52 And Getting Back Into A Truck.

It has been about 12 years. I drive a Concrete mixer for oh.. 13 or 14 years and when the housing market tanked the top drivers got canned. Well I was one of the top drivers so ya. I started another business and it was doing great for a while but it is failing and with the bills stacking up, I need real money again. The bad thing is when the business was making good money I lost track of keeping my medical card up to date and I am having to start over from scratch. I know how to drive, I drove fly ash trucks on and off when the concrete jobs were low. But it is what it is.

I live in Arizona so I have a few choices when it comes to the CDL training, I am just hoping I get streamlined a little faster because of my past experience.

Roehl is great choice but in my neck of the woods, but they only have flatbed available and although it pays more. I am not a spring chicken anymore. But with the great money involved I am seriously considering it. There is also Knight and a couple others. I just want to get out there and get the miles.

Main reason is I am a CEO of an all volunteer nonprofit called The "Awareness Tours" Housing Homeless Veterans Through Entertainment. We need buses and duel axle trailers to get the ball rolling and with with money in a year in half or so I could buy the first bus and trailer for the nonprofit. People are just not donating anymore so I am just going to house them with money I make driving.

"QUESTION" in my region what is the highest paying and paid CDL training company out there that will get me home so I can do fundraisers once or twice a month as I am also in The worlds only rustic outlaw southern hard rock/ metal band 2 IN THE CHEST. (Side note) If you guys are looking for some new music look us up we are on all the download sites. 2 full CD's "Iron Smoke and Spit and Lead Jacket in a Pine Box. I will check back for all of your recommendations. Keep them wheels down bruthas and sistas.

Welcome Rich!

I'm going to give you the answer you're looking for first. If you're looking to get home as often as possible you want to go with flatbed or dry van. Every company has its own opportunities for home time so you'll have to talk to them individually to find out which one offers what you're looking for.

There is no such thing as a bad opportunity when it comes to Paid CDL Training Programs. These programs are hosted by the largest, most successful carriers in the business. They're the best of the best. They offer different pay scales, training pay, length of contract, etc so you'll have to explore them individually to find the best opportunity.

We always recommend that people apply to as many companies as possible, see who offers you an opportunity, and if there's more than one you can choose the one you feel suits you best. Don't waste your time doing research on companies that haven't even offered you an opportunity. Most of them will not, for one reason or another.

You can Apply For Paid CDL Training to several companies through our website with no obligation to any of them. You'll hear from recruiters very quickly, several of them the very day you apply. You can apply to the others directly through their websites.

Now for the rest........ It sounds like you have a lot of fantastic things going on. Unfortunately it sounds like way too many things. I can't help but notice the performance of your endeavors - you lost your job (what company would only let their top drivers go???), the business is failing, the volunteer organization isn't getting donations, you accidentally let your CDL go, and you're hurting for cash. You're doing a ton of things but you're not thriving with any of them.

Now, on top of all that, you want to go on the road as a driver but you don't want it to interfere with everything else you have going on. Unfortunately OTR trucking takes a high level of commitment, just like all of your other endeavors. If you can't put that kind of commitment into trucking your career is going to flounder like your other endeavors. There are few careers out there that take more time and dedication than trucking. It's really not one of those jobs where you can put in your 40 hours and head off to do whatever else you like. Very, very few jobs fit that description. Even local jobs that get you home every night often require 55+ hours a week, and that doesn't include the commute.

I truly admire you for running a volunteer organization and it's super cool you're in a band. I'm a long time business owner myself so I'm acutely aware of how difficult it is to survive and thrive in the business world, especially over the long term. Instead of piling trucking on top of an already teetering pile of activities I think you should consider finding more help with your other endeavors first, maybe turning some of the responsibilities over to other people.

Even if you get a year of OTR trucking in and find something local, during the course of that year you're going to be so exhausted and away from home so much that the band and the volunteer organization are going to grind to a screeching halt. It just sounds like too much and I think the lackluster performance across the board is pretty clear evidence of that.

Sometimes you have to choose one or two things you can thrive at or you might wind up failing at everything.

Thanks man. Yes I will be putting the Nonprofit in good hands. The board of directors will take care of things. On my down time I can do things while im out on the road. Coming home a couple times a month is doable. I have been running hard and heavy my entire life doing it here or out there is no different that's for sure. I have 10 to 15 years left and doing what I know how to do and running hard doing it will pay off I am sure, or the good Lord will take me home trying.

This is a great forum that I never knew existed until today. Thank you for your educated words. ttyl

Welcome Rich!

I'm going to give you the answer you're looking for first. If you're looking to get home as often as possible you want to go with flatbed or dry van. Every company has its own opportunities for home time so you'll have to talk to them individually to find out which one offers what you're looking for.

There is no such thing as a bad opportunity when it comes to Paid CDL Training Programs. These programs are hosted by the largest, most successful carriers in the business. They're the best of the best. They offer different pay scales, training pay, length of contract, etc so you'll have to explore them individually to find the best opportunity.

We always recommend that people apply to as many companies as possible, see who offers you an opportunity, and if there's more than one you can choose the one you feel suits you best. Don't waste your time doing research on companies that haven't even offered you an opportunity. Most of them will not, for one reason or another.

You can Apply For Paid CDL Training to several companies through our website with no obligation to any of them. You'll hear from recruiters very quickly, several of them the very day you apply. You can apply to the others directly through their websites.

I don't have as many years around as you do Rich but I just really want to second what Brett said. Anything you do at home *has* to and will play second fiddle to driving OTR. I had started an organization that fizzled out in part because I started driving for Knight and no one else picked up the slack at home. (which, by the by, I can recommend Knight as (imo) a decent company to go work for.)