Thinking About Going Into Truck Driving

Topic 11395 | Page 1

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Cory D.'s Comment
member avatar

Hey guys, so slightly over half of this year I wanted to get into truck driving, found the school I'm going to which is a company that will give me a CDL-A license, I'm 24 years old and I have no kids or a girlfriend. I hear how much conflict can be involved if these two are present... which is why I'm grateful for my current situation.

The service they give all truckers that are out of the school is OTR , but I'm thinking about sticking to my guns for the whole year until my contract is up... that way I can get on at any job that offers better pay and possibly a local position with my already earned CDL-A license. These are some questions that I would like to know and any advice is appreciated.

I'm currently living with my parents right now, and I'm also aware that OTR is a mixture of a lifestyle and work being combined into one, but I was also wanting to know would I be able to support myself if I was to take this route?

The school also does a lease contract, I think the woman said you basically earn 90 cents a mile with some of your check going to your truck, the women said if you work for them you won't have to worry about maintenance or fuel needed for the truck... of course this sounds too good to be true. I'd like to know if anyone else had a similar experience like this in truck driving school?

I've been at my old job for 4 years.. which is will soon be 5, so I definitely wanted to do something new which is trucking... you get to see the world and make good money while you're at it, but obviously the only down side is you don't see your family that much especially if you're a family oriented person.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar

Hey Cory. Yeah, you can definitely support yourself in trucking. The average figures you'll find for salary are like $35,000 your first year, maybe $40,000 your second year, and it will top off at some point around $50,000-$55,000 within a few years. Now there are exceptions to that, of course, but those are safe averages that you can count on and hopefully do a little better.

As far as home time, often times people find opportunities to get home on weekends straight out of school. That would be what I consider a regional job. You stay within maybe a 1,000 mile region of your home base and they get you back home most weekends. If you're looking to get home more often you may find opportunities like that.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
JakeBreak's Comment
member avatar

Hey guys, so slightly over half of this year I wanted to get into truck driving, found the school I'm going to which is a company that will give me a CDL-A license, I'm 24 years old and I have no kids or a girlfriend. I hear how much conflict can be involved if these two are present... which is why I'm grateful for my current situation.

The service they give all truckers that are out of the school is OTR , but I'm thinking about sticking to my guns for the whole year until my contract is up... that way I can get on at any job that offers better pay and possibly a local position with my already earned CDL-A license. These are some questions that I would like to know and any advice is appreciated.

I'm currently living with my parents right now, and I'm also aware that OTR is a mixture of a lifestyle and work being combined into one, but I was also wanting to know would I be able to support myself if I was to take this route?

The school also does a lease contract, I think the woman said you basically earn 90 cents a mile with some of your check going to your truck, the women said if you work for them you won't have to worry about maintenance or fuel needed for the truck... of course this sounds too good to be true. I'd like to know if anyone else had a similar experience like this in truck driving school?

I've been at my old job for 4 years.. which is will soon be 5, so I definitely wanted to do something new which is trucking... you get to see the world and make good money while you're at it, but obviously the only down side is you don't see your family that much especially if you're a family oriented person.

Id do more research if i was you first. The lease contract always sounds tempting but there is so much you have to learn you dont want to do that until you get some experience. As far as making a living yes you can make a decent living, youll never get rich but you will be able to support yourself especially if your parents are ok with you just crashing at thier house for your hometime. I would suggest Brett's Book and then Company-Sponsored Training .

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Company-sponsored Training:

A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.

The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.

If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.

Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.

Cory D.'s Comment
member avatar

First off, thank both of you guys for the quick replies and suggestion... I really appreciate it.

@Jake yeah you're right, least contract sounds nice but I'm not sure if it's something I really care about, as long as I'm not struggling to get by then being rich is the least of my worries. I already told my parents about though, and they were okay with it.

I will check out those two links you gave me though to help me make my decision.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar

Good catch, JakeBreak. I forgot to mention that you should avoid the lease thing altogether, at least for a few years until you learn the industry a lot better. We always recommend you avoid buying or leasing a truck altogether but if you must then wait until you get a few years driving under your belt.

And check out our Truck Driver's Career Guide also.

Cory D.'s Comment
member avatar

Interesting, I'll just focus on my licence then for the time being.

Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar

Interesting, I'll just focus on my licence then for the time being.

Absolutely. Trust me, getting your CDL and then surviving that first year on the road will be plenty to worry about by itself. You don't want to add the burden of running a business on top of everything else.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Cory D.'s Comment
member avatar

double-quotes-start.png

Interesting, I'll just focus on my licence then for the time being.

double-quotes-end.png

Absolutely. Trust me, getting your CDL and then surviving that first year on the road will be plenty to worry about by itself. You don't want to add the burden of running a business on top of everything else.

Yeah definitely, I've gotta get used to life on the road, I'm not sure if the school offers automatic or manual, but I read somewhere that most company offers automatic over manual.. is that true?

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar
Yeah definitely, I've gotta get used to life on the road, I'm not sure if the school offers automatic or manual, but I read somewhere that most company offers automatic over manual.. is that true?

Major companies right now are definitely on the move toward automatics but you want to make sure you're trained and tested on a manual. If you test for your CDL on an automatic transmission you will have a restriction on your license for driving automatics only. You don't want that. There are some states that I think are behind on implementing this restriction but eventually they'll all be this way. So make sure wherever you get your training that they train you and test you on a standard.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
G-Town's Comment
member avatar

double-quotes-start.png

double-quotes-start.png

double-quotes-start.png

Interesting, I'll just focus on my licence then for the time being.

double-quotes-end.png

double-quotes-end.png

Absolutely. Trust me, getting your CDL and then surviving that first year on the road will be plenty to worry about by itself. You don't want to add the burden of running a business on top of everything else.

double-quotes-end.png

Yeah definitely, I've gotta get used to life on the road, I'm not sure if the school offers automatic or manual, but I read somewhere that most company offers automatic over manual.. is that true?

If at all possible learn how to drive a manual and then pass your test in a manual. Otherwise you will have an "automatic" restriction on your license and compromise your potential job opportunities. Even though many carriers are refreshing their fleet with automatics, they still want entry level drivers without the automatic restriction.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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