I Got My Cdl!! Now What??!

Hi everyone! Cece again. I got my cdl 2 weeks ago on my first time. I practiced so much that weekend leading up to it but after all the time and frustration I got it. I am the proud owner of my own cdl now. I had 3 different trainers but my last one was awesome and taught me how to drive that truck! Now....everything has gone down hill since then. I have a 3 year old son who is my everything and he happens to be very special with autism. I'm now in the phase where I rack up miles to gain more experience with another driver. My new trainer has a peterbuilt and I learned on a Freightliner. In my noob opinion it's like night and day. Oh yeah and did I mention I run flatbed :). Yay for female flatbedders!!! Anyways, I came home 9 days ago. My trainer said it was fine since I have a family and I had important things to take care of since I've been gone for 2 months. Well, today my dispatcher (who has been on vacation the past week) calls me up and chews me out! Yea, we almost get into it over the phone. He says that I hopped off the truck, I have an obligation to them, I need to get back out there ASAP. Well, buddy, my family will always come before my job!! He had an assessment for preschool and his autism today and another one on the 31st. I really do feel like I am in a catch-22 situation. If I go back out I probably won't be able to get back home for his next meeting, really I probably won't see my son again for 2 months. Nothing against peterbuilts but learning all over again is going to be tough for me and I just got my license. Not seeing my son though for another chunk of time is going to be hard. I've put in applications at other companies because I need home time. All the small local companies want a certain amount of experience so I haven't applied with them. But, yea, I love where I was trained but if they can't understand that my family comes first and I don't want to learn all over again then something is up. I really don't know what to do now. I can go back out with my trainer or I can go onto another company. I'm venting again in this post, I'm sorry.

If possible finish with your trainer. Job hopping, especially being a newbie, will cause you problems.

Trucking is not a job....It is a LIFE STYLE.......That being said...you can expect to be out approx. 6 weeks at a turn...If you can't deal with that, then you have gotten into the wrong field. But...get all the training you can....and go ahead and apply with those local companies !!!! You never know when you will find a soft heart who understands special needs kids, and momma's who love them, but also need to make a living !!! So what if they have an amount of experience they want...when they need a driver, they NEED a driver.....take the chance.....try the dance...you may like the tune !!