First Year? OTR Or Local

I just recently graduated from the Swift Academy in Phoenix AZ. Equipped with my new license and a desire to get into trucking I am faced with a dilemma. Do I go OTR or work a local job that my cousin is able to help me get paying $20 hour, plus overtime.

My goal is to move me and my family out of Colorado and into GA by 2015. I know experience is going to be necessary to get other driving jobs when moving from here to GA. So will my working a local, class A job qualify me as having experience or are companies looking for drivers that have been over the road when they say 1 year driving experience?

FYI: I am a family man in his early 40's with children at home. I know that being OTR can place stress on the family unit but I need the experience. So will working a local job be just as good as OTR?

Congrats on graduation Bryan. I'm a little confused thought. You just graduated from Swift's academy, aren't you employed by them? Did you go though their school and pay out of pocket?

Most local companies or other companies that don't hire students want that OTR experience. You could really limit your options for employment if all you have is local experience.

Greetings Bill W,

Thanks for your reply.

Swift makes it perfectly clear that what we owe is for the Academy and the hotel. Going through the academy does not guarantee employment. I have orientation set up for this Monday the 14th. At orientation we find out if we are considered employee and then we are issued a number.

If we choose to work with Swift they take a percentage out of our weekly checks. I was also told that if one is not hired or does not work for the company the money still has to be paid back. If I choose the local job...I will just pay what I owe out of pocket.

You will have to cross state lines for your experience to really help. I've been doing regional for a year now and I deliver in three states. Some companies will let me solo out strait out of orientation. One wants 2 weeks with a trainer and one wants 4 weeks with a trainer driving as a team. If you take the local job it will help but you will probably have to do some sort of training period with a new company.

Thank You Chris for your reply. From various sources... I am hearing the same thing...it is best to go ahead and do that one year over the road. I guess I was just looking for an easy way out of having to do it.

Thank You Chris for your reply. From various sources... I am hearing the same thing...it is best to go ahead and do that one year over the road. I guess I was just looking for an easy way out of having to do it.

You will find out quickly that there are no shortcuts when it comes to being a newbie. Also, read the fine print on the deal with Swift. There might be a clause that says you will owe more if you don't go to work for them than you would if you go to work for them.

Rico, you are right. You have to pay back the total tuition if you choose to not work for them which amounts to around $5,500. They offer a great deal to work that first year for them...you will only have to pay back a small percentage and if you stay a second year they will give you the money back that you paid in...so your tuition will actually be free.

I know the short cut route is not the best to take when going into a career but I was juggling with all the horror stories about being OTR and thought that maybe a local position would do me justice.

I cleared it up in my own mind and I am going to go ahead and put in the work to do my year OTR.

If you have the money to pay them back $5500, then you have the money to have more choices that will cost you less. Take a look at Con-Way's program. Tuition at Crowder College (the closest school to my house they are hooked up with) runs $4400. My end of that is $2200. That includes room and board plus licensing fees and two meals a day. If I graduate, make it through orientation, and pull one load for them, they pay the remaining $2200 and I owe them nothing. That means that if I don't like them after a few months, I walk without owing them a penny.

You would also have the option of paying tuition at a private school. I found a good one in Indianapolis that charges $3150. Total costs, including motel and food would be right around $4000. This is the route I was originally going to take, but went with Con-Way instead.

I looked into those "work for us for so long and we'll reimburse your tuition costs unless you quit or get canned then you owe us the full amount" set ups and didn't like the idea of being locked into a contract because of going to an overpriced school.

Of course, different strokes for different folks. Many people choose the path you are taking and have done it successfully. For me it made more sense to go with Con-Way's program because, even if I don't make it through orientation with them and end up owing the college, it's only $400 more than I would have spent anyway, and Crowder College has an excellent reputation for quality CDL training.