Needing Career Advice Please
Topic 29879 | Page 1
I’m looking to go to school so I can be CDL A or B dedicated / local / home every night . I wonder if it’s reasonable expectation or if everybody has to drive OTR for a year ?Can I get paid training and then go local dedicated or are those jobs extremely hard to get and what does it take to get a local A or B job? Thankyou
Howdy, Dwight !!
Aside from 'local,' MANY of the 'starter companies' (per se) have regional/dedicated type jobs. There's also, food service type jobs. Take a minute as you can, and read the diaries of Rob T. & Papa Pig. Sorry, not linked. Easy enough for you to search by members, like so:
5th tab down; comments by members
And of course, there does exist PAID TRAINING . . . some being regional and dedicated~!!
I'll let the experts and/or the mods weigh in, but some people can go local after about 4 months OTR (look up Don, who started with CFI and went local.
Moderator, Daniel B got his ultimate gig, as well. (He's worked his tail off getting where he is, with LTL now....!) Not sure how long he was OTR (AND a trainer!) before he got into local, however; don't believe it was lickety split, by his own choosing. (Training OTR is a well paid honor!)
Best option is to read this I'm linking below, and maybe read posts by Bobcat Bob and Banks, our LTL diary guys. You can search by name, as I linked above. Banks did Dock to Driver with Fed Ex; that's another idea, as well~!!
Other than that, check out this for starters on reading up on the lifestyle & whatnot:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
As a follow up; apply here, since many companies PAY you, to train. Apply For Paid CDL Training In the process, this linked application will ASK you what your end goal is; and there you can specify your intentions/choices.
Wish you the best! Hope this helps a bit.
~ Anne ~
Follow up with questions, that's what the pros are HERE for~!! (I'm not one, haha.. YET! .. just the wife of one, atm!)
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.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.DWI:
Driving While Intoxicated
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.
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I’m looking to go to school so I can be CDL A or B dedicated / local / home every night . I wonder if it’s reasonable expectation or if everybody has to drive OTR for a year ?Can I get paid training and then go local dedicated or are those jobs extremely hard to get and what does it take to get a local A or B job? Thankyou
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.