Thinking About CDL And OTR Trucking..
Topic 24058 | Page 1
If you won't mind being gone for longer periods of time, I'd highly recommend applying to Prime. Their training pay is amongst the higher paying companies and their starting pay is too.
Rainy can tell you more about it since she drives/trains for them and I don't. Yeah their trucks are a little slower, but a solid company driver there is laughing all the way to the bank.
Had my situation, when I got started, been different, I'd have ran to Prime. But I needed to be home a bit more often at that time due to older teens still living at home.
If you won't mind being gone for longer periods of time, I'd highly recommend applying to Prime. Their training pay is amongst the higher paying companies and their starting pay is too.
Rainy can tell you more about it since she drives/trains for them and I don't. Yeah their trucks are a little slower, but a solid company driver there is laughing all the way to the bank.
Had my situation, when I got started, been different, I'd have ran to Prime. But I needed to be home a bit more often at that time due to older teens still living at home.
Susan thanks for the suggestion on Prime I’ll be doing my research on them.
As for being gone long periods of time. That’s what I’m actually aiming for.. to be out driving two to three months at a time.
Hi Joey
Getting into trucking is surprisingly easy.The good/bad thing about most big starter companies like Swift,Prime, and C.R. England is that they will take anyone with a pulse for the most part. When I applied with Prime I was amazed at how easy the process was.I was thinking it took a lot to start driving a tractor trailer. When your ready start talking to recruiters ask about the company paid training,home time,pay,and what you need to get started.The process will go faster if you are prepared. I might be biased but Prime has a good training program and better pay than most starter companies.Of course that depends on your trainer,i've heard horror stories. If your concerned about the life of being OTR check out YouTube.You can find a few bloggers who share their experiences.But the gist of OTR at Prime is drive,eat sleep haha. As Susan said they're not very big on home-time.If you choose refer you'll have a decent amount of downtime at shippers/receivers to watch TV,play video games,read,workout what ever you need to do with the 2-3 hours your stuck to that dock.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
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.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Good luck to you, am welcome. I might suggest Millis Transfer in Wisconsin, but they have schools all over, I know they are in Texas. Students start at .43 a mile and can work up to .47. I have looked at a lot of companies and hope to go with Millis in April. If for some reason I don't get accepted I will probably apply with Prime. I've heard a lot of good things about that company.
The good/bad thing about most big starter companies like Swift,Prime, and C.R. England is that they will take anyone with a pulse for the most part
Do you know why that is? Because a huge percentage of the people who take a shot at this career fall flat on their face almost immediately. 50% of the people who show up at these programs don't even manage to get their CDL and another 50% of those who remain never complete the training and go solo. So 75% of the people who walk through that door on day one thinking "it's just trucking" wind up back home with their tail between their legs.
So they'll give a lot of people the opportunity to prove they have what it takes to make it in this industry, but unfortunately not many people do.
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.
Brett, I got a question. When people go to any or most of these companies and fail do they wind up paying back the cost of schooling even if they don't finish?
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Hi everyone, First I’m have to say I’m so glad I found this site as it has a ton of information.
As the title says I’m interested in getting my CDL and becoming an OTR trucker. Now for some of my background, reasons why I want to get into trucking, and life goals..
Background: first and foremost I love driving and always have. My current job is for a global car parts supplier where I’m driving a 25’ box truck, do a route that covers anywhere from 260 miles to 400 miles south east of Austin, TX. It’s an hourly job ($15h) and currently doing 10-20 hours over time every two weeks (biweekly paychecks) which comes to $37k (net).
I have experience being in the road for two to three months straight as I was a touring bassist from that age of 16-30 (I’ll be turning the big 4-0 in March), I’m single, no kids, and live alone..
Reasons why I want to get into OTR: Frankly I love driving and it seems trucking is the next step to achieving my long term goals. Plus I love being on the road, driving and all of that..
Life goals: frankly I need to start saving money for retirement (as I have nothing saved), I want to have a lower cost of living to start investing some money annually, and hopefully be more secure financially for down the road.
I love my current job so much but am worried they’ll cut overtime at some point and I’m able to support myself fully because of the OT. Now we have 20 drivers and I’m in the top 3 ranking drivers there. I know it’s baby stuff compared to real trucking.. and I have no idea how I’ll do with OTR.
What is some advice you guys and gals can give someone looking to make that next step in their driving career?
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.