First of all, I have been living on this board off and on for the last 3 months trying to absorb as much info as I can. Thank you, there are a ton of knowledegable folks here. Anyway, I start my CDL course on "1 April". I am an old dog trying to learn new tricks. I retired 6 years ago from the military after serving for 22 years. I spent most of my time overseas (18 of 22 years), and I have NOT seen as much of the USA as I would have liked to.
I interviewed with Schneider about 7 years ago whilst I was stationed in Germany, as I was tempted to dive in cold turkey and do the training and low pay OTR for the first year with them (you know the story/routine). Anyway, the kids are older now, and I feel that I am about 2-3 years away from doing OTR full time (if I can cut the mustard?). At least I will have the advantage of having paid for my CDL. It does seem to present better options.
Also, my CDL course runs over 10 weekends, as I will be keeping my current job and try to work part time (weekends) for the next 2-3 years.
Lastly, I will try to keep good notes and contribute back to this board (lessons learned/etc..) if/as they merit. Hopefully, I can build up enough miles so I can be at least be considered experienced. Albeit maybe only 6 mos - 1 year when I go full time?
Bottom Line: Thanks again for the good, bad and ugly insight. I have had some chats with some of the recruiters and posters on this board. They have been "straight up". I have been wanting to chase this passion for over a decade and things are finally starting to lineup. It's Time!