a right hand turn.

Step back and think of your rookie year as a serious time of schooling, that is what it is. There is a lot to lay hold of out here before you can start telling them what you want to be paid. They have been doing this for years, and they know exactly what you are worth to them, there is no getting around that at this point.

This is golden advice my friend. I am a retired state worker on a second career. I was a Network Administrator for the state so I hope that any company that sees this takes note that there are alot of intelligent truck drivers out there with advanced degrees who are sick and tired of seeing these mega-companies take advantage of us. We are not all cowboys and I can tell you that some of the best people around are drivers. They beat the hell out of all of the backstabbing catalysts in the corporate world that is so cursed with political correctness, feminism, greed, and well... you name it. I worked with a guy who was a manager at the state who hated truck drivers and called them some of the dumbest people on the face of the Earth. I of course never led onto him what my real dream was when I stopped working and let him shoot his mouth off. I am also a certified Flight Instructor in my spare time. I also have my degree in advanced technical writing. Red Viking Trucker also has an advanced degree I believe. Never judge a book by its cover my friend.

Ray, with all due respect, you are a total green horn. You are going to get paid whatever they are offering. You have no ground from which you can negotiate. Do you realize how many rookies make really bad and costly mistakes? I know we all think we are going to be the best driver they've ever seen, but reality hits us usually about five minutes into that first solo load!

Your first year should be all about safely learning the business, and trying your best to not hit anything. We never encourage folks to go for the biggest money they can find during their rookie year. What we do encourage is that you find a company that seems to fit your needs in terms of what type of freight you think you would like to haul, what type of home time you feel comfortable with, and lastly you want to look at the pay scale.

As an employee with Knight, I can tell you that I am making way above average for most truck drivers out here. I don't know why you just don't stick with them and see where it leads. Wherever you get started, you need to commit to one year of safe driving, and then you can start thinking about moving to a different company. The way you maximize your income in this business is to understand how the game is played. There is soooo much for you to learn still.

That shiny new CDL in your pocket does not entitle you to the top pay, but it does open a door for you to go through and then start proving your worth. I learned how to get things done in this business at a very low paying trucking job as far as cents per mile is concerned, but I still made almost fifty grand my rookie year. I learned the importance of, and the methods to use to move my appointments forward, I learned how to manage my hours in a way that made me productive. I learned the times of day to get myself emptied out so that I was available for the best loads. I learned how the best loads were distributed and how to get myself in line for them. Those are the things that are important for making the top dollars out here. Right now you are still working on double clutching and taking wide enough turns so that you don't take out a light pole on a right hand turn.

Step back and think of your rookie year as a serious time of schooling, that is what it is. There is a lot to lay hold of out here before you can start telling them what you want to be paid. They have been doing this for years, and they know exactly what you are worth to them, there is no getting around that at this point.

Hi Brett, I meant not the high end simulators found in the schools. I'm looking for a sort of flight simulator for trucks.

Oh, you mean for the permit and endorsement testing?

You'll want to use our High Road Training Program. It's amazing. It has the CDL manual built right in. It breaks it down into small chunks with multiple choice questions after each one. Really makes it way easier and more enjoyable to learn than simply trudging through 100 pages of materials hoping you remember the right things.

We also have several versions of CDL practice tests:

• CDL Practice Tests
• High Road Practice Questions
• Android App: CDL Practice Tests

To practice for the CDL. I'm talking software and not the cockpit type.

Thanks in advance.

Any good trucking simulators out there to practice on at home.