I Am Considering A Career Change To Truck Driving, But I Can't Make Up My Mind.

I have been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I have looked into going to college. And nothing really jumped out at me. A coworker of mine talked to be about getting into trucking. So I have been looking into it and doing my research. I just can't make up my mind. I currently work in a manufacturing plant and I know for sure it is not where I want to work till I retire. I want to leave because I want something more exciting and something more stable and adventurous. Although they are growing, buying new equipment and hiring. I don't think they will be around till I retire. Several Manufacturing plants has closed here where I live in the last 10 years or so. I love to travel and like seeing new places and I also would consider myself a loaner. I am young (25) single and have no kids. I am afraid I will try it out and not like it and be stuck, But on the other hand I also think I would like it and it would fit my personality. I have looked into going to a local college for my cdl and the only way for me to get my cdl is Company sponsored training because of my work schedule. Thanks!

Hey Kylan.

Listen, we have a couple of awesome resources that will really help you make your decision.

The first one is our Truck Driver's Career Guide. It covers about every topic imaginable that pertains to getting your trucking career underway and it will help you understand the job and the lifestyle of an over the road trucker. It's a must-read for anyone considering a career in trucking.

The second resource is my book - Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving. That link is to the free online version of the book. It's an easy read - a lot of stories, a lot of insights into life on the road and the industry itself. I laid out everything I could think of as if I was telling it to my best friend. You'll get a lot out of it.

If you do your research and you're still on the fence about it, my view is "what do you have to lose?" It's not like climbing Everest. It's not rocket science. It's just trucking. Yes, it's a very challenging career and learning the ropes in the beginning means a lot of ups and downs and some hard lessons learned. But if take the approach that you're going to keep pushing forward with your very best attitude and effort for one full year, it will work out great. Maybe you'll love it and you'll have a great new career. Maybe you'll hate it but you'll walk away with a lifetme of great memories.

The schooling is cheap - normally less than $5,000. You're going to make that back 7 times over in that one year so it's not spending $70,000 on a college degree and ending up with a mountain of debt. It's also short - a couple of months or less. It's not like college where you'll spend 4 years getting a degree.

One full year of over the road trucking and you'll know if that's where you want to be or not. But you have to give it a year. I promise you there will be several times in those first few months that you'll want to pack your bags, leave the keys in the ignition, and walk away from the whole stupid idea. It kicks your *ss sometimes. But tomorrow's a new day and trucking will also bring some of the most amazing experiences of your life.

So if you give it a shot, approach it like you would the military. Endure everything that's thrown at you, keep marching forward, and remain optimistic and confident that in the end you'll make it through just fine. Stick with it a year to give yourself the opportunity to learn enough about the job and the lifestyle to know if it's really for you or not. It gets much easier after even a few months out there, and it's significantly easier the second year. It's never easy, but the first few months are pretty brutal. You have to push through em.

Jason, I can sense your frustration in the tone of your post, and I completely understand it. The problem with trying to get started in trucking lies in available credible information on how and where to get started. There are so many things that are easy to research on the internet that you'd think trucking would be right up there at the top of the list.

You don't have to go through Driver Solutions just because you're broke, there are plenty of great trucking companies out there that will train you with no up[front costs and then give you a job after your successful completion of their training program. These programs are called Company-Sponsored Training and if you'll follow that link you'll find some options that just might work out really well for you.

You see the problem with looking on the internet for information in this industry is that there is not only a high demand for drivers, but also a high turn-over rate. Therefore you've got a lot of disgruntled people who couldn't "cut the mustard" out there blaming their failure on the "greedy ruthless trucking companies who could care less about their drivers and just discard them like they're worthless pieces of used toilet paper only to be replaced by another round of soon to be discarded rookies that will be discarded as soon as they are up for their first pay raise."

Seriously, I know you've seen this attitude in the places you've been looking. The reason the available information is so ridiculously lopsided is because the guys like me that love this industry and career are busy busting our tails working long hard hours to earn a decent living, and frankly we just don't have time to sit around telling people what an honorable career this is for the guy whose cut out to face the constantly changing challenges of life on the open highways. The losers who just couldn't cut it have got plenty of time because they can't get a job in the industry now so they're hell bent on expostulating their false premises just so they can feel they'v gotten even with the trucking companies. It's a fools paradise when looking for information on some of the trucking forums out there.

Fortunately you've found a great place to park yourself and find the truth. Why don't you get started by reading in the Trucker's Career Guide and How To Choose A Company, you'll have a lot better understanding of how all this stuff works after doing that and we've got some great training materials for free in the High Road Training Program.

You just keep coming back in here with your questions and I guarantee you that we can remove 95% of the frustration you are experiencing now and get you headed in the right direction from here.

Welcome aboard!

Kylan, you've probably noticed that we stress on this site that you need to stick with your first job in the trucking industry for at least one year. The answer to your question is a part of that reason. When you call Western Express or most any other trucking company and tell them you are looking for a job and that you have one year of verifiable experience driving a big rig, then they don't even want to know how you got started or what school you went to or how many hours your school was. From that point you are considered as an experienced driver, not a trucking school graduate. Now they are going to just look at where and how long you were working.

So, once you've gone through a company sponsored training program and finished out your first year working for that company then you can feel free to start looking around at other places of employment. That first years commitment is important for a host of other reasons also, it's going to be the greatest learning curve time period in your whole career, it will also be the time when all that learning your experiencing will begin to under gird your confidence in your abilities to handle the job.

Some people think a year is a really long commitment, but it really is a small drop in the bucket of the whole scheme of things. If you take to this career and really enjoy what you're doing that first year will fly by so fast that you will hardly even have thought about it being gone by. I'm sitting in Denver Colorado tonight with a load of pipe that I picked up in Tulsa Oklahoma late yesterday afternoon. Everyday is a new adventure, with a new load of goods that somebody needs. I witness a fresh sunrise every morning and enjoy a different sunset each evening. Life on the road makes this job so enjoyable for me that the days fly by like a pleasant dream.

If money is tight, and it is for most of us in this economy, get trained through a Company-Sponsored Training program and then you can write your own ticket to where you want to go work next.

Has any of you, heard of anyone being let go from company sponsored training because of not being able to pass the cdl written tests?

Yes. This is very common actually.

Here's the best way to look at it. The schooling is a boot camp. They're going to breakdown everybody and send the weak home and keep the ones who have proven that they can learn and perhaps have a real chance at being successful drivers. They'll teach you, but they won't work on you forever. Think about it, they have at least 10 students coming in every week sometimes 20, why spend extra time on the ones who probably won't make it when you could just move on to the next group. It's all about weeding out the "bad" ones and keeping the "good" ones.

It really all depends on how you do on them that decides how fast you'll be kicked out. If you pass 2 but fail 1 then they'll give you that 2nd try and probably a 3rd too. If you pass 1 but fail 2 of them they'll give you a 2nd try but probably not a 3rd. If you don't pass any on your 1st try then you better pass them all the 2nd try or you're out. Two members of my class of 7 got kicked out because they couldn't pass the permit test.

You shouldn't worry about it. They came in not knowing a single thing about trucking because they were too lazy to study before class. Learning all that material in the small amount of time that the schools give you is extremely stressful and difficult. Study the High Road Training Program, and ask questions - and you should be fine.

I would say give company sponsored training a go...They will pay for your training and all you have to do is stay with them for about a year..after that you can walk away and owe nothing and STILL have your CDL , OR you may decide that you like and stay..what do you have to lose, except a year??

I would say give company sponsored training a go...They will pay for your training and all you have to do is stay with them for about a year..after that you can walk away and owe nothing and STILL have your CDL , OR you may decide that you like and stay..what do you have to lose, except a year??

If he doesn't finish that year on his contract he's going to get a giant bill in the mail saying he owes them xxxx amount for the training. He's not sure if he can make it. If he doesn't make it he will be in as much of a financial wreck as a rookie who got convinced to lease a truck after orientation.

This is a huge chance. You could go for it and love it and be glad you did or you could go for it and not be able to handle it and have to quit with a giant bill that you now owe the company for training you. Only you can make this decision honestly. This job is wonderful but it's not for everyone. The solitude could drive a person insane.

Do you have a friend or relative in trucking? If so, ask if you can be a passenger on their truck. See how it is for yourself. Other than that its all chance. I will say though that the average person coming into the industry is usually very excited and knows he wants to do it. The fact that you're doubting yourself and unsure if its what you want does worry me a bit.

I want to get my cdl , do a few years OTR to get my experience and then move on. I am just nervous about the first year or so. I have talked to someone who owns his own truck and trailer and told me I would be a fool to get into trucking. That I should stay where I am at. Maybe I am just second guessing my self to much and just need to try it and see what it is all about.I need Quit filling my head with all the negatives and look at the positives also.

With company sponsored training , do you always have to sign a contract?

Daniel I am not 100% sure this is what I want to do. But I haven't found anything else that interest me very much. I know I don't want to stay where I am currently working. I know drivers are in demand and that I would always have work with CDL.

Bud I am going to be honest with you. It's one of those things where you do your research and then do it again. Once you have a company you want to work for just do it. Take the next year as an experiment to test yourself. You might love it or you might hate it, However in that year you have gained marketable skills a nice little paycheck and a greater appreciation of good ole Merica ;)

So just git'er done :)

I would say give company sponsored training a go...They will pay for your training and all you have to do is stay with them for about a year..after that you can walk away and owe nothing and STILL have your CDL , OR you may decide that you like and stay..what do you have to lose, except a year??

If he doesn't finish that year on his contract he's going to get a giant bill in the mail saying he owes them xxxx amount for the training. He's not sure if he can make it. If he doesn't make it he will be in as much of a financial wreck as a rookie who got convinced to lease a truck after orientation.

This is a huge chance. You could go for it and love it and be glad you did or you could go for it and not be able to handle it and have to quit with a giant bill that you now owe the company for training you. Only you can make this decision honestly. This job is wonderful but it's not for everyone. The solitude could drive a person insane.

Do you have a friend or relative in trucking? If so, ask if you can be a passenger on their truck. See how it is for yourself. Other than that its all chance. I will say though that the average person coming into the industry is usually very excited and knows he wants to do it. The fact that you're doubting yourself and unsure if its what you want does worry me a bit.

Nice to have someone balance your ideas. If this keeps up were gonna start to be like the Siskel and Ebert of TT.

Bud I am going to be honest with you. It's one of those things where you do your research and then do it again. Once you have a company you want to work for just do it. Take the next year as an experiment to test yourself. You might love it or you might hate it, However in that year you have gained marketable skills a nice little paycheck and a greater appreciation of good ole Merica ;)

So just git'er down :)

From all the reading I have been doing just about everybody says the same thing. "Just try and see if you like it" I don't think it could be that bad. I am pretty sure I could handle it for a few years to get my experience, then I can move on into other areas of the business. Thanks for ther advice!

Hey Kylan.

Listen, we have a couple of awesome resources that will really help you make your decision.

The first one is our Truck Driver's Career Guide. It covers about every topic imaginable that pertains to getting your trucking career underway and it will help you understand the job and the lifestyle of an over the road trucker. It's a must-read for anyone considering a career in trucking.

The second resource is my book - Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving. That link is to the free online version of the book. It's an easy read - a lot of stories, a lot of insights into life on the road and the industry itself. I laid out everything I could think of as if I was telling it to my best friend. You'll get a lot out of it.

If you do your research and you're still on the fence about it, my view is "what do you have to lose?" It's not like climbing Everest. It's not rocket science. It's just trucking. Yes, it's a very challenging career and learning the ropes in the beginning means a lot of ups and downs and some hard lessons learned. But if take the approach that you're going to keep pushing forward with your very best attitude and effort for one full year, it will work out great. Maybe you'll love it and you'll have a great new career. Maybe you'll hate it but you'll walk away with a lifetme of great memories.

The schooling is cheap - normally less than $5,000. You're going to make that back 7 times over in that one year so it's not spending $70,000 on a college degree and ending up with a mountain of debt. It's also short - a couple of months or less. It's not like college where you'll spend 4 years getting a degree.

One full year of over the road trucking and you'll know if that's where you want to be or not. But you have to give it a year. I promise you there will be several times in those first few months that you'll want to pack your bags, leave the keys in the ignition, and walk away from the whole stupid idea. It kicks your *ss sometimes. But tomorrow's a new day and trucking will also bring some of the most amazing experiences of your life.

So if you give it a shot, approach it like you would the military. Endure everything that's thrown at you, keep marching forward, and remain optimistic and confident that in the end you'll make it through just fine. Stick with it a year to give yourself the opportunity to learn enough about the job and the lifestyle to know if it's really for you or not. It gets much easier after even a few months out there, and it's significantly easier the second year. It's never easy, but the first few months are pretty brutal. You have to push through em.