Returning To Trucking

I have been out of business for a good 10 years. I drove OTR for about a year and then locally for about 9 years. The 9 years lead to sales jobs that lead to restaurant management and wife kids house dogs etc.

My question: can anyone give me some direction on what companies will bring me into their driver trainee program to get me back on the road. I’m open to whatever gets me back in the seat but would prefer a company I could stick with for a while/long term versus jumping ship after I get the 3-6 months most every company want to hire pretty much any driver with clean and safe record. Any help is much appreciated!

Here's an easy way for you to do this. Apply For Paid CDL Training through this link and your application goes to multiple companies. You should get some response fairly quickly.

Here's a list of Paid CDL Training Programs that you can start looking into. Let us know what happens after you apply through that link. I think you're going to be surprised.

I should have mentioned that my CDL A and Medical Card are current with no restrictions.

I would look for companies with refresher programs. If you drove for 10 years I am sure it will come back quick. Use the process here at TT and also look at sites like indeed. Many 3rd party logistics company’s like Ryder, Penske etc advertiser there and have refresher programs and great pay/benefits.

Ok guys thanks for the direction! Just to keep up to speed I have used the link that Old School recommended and also did some searches for refresher courses that Greg suggested.

From Old School I have activity on my Driver Pulse app from CRST and Wilson Logistics. Definitely not interested in CRST as I’m not trying to run team at all. I hated it when I was in training many years ago and the money isn’t that much better. Wilson I sent a message to see how things would work for me as I live in Melbourne, Florida.

From Greg I discovered FFE and Averitt have refresher programs and are fairly active in Florida and Southeast as well as much more of the country.

I’m the past I’ve done OTR 48 states, OTR Regional , local, and was hooked up with a lot of Fedex JIT loads in the past. Have also had the dreaded driver unloads on a 53 footer full of tires ugh! I like the long hauls with no stops in between and I also enjoyed southeast and being home weekly. Looks like I have some choices here. Swift is always an option to. They were good to me when I was there and I never sat...except waiting for unloads.

I will update as things happen! Just ready to get out of this house and do something meaningful. This virus isolation stuff isn’t for me!

Ok guys thanks for the direction! Just to keep up to speed I have used the link that Old School recommended and also did some searches for refresher courses that Greg suggested.

From Old School I have activity on my Driver Pulse app from CRST and Wilson Logistics. Definitely not interested in CRST as I’m not trying to run team at all. I hated it when I was in training many years ago and the money isn’t that much better. Wilson I sent a message to see how things would work for me as I live in Melbourne, Florida.

From Greg I discovered FFE and Averitt have refresher programs and are fairly active in Florida and Southeast as well as much more of the country.

I’m the past I’ve done OTR 48 states, OTR Regional , local, and was hooked up with a lot of Fedex JIT loads in the past. Have also had the dreaded driver unloads on a 53 footer full of tires ugh! I like the long hauls with no stops in between and I also enjoyed southeast and being home weekly. Looks like I have some choices here. Swift is always an option to. They were good to me when I was there and I never sat...except waiting for unloads.

I will update as things happen! Just ready to get out of this house and do something meaningful. This virus isolation stuff isn’t for me!

Love the Space Coast. Lived in Palm Bay for awhile.

Don't know if either would work for you but there is

https://indianrivertransport.com/

And

https://www.cypresstruck.com/

Don't know anything about either just know they exist

Thanks Auggie. I have sent an email to Cypress to gain some information before digging any deeper with them. I’m finding many companies that will hire students out of school won’t hire someone in my situation hence the reason I’m contacting before filling out apps. I will look into Indian River Transport. I’ve seen them around but don’t know much about them.

It seems that since I worked for Swift before that they can bring me on as a rehire and I can go to orientation then right out for training. This looks like it may be the quickest way to making money. They also run dedicated out of the new Walmart DC here in Cocoa at the 524 exit in Cocoa that I could work towards if I wanted.

Thanks for the insight and I’ll keep everyone up to date.

BJess,

It would appear that the Swift offer would be the best deal for you. The ability to be a rehire, close enough to home makes home time easier and the Walmart account would probably never go away. I know Indian River is food grade tankers and Cypress is flatbed and I do believe SE Regional but I could be wrong. Good luck and have fun.

BJess,

It would appear that the Swift offer would be the best deal for you. The ability to be a rehire, close enough to home makes home time easier and the Walmart account would probably never go away. I know Indian River is food grade tankers and Cypress is flatbed and I do believe SE Regional but I could be wrong. Good luck and have fun.

Navypoppp, I agree with the Swift thing for sure. Flatbed could be a good thing to learn especially if it’s Southeast only. I know Cypress has a terminal in Deland NC which is very near where I grew up and still have some friends so there is that. Just not sold on me at 48 wanting to deal with tarps straps and chains. I know I definitely don’t want to do it in Minnesota in February! As for Tanker, definitely something

I am interested in because so much fuel moves through Port Canaveral and the pay is quite good and home daily off 2 per week. That’s at least a year down the road and a tanker endorsement away at a minimum.

Swift dedicated out of Walmart 15 minutes from my house is very attractive as well. And, if I didn’t like it there will always be more options with Swift. Also, not sure how it works but, they say that my daughter can take her college courses online and they will reimburse me. I’ll have to look into that as my youngest is now pushing 17. The benefits at Swift seem to be as good or better than many.

Well I’m having dinner with the family and I’ll be off to check into my hotel. I’ll be going to Swift in the morning to attend orientation. I’m a little stressed out about the road test as it’s been a while since I’ve driven. Maybe I’ll get an auto shift for my road test which will make the task much easier. Guess I’ll find out in the morning.

After I committed to this decision Cypress called and wanted to offer a 2 week refresher course followed by 4 weeks of training. A southeast regional position with weekends home is what they are hiring for. I kinda wish they would’ve called sooner but I felt obligated to Swift since they had already sent me for my physical and drug test. I had also done a load of online paperwork to get set up for the orientation. I did inquire about potentially training with a dedicated account driver since my goal is to get on the Walmart account that runs from the DC near my home. I guess I’ll see how I feel about my decision in time. I’m all in to get back out there just hope I’ve made the right decision.