Am I Tripping?

Hey guys, im not a trucker yet, but im planning on becoming one next year, If everything goes well.

Let me tell you a little bit about me. Im a Brazilian, living in Brazil right now. Im 33 yo and I have a steady jod being a police detective. Life is fine, nothing serious to complain about.

Things changed when I got my Green card (through a brother of mine who is an american citizen), and my desire to leave my job and go trucking in america has grown everyday!!! Ive been spending all my quarantine time reading and watching videos about trucking (btw this forum is the best).

So Ive been reading Brett's book: "Becoming a truck driver", available here, and he talks about getting months off work with his company without any hassle, It made me wonder if that would still be the case. I mean, It would be great for me to work non stop OTR (so i dont get to have a house to maintain) for some 8 months and be free for another 4.

I dont know if im daydreaming or If its really an option. If thats possible, being single and with no kids, i would like to travel the world on this brakes with the money i was able to save while OTRing. I could live quite well for this period in many countries if i managed to save some 20k.

I was really hoping to get some feedback from you experienced drivers. Does anyone do something similar?

Thanks and sorry for any english mistakes.

I think you will need to be in the USA legally with a regular drivers license for a minimum of 1 year before even starting to get your CDL. You will be hard pressed to find companies that will hire you for 8 months on and 4 months off unless you are looking at seasonal industries. A company has to much money invested in you to have you work 8 months on and 4 months off. If you want to work 8 months quit then once the money runs out look for a new job you would be starting over new each time which would not be easy to do either.

Hey Joseph, thx for the feedback!

I didnt know about this one year restriction to get a CDL. If thats the case It will be a bummer. Maybe theres some other way around It, since i have a Brazilian drivers license for over 15 years. If not, ill Just have to find some other job to do while waiting for this period, unfortunately.

I got what you said about the "on and off" situation i was wondering about. Maybe its best for me to work for some years and then take a time off to get to know the world. Then with a clean record and experience driving, finding another job would be all that hard, i hope lol.

I don't believe all states have the requirement to have a regular operator's license for a year. I'm not sure but I don't think Texas has that requirement. Most states do, but I know at least a couple don't.

I'd recommend sticking with a company for a full year, then taking a leave of absence for the couple months you want to travel. Of course you'd have to reapply after your leave time.

Hey buddy,

One year will go by quickly. The important thing will be to get that drivers license as soon as possible, since the one year clock starts once you actually receive it.

Find a job that you can stay with for that time as well, keep all the paperwork in order and relationships in good standing. Part of truck driving is a background check that they will do on every driver that applies to a company.

Make sure to bring as much paperwork from Brazil when you move up here. The industry will want to know what you were doing for years, it's part of ensuring the applicant was not training at a terrorist camp and is now trying to get access to a huge truck to drive into something.

The most difficult thing you could do would be to take time off between working in Brazil and starting to apply in the US. Time spent unemployed makes the companies uneasy. You have to go through extra work to prove where you were living and what you were doing.

Btw OTR driving is a great way to see the world (US) and still make money!