Single Mom Again

i guess i want to know is it safe out there. i think my friends are trying to scare me about taking her. i am very limited in jobs cos of her she is healthy and stays right by my side. her dads dead and ive tried everything. ive been grooming dogs at home for 18 years. but we just barely get by. this seems to me to be a blessing that could help with this. most people dont understand why i just dont go get a regular job, they can leave their kids and at 18 they're independent anyway. i dont trust other caretakers, she hs been molested 2 times. i am thinking this could be the answer and how do you suggest i get a cdl

Disclaimer: I don't have my license yet so I may lack experience but I do know a lot of truckers and have doone a lot of researc h. Trainning takes an incredible amount of time energy and grit. You won't be able to have your daughter with you wgile training. And as an otr driver you won't have much time or energy left for homeschooling after you get done driving. especially not during the first year. I wouldn't worry about safety at truck stops or recievers but there will be many other obsticles. I would suggest that since you already care for one disabled person, look into caring for mentally or physically disabled people for the state. I have a friend who does that and it makes ok money and you could care for your daughter at the same time. You may beable to have live-in persons or take care of them in their own home. but given your situation it may be a good option. You may need some sort of license or training but you can contact your state about that.

Lisa, I really respect how difficult your situation must be. Having to find a way to make a living while caring for someone continuously would be a monumental task for anyone.

Unfortunately, driving a truck OTR is also a monumental task for anyone, and that's without someone with special needs to care for 24/7. Trucking is exhausting, stressful, and completely consumes your life pretty much. We always tell people it's a lifestyle, not just a job, but I see you're already aware of that and hoping it could work to your benefit.

While saying nothing is impossible, including your idea with trucking, I will say that would be an incredibly difficult lifestyle to pull off. I don't know how you would keep up with everything. I don't know anything about your daughter and how much attention she needs moment to moment but of course in trucking there are a lot of times you're simply going to be in a position where you really can't just stop what you're doing to tend to someone. You'll be driving in a snowstorm or heavy rush hour traffic entering Chicago - things like that. You'll be stuck at customers waiting to load or unload and sometimes they don't have facilities you can use.

And the schedule is grueling. You have very erratic sleep patterns and you can legally work 70 hours every 8 days. That's basically like having two full time jobs. Most drivers are either driving, eating, showering, or sleeping 90% of the time.

My advice would be to put trucking on the list of things that are not completely impossible, but far from ideal and very difficult. I know for you that must be a really long list. But trucking is a really tough way to make a living under ideal circumstances. Trying to drive OTR while caring for someone with special needs would be exceedingly difficult.