Noobie

I've always wanted to be on the road for work, I should have done it earlier than now but I'm just looking into some information on what's up. I'd like to get sponsored to go to a school near me or not too far but also start out regional with a day or two at home. ( I live in illinois) there are a few schools very close to me. I wouldn't mind making a trip out to be trained either. I just don't have the money/time to pay bills and go to school without it being paid for or a loan on it.

I also have just recently quit smoking marijuana and don't plan to start back up at all. I was going to buy the shampoo/conditioner clense for the follicle test if required. (i smoked to sleep and calm my anxiety/depression not recreationally) also I take prescribed amphetamines for ADD, would those fail me or would the doctors note suffice to pass? I've also seen a bunch about false positives as well. Is that taken into consideration for a retest or Is it one and done.

I'm a little worried about my family. My wife and I are expecting in December and have a 4 year old now. I would hate like hell to miss the birth, would a company allow me to do short regional trips instead of otr for a bit during that time frame to hopefully not miss it. (still a good chance I know) She says it will be an adjustment but knows we will make it work, I'm a little worried about her anxiety getting the worst of her while I would be out but I know she will call if she needs to talk.

My biggest concerns right now are finding a school that isn't a ripoff ($3.5k 8 wk course is a bit much from what I've read) getting it paid for or finaid loans to pay for it for now. And what I should be watching out for as a newbie I know I'll get screwed somewhere down the road but I tend to learn from others mistakes.

Any and all advice, scare tactics or just stories would help.

Personally I would wait at least 6 months before you get started. Depending on how often you smoked it could take longer even with the p test. After that you can start looking at company schools but know that your clean before you get started because a dirty p test will kill your career before you get started.

I'll comment on the expecting deal. We just had our son Tuesday. I let my company know ahead of time from day 1 about my situation. They set me up to get home Friday afternoon and have an entire week to be with my family. It is doable, communication is the key.

Personally I would wait at least 6 months before you get started. Depending on how often you smoked it could take longer even with the p test. After that you can start looking at company schools but know that your clean before you get started because a dirty p test will kill your career before you get started.

Definitely waiting for a while prior to doing anything that's going to get me dripped. 6months seems like a long time but definitely if I would like to be absolutely sure, but I planned on buying the test kits prior to, just to be extra certain.

Thanks for the advice. Sadly most information around is more scare tactic than anything as thc stays in the system longer the more it's used. So one or two hits will take 30 days max whereas morning to night smokers will take at least that long.

I'll comment on the expecting deal. We just had our son Tuesday. I let my company know ahead of time from day 1 about my situation. They set me up to get home Friday afternoon and have an entire week to be with my family. It is doable, communication is the key.

I was hoping it was more of communication is key. As I would plan to tell them the second I started what's up. Just to be sure. (don't think my wife will forgive me for it lol)

JakeBreak wrote:

Personally I would wait at least 6 months before you get started. Depending on how often you smoked it could take longer even with the p test. After that you can start looking at company schools but know that your clean before you get started because a dirty p test will kill your career before you get started.

Totally agree with JakeBreak. Failing the initial drug screen is almost impossible to recover from.

In addition keep in mind that while in CDL school all but one or possibly two companies offer compensation when attending Paid CDL Training Programs. I don't recall which company, so maybe someone can chime on this. Also realize once you get your CDL, you will need to road train with a trainer for approximately 2-3 months depending on the company. Home time during that period isn't gauranteed. You are however paid during road training.

You might also find this interesting and informative: Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving

I've always wanted to be on the road for work, I should have done it earlier than now but I'm just looking into some information on what's up. I'd like to get sponsored to go to a school near me or not too far but also start out regional with a day or two at home. ( I live in illinois) there are a few schools very close to me. I wouldn't mind making a trip out to be trained either. I just don't have the money/time to pay bills and go to school without it being paid for or a loan on it.

I also have just recently quit smoking marijuana and don't plan to start back up at all. I was going to buy the shampoo/conditioner clense for the follicle test if required. (i smoked to sleep and calm my anxiety/depression not recreationally) also I take prescribed amphetamines for ADD, would those fail me or would the doctors note suffice to pass? I've also seen a bunch about false positives as well. Is that taken into consideration for a retest or Is it one and done.

I'm a little worried about my family. My wife and I are expecting in December and have a 4 year old now. I would hate like hell to miss the birth, would a company allow me to do short regional trips instead of otr for a bit during that time frame to hopefully not miss it. (still a good chance I know) She says it will be an adjustment but knows we will make it work, I'm a little worried about her anxiety getting the worst of her while I would be out but I know she will call if she needs to talk.

My biggest concerns right now are finding a school that isn't a ripoff ($3.5k 8 wk course is a bit much from what I've read) getting it paid for or finaid loans to pay for it for now. And what I should be watching out for as a newbie I know I'll get screwed somewhere down the road but I tend to learn from others mistakes.

Any and all advice, scare tactics or just stories would help.

Hi Calvin- What part of IL do you live? I know of a few counties in IL (Will, duPage, Cook) that have grants to attend trucking school. You would be required to attend a 2 week class before they'll sponsor you and I believe you have to financially qualify, but it's worth looking into. If you're interested send me a message and I'll forward the info to you.

I just graduated from a school in Shorewood which I highly recommend. I tried two schools before going to this one and was unhappy with the way students were treated and the overcrowding, in one I probably drove about 15 minutes every 3rd day and forget about skills - they had 19 people for one truck for a while so as you can imagine, didn't get much skill time.

Also, you might want to wait longer before taking the drug test. If you should fail, is that now on your record? I wouldn't want to take that chance. And those shampoos do not work, don't waste your money.

Calvin, my apology; welcome to the TT forum and thanks for taking the plunge to post something.

C.T. wrote:

I'll comment on the expecting deal. We just had our son Tuesday. I let my company know ahead of time from day 1 about my situation. They set me up to get home Friday afternoon and have an entire week to be with my family. It is doable, communication is the key.

Just slipped that by us...C. T., "CONGRATULATIONS !!!" Hope the little fella likes bananas,...strained of course.

Thank you g-town, I figured training time would be more otr than anything, was hoping for regional to start or a regional based company to avoid being out weeks at a time. I wouldn't mind for the first few months if it would get me regional 4 days out or something like that. Gotta pay yer dues. (usually)

I'm fairly certain you can get your for physical and drug test done at your own doctor (correct me if I'm wrong) and if you didn't have a company pay for it, it won't go on record. Having a company test you will, but since you won't have a cdl at the time it won't go on the dot record. (Again correct me if I'm wrong) that's why I was looking for drop only companies to start then look for something else after contract. I wasn't going to risk my future Career on the shampoo, but it was worth a question. A lot of third party's are freeing that the shampoos do work but like a dilution or actually getting rid of it. Because I know that drops can be diluted and will be a fail for that reason.