I Have Some Questions About The Validity Of EU Driver License In North America (not Necessarily The US, Can Be Canada Or Mexico Too)

Hi everyone. I will start with apologizing for any possible grammar mistake, as English is not my first language, and also for the length of the post, but I thought those details were necessary, to better understand the situation. Tons of thanks to anyone who can give an useful tip to fix this situation.

So the situation is the following: I live in Europe, and I wanted to be a trucker since I was a teen, and now I go the chance to finally apply for a license for semi trucks and semi trailers. In Europe, the license category for the truck itself is called "C" , and for trailers heavier than 750 kg ( 1,653 lbs) it's "E" . However, I kind of rushed to register with that school, because I assumed too much. Let me explain.

I would prefer much more to be a trucker in North America for several reasons. Europe is an old maiden, a very rich one, with tons of plastic surgery and make up, but it still shows. What I mean by that is that modernity was cheaply slapped over a medieval foundations. Medieval European cities were not designated for motorized vehicles (since they obviously did not exist back then), so the modern... or rather modernized cities are not very vehicle friendly either (it obviously depends on the country, but as a rule, driving in a city, even in a car, let alone a big rig, is not the most pleasant thing, if you do it in Europe), whereas most of the US cities that I saw, seem to be designated specifically for motorized vehicles, with wide lanes, easy access to most areas of the city, lots of parking places, much smoother traffic etc. Not only that, but the highways and freeways in Europe are not much better either. They are more narrow, compact, windy, and you kind of feel "boxed in" , on a long drive, completely different story from the roads in North America (not just the US), which are, again, wider, straighter, and they allow you to legally drive at a higher speed, whereas the max speed in Europe ranges from 50 mph to roughly 69 mph, depending on the country and type of road, and quite frankly, if you actually get to drive at 69 mph you'd be lucky, as most European trucks that I saw, have limiters set at roughly 57 mph, so even if you could legally drive faster, and if the traffic and shape of the road itself would allow it, you still couldn't, because of the limiter.

Which leads to probably my biggest displeasure with them, the regulations for building the trucks themselves. Due to the nature of the roads, all European tractors are required to be as short as possible, so they are all cabovers, to reduce the overall length, when the trailer is attached. Due to that reason, the tractors, when bobtail , look like they're made out of poverty. Most of them have only four wheels (can you believe it?!), and the sleeper is minimal, barely a bed... what am I saying, it's more like a couch, squeezed between the back of the driver's seat and the back wall of the truck. So, to sum it up, a Peterbilt 389 beats the most premium Scania any day, both at a beauty contest or a comfort contest (if the later even existed).

Oh, and probably the worst part of this story is the pay. Employed European truckers make roughly 30000 euros (which is 32,622 dollars) a year, whereas an owner operator in the US makes over one hundred thousand dollars a year, though owner operators are almost non-existing in Europe, and I don't want to be an employed slave for all my career to come, I'd rather work for myself.

Now that wouldn't have mattered that much, as I assumed I'd get the license and cargo transport qualifications (taking the exams in my own language), work a few years here, then try for North America a few years later, but guess what. I just read that the US doesn't recognize EU driver licenses, so the questions are the following:

-If I go through with this driving course, and work a few years here, will it matter for nothing in North America (again, it doesn't have to be strictly the US, even Mexico would do, for lack of a better option)?

-Even if the EU license itself wouldn't be valid in either Canada, US or Mexico, would it even matter that I have a license at all, and experience too (a few years from now), or would I have to start from scratch?

Because, if especially the later is true, it would kind of shake my whole enthusiasm. I poured my heart into this, skipped sleep to learn the legislation to the letter, and I'd prefer all of it is not to remain just an employee driver in Europe for my whole career, which is yet to come (and I like to plan things ahead).

Thank you so much to anyone that can think of a solution to this.

I like to plan things ahead

You'll have to develop a long term plan. First I'd scratch Mexico off my list. It's a terrible place to be a truck driver. Low pay, lousy trucks, and lots of truck and cargo theft.

If you want to be an American trucker you have to come here first and find some other form of employment for a few years. You'll have to hold a regular U.S. driver's license for one year before you can apply for the Class A CDL (a trucker's license). There are no work Visas granted for truck driving jobs here. You must integrate into our society first before being eligible to be a truck driver.

I do not know the Canadian rules. I have heard you can get started there much easier as an immigrant. If that's true, you might want to research that option. Many Canadian drivers cross the border working freight lanes in both countries under the authority of their Canadian license.

Is this a real European truck? I pulled this photo from this site, Trucking Truth.

Also, I hope your dream of crossing the pond to be a driver comes true. However, you did mention being an owner-operator. An O/0 might be able to make money, but could more easily lose money. And it’s an incredibly steep learning curve that takes years to master. Plan on being a company driver for at least 4+ years before even considering being an owner-operator. By that time you should have a good understanding of the great advantages of being a company driver.

Good luck with achieving your goal.

Is this a real European truck? I pulled this photo from this site, Trucking Truth.

Also, I hope your dream of crossing the pond to be a driver comes true. However, you did mention being an owner-operator. An O/0 might be able to make money, but could more easily lose money. And it’s an incredibly steep learning curve that takes years to master. Plan on being a company driver for at least 4+ years before even considering being an owner-operator. By that time you should have a good understanding of the great advantages of being a company driver.

Good luck with achieving your goal.

Lol, yes, that's an ancient European box truck, I started learning on a similar one at driving school, a little newer, and obviously minus the bent part.

The post I've made back then was quite hot headed, I was just barely starting the driving school, and all the novelty was getting to my head, but seriously, I've learnt a few things since then.

First, I've learnt that if I have an European CDL , I could convert it into an US or Canadian CDL, if I get a work visa as a professional driver in US or Canada, and go through a short course, well, shorter than the course for someone that never had a CDL. I also found that there are companies that did sponsor visas for foreigners from Europe, to work as truckers in the US, Swift and JB Hunt being some of them. Not fair play at all to mislead me like that, dear colleagues that said otherwise, you know who you are.

On the other hand, since then, my inclinations changed, and not sure now whether I still want to be a trucker in the US. I mean, sure, the salaries in the US are higher, but on the other hand, the costs here in Europe, especially eastern Europe, are much lower, so I'm not even sure whether I'd actually make more profit. I need to look more into the costs of the living in the US, in general, which state is the cheapest etc. The EU also laws that are beneficial to us, for example, while driving through a certain country, the company has to pay the driver at least the minimum wage for that country, for the hours spent in the said country, so let's say you live in Bulgaria and were sent on a route though Germany and into the Netherlands, yeah, you've just robbed the bank that month (metaphorically speaking, of course). Resting time is also taken more seriously , both by authorities and companies, and I think that taking care of oneself, and not overworking one self to the limit is also important. There are many pros and cons to consider.

Noone was trying to deceive you. They told you the way it was, and what your talking about is a non domicled cdl. I looked it up and this exception went into effect March 7,2019.

That does explain alot about some drivers I have encountered the past few years.

Ya don’t bother coming to Canada 🇨🇦 rents insane gas is too high pay too low traffic sucks. Only good thing is hockey and beer lol

Noone was trying to deceive you. They told you the way it was, and what your talking about is a non domicled cdl. I looked it up and this exception went into effect March 7,2019.

That does explain alot about some drivers I have encountered the past few years.

I understand, it's no problem though, I should have taken things one step at a time anyway, look at the local opportunities and situations, before looking over the horizon, but I'm learning.