I Want To Become A Trucker
Topic 16155 | Page 1
Welcome Carley. At this point in your life, age is your number one limiting factor. Most carriers will not hire you until you reach the age of 21, (some require 23). I would strongly suggest to wait until you are at least 20 and no more than 3 months away from your 21st birthday before committing to a truck driving school. And even then, send out applications for a pre-hire commitment letter as follows:
- Article: Understanding Pre-Hire Letters: The What, Why, And How Of This Important Step
- Trucker's Wiki: "Pre-Hire Letters"
- Forum Topics Tagged "CDL Pre-Hire Letters"
Or look into a Paid CDL Training Programs
In the mean time you can prepare yourself by researching the industry and the qualifications. These links are a good start:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road Training Program
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.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Welcome Carley. At this point in your life, age is your number one limiting factor. Most carriers will not hire you until you reach the age of 21, (some require 23). I would strongly suggest to wait until you are at least 20 and no more than 3 months away from your 21st birthday before committing to a truck driving school. And even then, send out applications for a pre-hire commitment letter as follows:
- Article: Understanding Pre-Hire Letters: The What, Why, And How Of This Important Step
- Trucker's Wiki: "Pre-Hire Letters"
- Forum Topics Tagged "CDL Pre-Hire Letters"
Or look into a Paid CDL Training Programs
In the mean time you can prepare yourself by researching the industry and the qualifications. These links are a good start:
Thank you g-town I know I have to be 21 and that's why I pLan to go to private schools for trucking as I can save up until then but thank you for all the links I will definitely look though them
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.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Welcome Carley. At this point in your life, age is your number one limiting factor. Most carriers will not hire you until you reach the age of 21, (some require 23). I would strongly suggest to wait until you are at least 20 and no more than 3 months away from your 21st birthday before committing to a truck driving school. And even then, send out applications for a pre-hire commitment letter as follows:
- Article: Understanding Pre-Hire Letters: The What, Why, And How Of This Important Step
- Trucker's Wiki: "Pre-Hire Letters"
- Forum Topics Tagged "CDL Pre-Hire Letters"
Or look into a Paid CDL Training Programs
In the mean time you can prepare yourself by researching the industry and the qualifications. These links are a good start:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road Training Program
Thank you g-town I know I have to be 21 and that's why I pLan to go to private schools for trucking as I can save up until then but thank you for all the links I will definitely look though them
Not trying to discourage you...you have plenty of time to enter the profession with your eyes wide open. You may want to find a supporting job/roll in the trucking field, like working on the docks or in the office. At least you can get some initial exposure to the business and possibly have an opportunity to talk with experienced drivers.
Good 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.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Welcome Carley. At this point in your life, age is your number one limiting factor. Most carriers will not hire you until you reach the age of 21, (some require 23). I would strongly suggest to wait until you are at least 20 and no more than 3 months away from your 21st birthday before committing to a truck driving school. And even then, send out applications for a pre-hire commitment letter as follows:
- Article: Understanding Pre-Hire Letters: The What, Why, And How Of This Important Step
- Trucker's Wiki: "Pre-Hire Letters"
- Forum Topics Tagged "CDL Pre-Hire Letters"
Or look into a Paid CDL Training Programs
In the mean time you can prepare yourself by researching the industry and the qualifications. These links are a good start:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road Training Program
Thank you g-town I know I have to be 21 and that's why I pLan to go to private schools for trucking as I can save up until then but thank you for all the links I will definitely look though them
Not trying to discourage you...you have plenty of time to enter the profession with your eyes wide open. You may want to find a supporting job/roll in the trucking field, like working on the docks or in the office. At least you can get some initial exposure to the business and possibly have an opportunity to talk with experienced drivers.
Good luck.
Thank you and honestly I don't think you could discourage me that easy :P I will make sure to put in apps at all the docs that aren't in bad areas thanks for the tips
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.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Carley, I had a friend who used to work for me who started out at an animal feed mill who had their own fleet of trucks to deliver their product. He got a job in high school washing their trucks. Along with his responsibilities he would also wash the trailers. They would let him drive the yard dog in their yard to move the trailers around as he needed. He became very efficient at backing the trailers into tight spots, and eventually they decided to help him get his CDL. That was a long time ago, and he eventually drove a truck for me, but I'm just pointing it out to you, because there are a lot of different ways to work in this industry even when you are too young to actually be driving the trucks. Often times those jobs will benefit you in ways that you might not have even considered yet. If there is any sort of a distribution center nearby you might could even get a job loading trucks which would help a lot in knowing how a load needs to be loaded and balanced in a trailer.
By the way, all my children were home-schooled. It was a great way for them to get prepared in life, and we have never regretted one single moment of that time we all had together. They have all gone on to pursue college careers and have been very successful people.
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Carley, I had a friend who used to work for me who started out at an animal feed mill who had their own fleet of trucks to deliver their product. He got a job in high school washing their trucks. Along with his responsibilities he would also wash the trailers. They would let him drive the yard dog in their yard to move the trailers around as he needed. He became very efficient at backing the trailers into tight spots, and eventually they decided to help him get his CDL. That was a long time ago, and he eventually drove a truck for me, but I'm just pointing it out to you, because there are a lot of different ways to work in this industry even when you are too young to actually be driving the trucks. Often times those jobs will benefit you in ways that you might not have even considered yet. If there is any sort of a distribution center nearby you might could even get a job loading trucks which would help a lot in knowing how a load needs to be loaded and balanced in a trailer.
By the way, all my children were home-schooled. It was a great way for them to get prepared in life, and we have never regretted one single moment of that time we all had together. They have all gone on to pursue college careers and have been very successful people.
Thank you old school I will try to get a job around trucks and learn as much as I can thank all yall for all the advice
Also old school yeah that's why my parents wanted me out of school they allowed almost no socal interactions even during lunch break they would make us keep quiet the parents hated that so I became homeschooled never did much school work because a lot of it was real life stuff they wanted to teach me (I still did school work but my parents never gave a break I worked though most holidays other then Christmas and my b-day weekends too and summer break was a thing my parents laughed at but hey I'm almost done with it and I didn't mind it to much sine I didn't have much work per day
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Home schooling is a great way to get young people prepared for the real world. Today's High School culture is such a fake reality that it doesn't do a person a whole lot of good.
It really doesn't when I got my first job at the age of 16 (Mcdonalds) I was the only one who could fill out the paper work without help I was also the youngest person in this orientation now the school I used to go to is the best in state but all the people from that school knows nothing of how the real world works sine the school don't teach that and they don't have enough time in it by the time they are 18 and on there own though the one great thing about real school compared to home school is the Grammer and handwriting aspect as you can tell I'm not doing much Grammer wise because I never had to and spelling wise you can't tell on here but I'm not that great of a speller all this is due to the fact that my classes where online because my parents couldn't teach me (they didn't know half of the stuff even for 5th grade since it's been so long since they used any of it) and didn't have the time to tech them selfs me and my little sister so we did online schooling so I always had spell check to help me out with spelling and with Grammer well I'll admit I used a program for it even though I shouldn't of I stopped a year or so ago when I realized it'd be very important in most jobs but it was a little to late
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Hey Carley, are you planning on going to CDL school at Jones County Jr College? I received my CDL and certificate there. Cost that I paid is very resonable- $680, very solid school.
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.
New Reply:
New! Check out our help videos for a better understanding of our forum features
Preview:
This topic has the following tags:
Choosing A Truck Driving School Choosing A Trucking Company Company Sponsored CDL Training
Why Join Trucking Truth?
- The High Road Training Program
- The High Road Article Series
- The Friendliest Trucker's Forum Ever!
- Email Updates When New Articles Are Posted
Apply For Paid CDL Training Through TruckingTruth
Did you know you can fill out one quick form here on TruckingTruth and apply to several companies at once for paid CDL training? Seriously! The application only takes one minute. You will speak with recruiters today. There is no obligation whatsoever. Learn more and apply here:
TT On Facebook
So I'm 17 years old and I want to become a trucker and I would love some advice from any of yall here so first I'm going to give some information about myself (I will try to keep this from Being to long) so I am a 17 year old male from mississippi I love to drive and take in the scenery even if I have seen it 100s of times I have never drove more than an hour and a half I don't have many friends and the only people I'm really close to are my parents (I'm pretty anti-social) I don't do drugs or anything like that also i play to go to a private trucking school i figured out i wanted to be a trucker becaue my grandpa was a trucker and about 6 month ago I got his briefcase with logs and notes and all that in it and I thought about becoming a trucker and loved the idea and started looking into it now what I want from trucking isnt that much just a lot of driving and not much time home money wise as long as I can feed (not truck stops every night that adds up way to quick) myself put money into a 401k plan and the occasional treet I'd be perfectly happy my plan is to get my g.e.d (because I'm home schooled) and get a job when I turn 18 to pay bills and save up for schooling my parents know I plan to become a trucker and want me to leave my stuff at there house and just stay there when I'm home (I felt like I'd be free loading but the more I thought about it the more I realized I'd mostly stay with them when I'm home anyways) I have already looked into what school I want to go to (a local college that my mom and sister went to and liked and where I plan on going to get my g.e.d. they have there own trucking school) it's 8 weeks long but I can't find a price just yet but price isn't the biggest issue because I will be able to borrow a bit from my parents if I can't save up enough and if all else fails I'll have to get a loan now I have a few issues with becoming a trucker, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay awake driving for so long (I can stay awake for quite a while but I'm sitting doing the same thing for so many hours straight I don't know if I could do it) and the second is I hear companies are starting to have you do a bmi and you have to be under a certain limit (39 what I hear) now I'm a big guy (round wise) I'm 5'7 and 271 pounds so my bmi comes out around 40-something now I know I can lose enough weight to pass but I can't just diet alone I need a lot of exercise to lose weight so I may gain weight sitting all day even if I diet and those are my only 2 concerns but they ain't small ones okay thats about all I can think I need to say (and more) but if I left out anything important just let me know and I will reply as soon as I see it thanks in advance for hepping me out
Stay safe and god bless
BMI:
Body mass index (BMI)
BMI is a formula that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. The BMI's biggest weakness is that it doesn't consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass. BMI may:
It's quite common, especially for men, to fall into the "overweight" category if you happen to be stronger than average. If you're pretty strong but in good shape then pay no attention.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.