Starting Career, Have Questions.

Hello all, first time poster here. I will graduate from training this Friday and I'm looking forward to starting life on the road! My father is a truck driver and I've envied him forever. I have several questions, first, I want to do regional truck driving more than anything. I have a wife and children, so OTR is not an option, but local is not appealing to me. Halliburton is offering me a two week on, one week off deal that sounds perfect. Living in West Texas (Andrews) I was wondering if there are any other companies that would offer such a deal? What is Halliburton like? Second, the trucking 'lifestyle' appeals to me very much, I happily drive for hours and listen to music and podcasts for free. Is the lifestyle still alive and well in 2014? Are CB radios still a thing? I have more questions, but I'll leave off here. I think this site is great and i look forward to hearing from all of you.

I am not sure if they are hiring in your area, but Roehl Transportation has some pretty good at home options. Just keep in mind less time on the road = less pay.

Welcome aboard Colton!

If you're looking for regional opportunities you'll want to look at flatbed and dry van. Refrigerated rarely has anything that will get you home on weekends. In your neck of the woods you might have luck looking for jobs in the oil fields but unfortunately we don't have much in the way of information on those jobs.

We do however have an excellent listing of Truck Driving Jobs and you can even Apply For All Truck Driving Jobs With One Application. That should give you some ideas of the companies hiring in your area.

We also have a listing of Trucking Companies That Hire Inexperienced Drivers so you can get more ideas from there.

But dry van or flatbed are going to be where the regional opportunities are at. Roehl does indeed have great home time options as Weatherman suggested, but you're obviously going to severely limit your income on that type of program most of the time.

I know some of the oil fields run a revolving schedule of sorts where you're on for 2 weeks and off for one or something similar to that. I'm assuming that's what you're referring to regarding Halliburton. I don't know a whole lot about those jobs though. They are definitely worth looking into.

As far as the lifestyle, it's still alive and well and you'll still find CB's in most big rigs. You'll always have your share of jerks out there that try to ruin the fun for everyone but if you can get a good conversation going with one or two other trucks it sure is a lot of fun and it really makes the time fly.

I appreciate the help, I did notice the shotgun job application you offer and will definitely use it. As of now, I'm waiting in line to pre-test for doubles/triples and tankers. I should ace them... I'll check into Roehl too, I understand less driving means less pay, but 2on/1off sounds like a decent check you think? Now a less business-like question. How do you guys pimp out your cabs/sleepers? I'm looking forward to turning my cab into a second home, do you guys have any cool tips to making your areas homey? Like little refrigerators, xboxes, etc... Just me being selfish with 'my' truck.

You probably won't have your own truck with that schedule. I don't think they would let a truck sit for a week. You probably have to pack a bag every time you go out. It's called slip seating, I had that with my last job.