A couple questions
 

about my new plan to get my CDL

Ok heres the plan... due to unforseen circumstances i now have my 15 year old daughter back from my ex. Now due his being a complete ass my daughter needs counseling and such and i figure i should stay close so i can be around as she needs me... so ... I can get Employee Assistance to pay for school and can drive locally for the company i work for... i can stay local for 3 years (when my kiddo graduates) then apply to go OTR for the same company. But lets say that in 3 years when i am ready to go OTR i want to go with a different company, will the 3 years spent driving local for my current company be worth anything at all or should i just skip it and wait to get my CDL until after the kiddo graduates? I really cant go OTR until after she graduates or would only be able to do it in the summers when she is out of school on breaks.

3 years local will mean nothing to 95% of the OTR companys. All my exp. is local and when i wanted to go OTR about a year ago i got laughed at by the OTR companys. But i have found small places like less then 50 trucks that would take me for OTR.

Most of the larger carriers want you to have OTR experience. From what I have read, most will not count any local experience. If there are companies you are interested in working, you may want to contact them before doing anything. At worse, if you keep your MVR clean, you may find one of the training carriers who will hire you and put you with a trainer for a few weeks. If you drive a 18 wheeler for 3 years you should know how to drive. What you will lack is some of the OTR skills such as time management, trip planning, etc.,

Depends. If your local job is with a class b cdl then most of the larger carriers will not consider that experience in hiring you and will want a ceritified driving school. If the local involves a class A cdl and running local tankers for fuel, delivery or other jobs using an 18 wheeler then that might definatley apply. What I would do is call some of the major carriers and ask the recruiter what they think. Most are happy to answer your questions. If the local job looks good to you I would take it as any experiance driving will help you pass a course if required later on with alot less trouble.

Wow- that really surprises me that the trucking companies would just discount local experience. I mean, sure, driving down the highway takes skill, but what about turning corners and backig up? That's got to count for something. And I'd think a local driver would have quite a bit of experience at that- plus experience driving forward and even local/regional on the highway.

But I'm not hiring, so who cares what I think.

I had that same problem, and was told it was a matter of verification. There was no DAC report for them to check, plus the company I worked for previously had closed its doors.

Getting back into driving questions
 

nm

Quadruple Post

Double post

It has more to do with burning you for pay reasons, as opposed to skill issues. Typical OTR burn job.