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

Kinda have a love/hate you right now Brett and all the other experienced drivers jk Every time you guys say something I realize just how little experience I have in comparison it honestly makes me a little jealous.

But in all truthfulness I think this forum is an amazing place Kylan, the men and women here won't sugar coat anything. You get the benefit of hundreds of combined years of experience, Million's upon millions of miles driven in so many different weather conditions, traffic conditions, etc, etc. If it's happened chances are they have experienced it.

I am in the same boat as you right now except I have applications in too Prime and swift. I have been reading everything I can, studying my butt off.

Just go for it dude, You will probably regret if you don't give it a shot.

From what I found, different companies have different options. Some offer financial assistance and some don't. ROEHL, for example will finance you if your credit score is 500+ and you pay it back by driving 120,000 solo miles with the company. If you pay for it yourself, you get re-inbursed by $200.00 per 10,000 solo miles with them.

Six

I'm just going to throw this out there. When I was in your guys position I waited until the thanksgiving/Christmas time to enroll with Central. I enrolled with them when they had their promo. Their promo was no cost for training as long as you stay a year. So usually you get trained and then make 50$ payments out of every paycheck. By the end of the year you would have paid 1500$ in small amounts. But since I went on their promo week I got it all for free. So I got my CDL and a job at no cost.

A lot of companies do this once a year. So maybe try looking into that.

Kylan, You may want to look at CRST. They have a lot of freight, train you, and you don't pay for the training if you to stay with them for 8 months. They are one of the companies listed on Company-Sponsored Training . I start school with them next week so I can't vouch for them, but I have been impressed with their promptness. There are a couple other truckers on this forum who work for them and they seem busy (important to me) and content; and it's only 8 months in contrast to a year. You being on the fence and all, CRST may be a company to look into.

Thing about CRST is that they require you to team drive. Team driving isn't for everyone. Make sure you will be able to handle team driving before getting on with CRST because you won't have a solo option if you happen to hate driving as a team.

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.

This is great advice, talk to some people and if you can do a ride along to get an idea. If this is really what you want to do then really check out the companies (as someone already suggested) then pull the trigger. You are young and now is the time to take a year or so and check things out. Also, keep in mind that there are places besides actual Trucking Companies that hire plenty of drivers (OTR and Local.) Do that research mentioned and see what turns up.

Here is one to get you started - http://jobs.walmart.com/ --now that I think about it, large companies not dedicated only to trucking might give you a perspective on some options. For instance, the Walmart link I just gave you has openings in several areas that involve driving (not just the stereotypical hauling people think of as "trucking.")

Thanks Brett. I know my first company I need stick out there at least a year, Before doors start opening up for me to move into other areas of trucking.

I talked to a recruiter at Prime. I recently found Millis Transfer. I haven't talked to them yet, But they have a training facility about 4 hours from where I live. Everything I have read about both company's has been good though. I like the home time and vacation time Millis offers though. And also it is Family owned. Another thing I think is holding me back is my father who I am very close to isn't very supportive of me going trucking. My mom is more supportive than my dad. But she always thought trucking would a fun job.

I talked to a recruiter at Prime. I recently found Millis Transfer. I haven't talked to them yet, But they have a training facility about 4 hours from where I live. Everything I have read about both company's has been good though. I like the home time and vacation time Millis offers though. And also it is Family owned. Another thing I think is holding me back is my father who I am very close to isn't very supportive of me going trucking. My mom is more supportive than my dad. But she always thought trucking would a fun job.

Man, I was in the same spot. My dad thought I was a clown to want to go into trucking. He told me I should be an electrician. It was such a struggle how he was planning my life the way he wants it to be, instead of letting me be who I am and what I want to do he picked a career for me.

Part of his reason was that he said I was too young, 21, which is a valid point. But not everyone who is young is immature. I grew up a long time ago. My mother had the "go for it but be careful" approach. She was just worried that its such a dangerous job.

1 year later and they both changed their minds. I make just as much as my dad does and he's been at his job for 16 years now. He's more cooperative about it. It intrigues him how I've been almost everywhere.

My parents are russian and from there they immigrated to a small city in NY. Then they went to Lincoln NE and now they settled down in Sacramento, Ca. I've been to all the places that they have lived or were considering moving to over 20 years ago. So I guess that made him realize just how rewarding it can be to be a trucker.

Yeah, you can't worry about what your parents say. What they want above all else is for you to be happy. Parents just tend to think they know what would make their kids happy. Sometimes they do, often times they're surprised.

My ma wanted to jump straight into her grave when I said I was going to be a truck driver. I was 21 at the time. But when she saw how much I loved it and all of the incredible experiences I had out there she knew it was a great choice for me.