What If I Graduated, Got My CDL, And Don't Start Working Right Away?

I graduated from truck driving Academy with my CDL in mid November, and I am probably going to go with a flatbed company out of northeast ohio in a few weeks for training. The thing is, I recently started working under the table for a cable contractor and the pay is pretty darn good, and I can get on with the company, get a company vehicle, benefits, and better pay since I have my foot in the door now. Some of the techs make 2400 every 2 weeks gross, and sometimes more (6 days a week). I could probably bring home 800-1000 a week doing what I do now if I got hired on, so my question is, what happens if I don't go to company training at all?

I don't think it's very likely that my first couple hard years as a trucker are going to pay nearly as much as I could make doing cable, and being in a band and being serious about weight lifting, I was going to be giving up a lot going in to trucking. What would happen if I don't go in to trucking now, but maybe decide in a year or two that I want to give it a shot? I'm planning on moving several states away when I can save up enough, and if I can't find cable work I'll certainly be applying at some trucking companies. Will they work with me, or will I be throwing $5000 away if I don't go into training and get some experience now?

Thanks all ahead of time for your insight!

Noah

Trucking is a lifestyle. Sounds like it might not be a good fit for you.

If you delay you might have to retrain.

Welcome Noah. Let's be clear about something; having a class A CDL does not make you a truck driver. You know enough to pass the exams, that's it and not much more. You need finish training, ranging from 3-12 weeks depending on the company. Most reputable companies will not make a CDL holder with no experience a solo driver on their first day. It's just not going to happen.

You have each foot in a different camp. My advice is to decide what you really want before going too much further.

If trucking is where you ultimately want to be, I wouldn't wait more than a few weeks. And to be sure I'd call the company you want to hire on with (Great Western?) and run this past a recruiter.

Noah, I was denied by a couple of places just because I had been out of truck driving school for close to 90 days before I took my first trucking job. They want to see you fresh out of school, while that initial training is still "hot." If you were to wait for anything longer than about three months you are going to be required to take a refresher course which may mean another three grand out of your pocket, or it may mean signing a contract with a company to agree to work for them for a certain time period to re-pay them for re-training you.

It sounds like you are not really committed to the whole trucking career anyway, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you like the cable gig, and it pays you what you need, then go for it. But if you really do want to get into trucking then I'd say jump in now while you can. One thing about it, trucking will be here whenever you decide to commit, but you will need some fresh training, they are just going to require that.

Thanks for the quick replies. I know that I'm far from a trucker with just the CDL exam under my belt. I'm signed up for training with PI&I Motor Express, and their training is mostly done live, so they say. 6 weeks, with weekends off. Not much OTR in training as I understand it, since they keep you near their terminal (which is by a steel plant they haul from, and you are doing a lot of shorter runs from there). I knew I only wanted to flatbed from the beginning, so I also had pre hires from TMC and Melton, but the weekends off during training and as a solo driver, good benefits and a terminal 25 minutes from home sold me on PI&I.

From what I understand it would be reasonable to expect 38-45k my first year solo doing flatbed. I know some people do a lot better, but I'm sure they're running pretty hard. Now that I have this opportunity doing cable, it's presented me with a difficult choice. My school does offer free refresher training, though their definition is vague. I'm not sure it would be enough to get accepted for training if I don't go to company training now. If I hold off, it will probably be for 1-2 years.

Thank you, Old School! I didn't know that about the 90 days. Worst case scenario, refresher training or a contract - I think I can live with that if I decide to hold off a year or two.

Noah, I was denied by a couple of places just because I had been out of truck driving school for close to 90 days before I took my first trucking job. They want to see you fresh out of school, while that initial training is still "hot." If you were to wait for anything longer than about three months you are going to be required to take a refresher course which may mean another three grand out of your pocket, or it may mean signing a contract with a company to agree to work for them for a certain time period to re-pay them for re-training you.

It sounds like you are not really committed to the whole trucking career anyway, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you like the cable gig, and it pays you what you need, then go for it. But if you really do want to get into trucking then I'd say jump in now while you can. One thing about it, trucking will be here whenever you decide to commit, but you will need some fresh training, they are just going to require that.

Make the decision that is best for you and your family. I did orientation with a guy that had completed CDL school and had aspirations of owning his own truck and all kinds of stuff. Turned out he REALLY hated being away from his Wife and two Daughters. Today, he is doing cable disconnects and (according to him) is making very good money.

Also, many of us didn't even go into truck driving until our 40's or 50's. So does that mean we wasted all the years, education and training from our previous lives? The reality is you do what you need to support yourself and/or your family. If you have the luxury of going into something other than what you schooled for, so be it.

Good luck!