Hey instigator glad to hear you are still with the same company.... Better pay then anyone out there???? Hmmm My checks are pretty damn hot I finished this last year at just under 80k.... from pulling fuel not to shabby for Florida... However I did work for it went out of town a few weeks, worked days off, and in general carried a great attitude... are you still running out of the Tampa area? I am over there almost every day pulling fuel out of the Port..

K8cpa, I too did an 8 week program and went right to local work and have never looked back. I never had a desire to run otr and never will. It is just a matter of proper training and self confidence... If you have doubts and over think every move **** is bound to happen.. Best of luck to you...

Timberwolf

 

K8cpa your accident was in 2003? Erm get it out of your head.. it no longer exists. It never happened.
You need a refresher course. Youre not going to find a local job i dont think.. michigan has been in a depression for years before Dubya sent us into this one. The place is dying sadly (i love michigan and its people).
I mostly doubt it because the place is slap loaded with very qualified drivers who cant buy a job.

You need to look for otr companies that offer refresher courses or you could TRY bedbugging or MAYBe foodservice locally. Im pretty sure youre going to have to go to work for a newbie company who offers the refresher and get home on weekends for a year or two. then you'll be good to go.

And anything over 5 years old nearly all companies completely ignore. Dont worry about the wreck it was a LONG time ago.. we all make mistakes. Youve paid your penance.

 

good luck and thanks for the advice K8cpa!



i'm looking into getting my cdl, i don't have any money, so i'd go to a company that offers paid training....i see you got local, do any companies offer local to a newbie? i use to know a guy who mostly traveled Georgia to Florida. he was home a lot and made good money, i'd love something like that rather than driving somewhere 20 hours away. but if i have to do otr, i will.

 

Check with Schneider. I "think" they do training and, it seems to me, their business model strongly favors "regional" runs like what you described. Local is considered 100 (or is it 150) air mile radius. What you are describing (and should look for) is called regional.

 

I went to Schneider's school back in '07 and the things I learned there saved my bacon on many occasions. You won't make any money with them, but if you are willing to pay your school bill and have a clean record, you can go see Knight after about 6 months. You'll get better treatment, but they won't babysit you either, so you better be ready to do the job. You will learn how to drive the truck with Schneider, but you won't learn a thing about the rest of trucking, unless you get a real good trainer who is willing to teach you trucker etiquette, how and when to enter truck stops as rookie, etc. Don't go in there at 7pm and not be able to do a couple of different parking maneuvers, and never go in a Petro that has blindside parking spots. I think this is to keep the rookies out, and it works. Better yet, stay away from owner op trucks entirely, because the only interaction you want with them is advice. You don't want their mirror. If you have a good trainer, don't be in such a hurry to get off his truck. Just consider your first year in trucking a total loss financially, that way when you do get a few bucks you'll be happy. If you come out of it with no incidents or accidents, then it's a success, and maybe successful career ahead. My 3 cents.