My Journey Into Trucking

I have been reading quite a few posts on here and hope to find some helpful tips or answers to a newbie starting out.

I grew up with my dad driving and getting to go out during the summers with him. While it is not my first choice of a career it has become my only option at this point and I am not that upset about it.

I will be attending cdl school in Opelika, AL starting on Monday. I have been approved for the CR England veterans program. While I've heard all the bad about CRE I cannot beat them for the experience. I had applied to prime but got denied because of unemployment gaps the last couple years. Sadly even with a spotless driving record and zero felonies.

Any way I am excited about this new journey but not looking forward to being away from my wife and kids. However will make the best out of it. Do you guys have any tips on dealing with the long periods of separation?

I will hopefully update this as I go through school and my training with CRE.

Welcome Bearded Beserker.

Don't sweat that situation with Prime. They're very strict about recent unemployment. There are a ton of drivers that get turned down by them for that reason.

Do you guys have any tips on dealing with the long periods of separation?

Well I'm quite the loner, I've never been married, and I don't have any kids. I seek out separation! :-) But we do have a category of articles called Family Matters which talks about being away from the family and ways to deal with it. Several of those articles are written by 'TruckersWife09' and her articles give a very interesting view from the wife's perspective also.

We have a lot of drivers that have families at home and they'll be glad to share their feelings on the matter. One thing I know they're going to say is to make sure you've really got the support of your family before making this decision. You're all going to have to work through this together and it isn't going to be easy but it can certainly be done.

Thank you. I will look into those posts. I'm kind of glad prime turned me down because it wasn't the right time family wise.

Now it's more of a necessity because of lack of money and can be used to get into a more local company with better home time. So we are biting the bullet for now. After I accepted the offer from CR England I did see all the bad posts and got a little worried but have since seen a lot of good. Plus free school and only 6 month contract as a veteran can't be beat.

I wouldnt sweat the negative stories too much. Those are generally written by people with an axe to grind. I currently drive for Swift, one of the most internet-despised companies around, and while things haven't been perfect I can't complain too much.

The main things that will determine your experience, at any company, are simple.

#1. Your attitude, in a general sense.

#2. Your Driver Manager/Dispatcher.

#3. Your attitude towards your DM/Dispatcher, specifically.

#4. Your work ethic.

While each of these is a simple thing, they arent always easy.

I feel I have a strong work ethic and am already set on getting as many miles as possible as often as possible.

I realize there are factors that could prevent that or prevent me from getting those routes and hopefully I can step up and get loads where they need to go and be there on time as well as safely.

I also know some negative stuff is people covering for their own mistakes and why I am not really worried about CRE right now. I am anxious to get to school and ready to get driving.