Dream On Hold
Topic 139 | Page 1
Good luck to you, and your wife. Seems like you git it figured out. Its not over tho. You can still study and get prepared for when you start. Stay focus learn and test yourself here. You will have it all down when its your turn to follow your dream.
CDL opens up lots of local driving opportunities. Also, dedicated routes. Unless you need to be home to watch the kids while she is away, you can be home every day just like with a regular job. Although, with my dedicated route , there has been one instance where I had to shut down and sleep at a rest stop because I ran out of hours. I probably could have gone ahead and gone home, but I wanted to stay legal. Other drivers went over their 14 hours and had no negative repercussions, but I didn't want to chance it. Also, one other time I had the option of staying the night in a hotel, but I could have went home if I wanted to.
My shift is 6am-6pm. I am usually back by 1530.
I am a single parent with a 12 yr old.
Best of luck,
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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.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
I may have misunderstood, thought you already had your CDL...
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.
Marvroom, I'm sure this will all work out for you. It sounds like you've got a good plan and it sounds like you've got a good practical wife, which is an invaluable asset for an OTR driver. Keep that dream alive and we'll look forward to hearing more about your progress once you get things rolling. We wish you the best!
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.
I may have misunderstood, thought you already had your CDL...
I do have my CDL , just no experience.
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.
I'm kind of in the same boat. I need to wait until my lease ends in August before I can go into any training or anything. I may have to wait even longer and sleep on couches for another few weeks to put more money aside to get through training. I plan on using the time to study all of the cdl info so it does have a bit of an upside even though I am ready to leave NOW. I'm sure it will work out better for you once she gets out of school and can earn money. It will be less stress for both of you. Maybe you can find a way to practice or do something while you wait and make yourself more attractive to potential employers. Best of luck.
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.
I will be using High Road to help keep everything fresh in my brain housing group. ;) Gonna have to ask my brother in law to let me practice backing with his big camper trailer to help me keep manuevers in line.
In the meantime, I am looking for jobs locally, but of course they all want at least that one year under your belt. Class B driving jobs are few, if any, around here and don't pay near what I am already making to start. Again, if my current employer is forced by the 3rd party to cut me this time instead of just my pay, I am ready to go with my CDL A. I have stepped up my game a bit at work to hopefully make me a bit more lucrative, but my boss had no problem with me before so... who knows. Trying to stay as positive as I can and hang tight till Kim is finished with school and gets that nursing career going. Then I will be able to go for it full on with mine. Getting a serious lesson in patience!
Thanks for all the positive thoughts here folks.
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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Well after a long talk with Kim (my wife of 19 years), we decided it would be best if I wait to start my trucking career. She is currently going to nursing school and this is her last year. Only one more semester after this one to go this coming fall. Done in December. I am really proud of her!!
Financially, it just doesn't make sense. If we wait till she has a job, there will be so much less squeeze on our pockets. Just making more sense to wait if we can. I don't WANT to wait, but I can.
So basically, I have my CDL as a backup plan for the rest of this year if my work slows down and they try to pull the same thing they did last year.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: