Help Starting Out
Topic 20938 | Page 1
Most companies require you to have a year at least of recent driving experience to consider you for cdl training. Also not to burst your bubble but your years spent traveling are also going to count against you. Not saying it's impossible but it's definitely going to be tough.
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.
Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately you might be required to wait until after one year of driving experience. To be sure, I'd research best-fit and then apply to several companies found in the link below. You won't know exactly what to expect until you put your self "out-there".
Check it out...
Apply For Company-Sponsored Training
At some point, it might also behoove you to invest time with the Trucking Truth starter kit, the primer-trinity...
- 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.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Yikes. Okay, thanks for the quick replies both of you.
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Okay so I'm confused and hoping anyone can help guide me! I'm 23 years old and just returned back to the good ole' USA after a Europe/Asia trip. before that I was trying to get my associates degree at a local college from age 18-20 but couldn't finish. Left for Europe a year after withdrawing from school. My question is, what can I do to get accepted into one of those company sponsored cdl schools? I really wanna get into trucking and just jump right in, but I have no work history, I figure since I'm young, that won't be a huge issue but here's problem #2...while I was gone my personal driver license expired and i didn't renew so right now I'm going through the process of scheduling a road test and what have you. With no work history and dmv record showing that I had an expired d/l for past two years....what are my options? Btw I'm really motivated to get started guys, I mean, I don't even care what company would school me and train me I just wanna get OTR! Sorry for long rant.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
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.
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated