Trans Am Trucking... Whole New Life...

Hey all, its Tim again. So I'm still working through the WIA process to get schooling approved and paid for, and I did research and it seems as tho Trans Am Trucking as an Otr Driver is my best option.. Long story short, the govt takes forever with everything, my lease is up in early August on our trailer and if school goes as planned I'll start 6/1/15 and graduate 7/10/15. So I talked with the wife and she wants to come with me and live on the road to save on expenses and save money. We live in Rochester, NY and we are trying to figure out a lot of things to make it work. Trans Am has 2 terminals, 1 in Dallas Texas, and the other in Kansas City? So we have a car that's financed and want to get rid of it when we can but I'm concerned about transportation; you can take home time in any zip code they go to, but we don't have a clue what to do with our car.. Do we store it, or what? Also on home time if we want to explore, how do we get around? Its not like we can haul the car with us.. Ideas insight and advice would be greatly appreciated:)

Advice- you want to square your life away financially? Listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio- he's #3 on talk radio, also www. Dave Ramsey .com (remove spaces) -his show video/audio is streamed. You can get tremendous encouragement and advice- like you wrote your wife wants to ride. Thousands and thousands of people have been helped. I do not work in any way for Ramsey and I am making nothing off of what I wrote.

I have a Cdl permit and am starting Prime orientation May 26.

I know you're looking for specifics- sell car, use taxi, cheap hotel for time off. I do not know your life details. Go for it.

Thanks for the advice; I forgot all about Dave Ramsey... My bad:p we are planning on selling and donating as much as possible, and storing the rest. And bringing what we can fit and what we really want on the truck. Thanks for the transportation advice:)

Every company has its ups and downs but I know trans am to the T. With me living in St. Louis there training is in Olathe KS. Not trying to steer you wrong but be sure you know what company to go with.

With trans am they have 3 days of paper work then 11 days with a coach then a few more days after to finish at that time you would get your own truck and not sure if your taking your wife on this journey at the beginning or not but...

They will let you bring your wife but you would have to cover expenses on her half for the hotel and not only that she would still be there while your still driving (training) for the 11 days.

50 bucks a day while in training then 30CPM after that just don't do the lease option that's 500 bucks out of your check every week and you pay for everything. I've also hear that they will give ou just enough miles to make your truck payment then you sit for a few days.

This is just all research I have found over for weeks and hear say from the net and from drivers at truck stops. I had my greyhound ticket set up to leave to Olathe KS but gut feeling told me not to so I cancelled 5 hours before I had to leave. With me being a new driver I was using them as a last last resort. A company just to get my experience and time under my belt.

But you never know maybe I made a bad choice or a good one I guess I will never know.

Hope I helped a little good luck!!!

Just curious, why Trans Am? They are pretty low on pay compared to some other companies that will hire student drivers. Prime Inc. and Shaffer Trucking are both reefer outfits who hire student drivers and pay much better. Trans Am has really nice equipment, but typically companies with really nice equipment don't pay well. Which would you prefer, bells and whistles or a higher paycheck? The one Trans Am driver I met admitted that the pay was low, but that he chose them because of their equipment ... to each their own. If you're looking to make more money, Trans Am wouldn't be the best fit.

Well that's going to be your choice in your situation you guys are going to live on the road you and your wife. If I was in that situation I would go with equipment.

Because they have APU power inverters and a fridge already installed plus they are automatics and come with a cb installed.

I drove my first automatic the other day and wasn't bad at all. If you can find a company that matches this plus a little better pay then go with that one instead. A driver told me fresh out of school he was making anywhere from 700-900 a week now I'm sure that's with Perdiem which is 12 cents of every 30 you make.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Advice- you want to square your life away financially? Listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio- he's #3 on talk radio, also www. Dave Ramsey .com (remove spaces) -his show video/audio is streamed. You can get tremendous encouragement and advice- like you wrote your wife wants to ride. Thousands and thousands of people have been helped. I do not work in any way for Ramsey and I am making nothing off of what I wrote.

I have a Cdl permit and am starting Prime orientation May 26.

I know you're looking for specifics- sell car, use taxi, cheap hotel for time off. I do not know your life details. Go for it.

Dave Ramsey is awesome!!!!