Class B CDL Driver With Some Questions

Howdy all. I'm currently enrolled in college, will be turning 21 in a few months, and have held a class B CDL with full time driving experience for 2 years. I've already got my hazardous cargo endorsement as well. I've been looking into trucking because I enjoy what I do so much already (driving buses for the university) and trucking seems to be the only job that will be anything similar. However, trucking school is something that I will obviously have to save up for and I need advice on when and which one to go into. I've noticed people saying they get hired right out of school and do basically a year or a few months of training. If I go to school it'd be some summer and I wouldn't be able to do anything that would take me completely away from school (I do some online but most in class) after it. Would it hurt me to attend a school to get the Class A and not get a job immediately? I could do local jobs obviously as in nomal day job. I could even do nights technically, theres just no way i can stay gone a week at a time, which is what I would be interested in later. On the company explanation page on this site I was reading that most want to hire 'new graduates' as in 30ish days of graduating. I'm asking all this because I'm in college to be a teacher and I'm seeing trucking as the same or possibly even better pay. Plus I don't know how much I like teaching but I know I certainly enjoy driving. Any advice or help anyone can offer would be much appreciated.

Hi Chase.

There are plenty of questions you'll need to ask yourself as you become more educated on the trucking industry. This site has a lot of resources.

First question: Do you want to go OTR or local? If OTR, then you'll need to be accepting of the lifestyle that goes with OTR trucking. Even local driving will demand a lot of your time. I'm a linehaul driver for an LTL company, am home every day, off two days a week. But, my work days are 12 hours on average. I took a linehaul job because I approached the trucking industry looking for a job, not for an adventure or an OTR lifestyle.

Your location will determine the opportunities available, if local driving appeals to you. You can live anywhere in the US and get an OTR gig.

Take advantage of the resources on this website for a better understanding of the trucking industry and what to expect.

Thanks for your reply! I'd love to do long hauling some day, it's just something I can't do at this moment. I've combed this page up and down including reading Brett's book on it all. I'm mainly worried about wasting my money getting the class A now, and in a year or so when I could run long hauls, finding a company not willing to hire me because I got my class A but haven't actually worked on a truck since. I was reading that trucker jobs are more numerous than drivers and was actually wondering if it was possible to turn it into a summer job. If I could do that, I'd love to go ahead and get the A. I'm basically trying to avoid shooting myself in the foot.

Hey Chase.

It's very difficult to "kinda" get into trucking if you know what I mean. It's really a full time commitment. Part time work is extremely difficult to find for the most part, and nearly impossible if you don't already have good experience. Even getting started can be tough when working around a schedule. There are schools that have evening classes for those with daytime commitments but you might have to hunt around a bit to find one.

Personally I wouldn't look to trucking as a way to supplement income or work part time. It's pretty much an all-in type of career. Even local work that gets you home every night usually involves 12+ hour days and often 50-60 hour weeks. Remember, legally you can work up to 70 hours every 8 days. That's almost like having two full time jobs. It's not that you'll hit that maximum all the time, but it shows you how much of a commitment it is.

Driving the buses around the University is probably the perfect job for your current situation. If you decide you really want to go for it 100% then I'd enroll in school and take the plunge. But right now it seems you're kinda torn between different career options. Personally I would wait until you're sure you want to get into trucking full time before enrolling in any sort of schooling and getting your CDL.