I hope i'm placing this in the correct forum.

I'm 32 in Augusta, Georgia. I'm looking to start driving trucks. I've saw some guys on a car forum i'm on, speak about driving oil trucks. All they could really tell me was come out to San Antonio, Texas. They said many companies are hiring entry level, etc....These guys were like their young and making over $60k a year.


I don't have the money to pay for CDL school, so I guess i'd need company paid training. But, i'm not finding any companies who are training to drive oil trucks. Is driving oil trucks something you can start out doing or do they generally want experience? is it the same 3 weeks for a cdl or longer? For the money i would find my way to Texas, but I'd prefer staying in Georgia, or east coast right now.

In my local paper the only companies i really see with cdl training is prime, central refrigerated, and schneider (although when i called them they told me to go to school myself and they'd reimburse).


For a newbie like myself where's the money at? i read online someone saying don't expect to bring home more than $500 a week starting out. i thought there was way more money than that.

I mean i'm totally confused on who to go with, because i don't know what to look for....like i was on a truck comp. review site and 1 company pays your tolls for you, another it said something about gas mileage....i never thought about any of that stuff, i guess i thought all companies would automatically cover it.


So in a nutshell could i get some help on the best kinds of hauls for a newbie to make money....oil, tanker, food products, etc...

What's the best companies that offer cdl training?

Really any advice because i don't really have any friends to ask, but i lost my great paying job, i don't have an education so it seems like driving is the only thing i can do right now to make 500 or 600 like i was. BTW I don't have any tickets in the past 10 years and a clean background.

You can make money in trucking and oil patch jobs generally pay more, but from what I've been hearing it's not paying what it did cause so many companys and drivers are now working the oil fields. BUT remember one thing, I've never been there!
As far as training goes there's 2 types, the first is when you go to a cdl school (private or company) with a cdl PERMIT and learn to drive the truck well enough to pass the state test. THEN you get hired by a company and they put you in a truck with a trainer for 3-8 weeks and thats when you really START to learn to drive! So with that in mind I doubt any company will hire a newbie with no exp. and put them out in the oil fields. If I was young and dumb er I mean young and strong I'd look into food distrabution like Maines they have 2 guys to a truck work 4 day weeks and bust butt and make $60K
Avoid company paid training if at all possible, check into your local employment office and see any funds are avail. for training.

thanks very much for the advice! i'm unemployed and broke, so i think i'll have to deal with a company paid training.

Not necessarily...Talk to your unemployment office. Pretty much every state has funding for displaced workers.

I don't know where you are at, but your best bet is to find an accredited school. Also, check with your local community college. If your local CC has a CDL course then you can cover about 3/4 of your tuition with a fed grant. Do that, then have your state unemployment fund pay for the other 1/4 and you should be good to go.

As far as working in Texas, my contacts tell me that 60K is right around the bottom for annual wages right now. Guys are mostly working 12-14 days 5 on 2 off or 6 on 1 off. So the money is there. Bottom-barrel wage is about $16/hr and after a year or so you should be at $20/hr. Crude haulers go on a commission basis.

There are a lot of companies down there that will hire you right out of school, but you can't just walk right in. You will need the CDL schooling (640 hrs., I think) and you will need hazmat and tanker endorsments. It's also advisable to get a TWIC card too. You can look that stuff up and see the requirements. All in all you're looking at a few hundred dollars for those docs.