Researching Who To Go With

First off I am new here and have found this forum to be informative, it was suggested I post this in the general forum although I did post in the diary section.

Here is where am. I am a nearly 41 year old in not so great shape guy and looking for a new career. Bored one morning I was looking around and decided WTH, I will be a truck driver. I wanted to do this when I was younger but was a single parent, but my child is now an adult and I’m thinking it is time. I do not have a CDL but have my permit.

I have done a ton of research but still need to figure out where to go. I actually am scheduled to start school on 8/19 (my 41st birthday). The more research I do and with their pay it kinda is throwing me off, will be 21 days with no pay and then $50 day training when on the road, after going solo .26cents per mile. Then I looked at Veriha and Rohel, had my phone interview with Veriha and Rohel and have conditional offers with both of them. To top it off there is a local food delivery company that pays really well that offered me an interview but the working conditions are rough. I looked at Maverick but I really do not want to do Flatbed. I also have an application and physical test scheduled for Knight next week, the positive to them is the training is 10minutes from my home and they have a terminal there and she says I’d get home fairly often. I’m not going to lie, I am worried about showing up at somewhere like Rohel and failing their “agility” test. I have passed a DOT physical but again in older and not in the best shape.

Stevens pay is low over all which throws me off, I am keeping them as a last resort at this point. Veriha will pay me .36cents per mile plus extra if I drive on weekends and some other things which they said could make it as much as .76 cents per mile plus $600 a week while in school, said I would average 2500-3000 miles a week and be home very 11-14 days for 3 days. Rohel offered me the Refer division and said I would be paid .465 cents per mile starting out plus $500 a week while in school said I would be on the road 3-4 weeks at a time but no info on average of miles. Knight does not pay while in school but I would not have to travel to go to school since they have a training facility near my home and said it would be .34-46 cents per mile depending on distance when on the road solo, said getting home would be easy since they have a terminal 10 minutes from home but again no average miles per week.

I hate feeling like I am wasting peoples time but I am in discussions with all of the companies listed, I just need to make a decision.

I would love some feedback and encouragement and promise to try to rely to anyone that does reply. I will, if there is an interest do a training diary on here once I get started and such.

Bored one morning I was looking around and decided WTH, I will be a truck driver.

Not necessarily a great way to start this career. You did say this though...

I have done a ton of research

That's good. Now try to forget everything you think you understand about trucking and commit to being humble, teachable, and really stubborn about hanging in there until you can get it all figured out.

I think you're all confused about the pay. There's absolutely no way you're going to be making 76 cents a mile. That's a recruiter's trick calculating in something like a sliding scale pay and bonuses. It's not gonna happen.

You're also making the classic rookie mistake of getting sidetracked by the training pay or the lack of it. Training is a very short time, and it will have little to no effect on your actual income. Keep the big picture in focus. What's the big picture? You're a greenhorn trying like crazy to start a new career that very few seem to get the hang of. Right now you're letting all the peripherals distract you.

There's no way they can tell you how many miles you'll average. Those numbers are what they would like to see you doing, but ultimately your results will be determined by you. Also being near a terminal doesn't help you get home more as an OTR driver.

I'm just poking around trying to help you dispel some myths. With the exception of the food service, any of the companies you mentioned would be great places to start.

Since you mentioned Roehl I’ll throw my opinion since I drive for them and started there. They are a great company and will train you well. Once you get on the road you’ll need to prove your worth to them. You have to be safe and on time. If you follow too close they will call you on it. Some say it’s a training company but I’m at 52 cpm and I’m just finishing my first year. There will be times where you are sitting with no loads and times where what they have you do doesn’t make sense. But just keep grinding and you’ll be ok. It wasn’t the easiest but as long as you have a good attitude and work well with the company you’ll do well.