Best way to get my CDL?

[Srt20]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: Chris142
i went to a local truck driving school.be forwarned that most truck driving jobs suck.the few good ones are taken and already have a line of people waiting for those jobs.

plan.on working 14-20 hrs a day,mostly nights and sleeping in the day as most deliveries are at night or early am. when i looked into ups 15 yrs ago i was told that id be throwing boxes onto a belt for atleast 20 yrs before any chance of driving the little brown truck.then you do that gig for about 10 yrs before you get into the big truck they call the feeder. id bewell into my 60's by then. i got tired of the hours and low pay and went back to the radiator shop working 40 hrs with a set schedule.no more missing important things in life and working around the clock.

yes there are laws regarding the hours of service. but if you wont break them for the company they will starve you and find someone who will work around the clock


If you are OTR and your hours run out, you're done. Doesn't matter if you are only 100 miles from home. You're done.

I couldn't do it


There are ways around everything....

 

[earlyre]

few years back(2003-ish?) a friend of mine talked me into applying with him as a Team for Schneider(the orange trucks). Company Paid Training, provided that you 1) got your CDL,2)were hired on, 3) worked for them for a year. otherwise you had to pay them back the $2500 they spent on the training.

we went out and Got our CDL permits, and I put in my 2 weeks notice, and used up my vacation time doing the initial 2 week training session.
The first day of training, was the first time i ever dealt with a manual transmission, and... lets just say it took me a while to get a feel for it. to make a longer story short, I washed out, but was able to get my old job back, right where i left, b/c they forgot to file the paperwork that i had quit. (when i called in to see about coming back, the answer i got was "you quit? i thought you were just on vacation?!?")

I had to repay, took a second job to help with that, but that didn't last, account went to collections, and moved back in w/ Mom & Dad. but luckily that's all paid off, and in the past.

the friend that got me into all that, lasted a little longer than i did, but washed out as well, and he has yet to pay them ANYTHING. (same as Capital one, Ohio university, student loans, medical bills from a brain tumor, etc.)

there was another kid in my group, who had his CDL, had gotten it @ our local Vocational School, but since he didn't have a year of OTR experience, they sent him to the same training as the rest of us schmucks.

 

[Mr Nice]

Maybe washing out was the for the better...

 

[TiredTrucker]

Check with local construction type outfits. To get the really good jobs like good pay LTL (less than truckload) like Con-Way, Yellow Roadway, etc, you are going to have to have experience before you even apply. If you want to be home most nights, then construction, cement truck, local trash hauler type of jobs are where you need to look. Not the best paying opportunities going.

Now all that being said, the best way I know to get your CDL, and get somewhat of a reasonable job, is to track down a grain hauling type of outfit or some other agriculture feed supply or similar. You will bust your chops at various times of the year, especially now thru the late fall, as harvest is going to be starting to come in. It is not the best paying, but it might be the best alternative to shelling out for some CDL mill school or selling your soul to a high turnover mega carrier. And except for the real busy times, you will have regular home time in most situations. Many times, a farm operation or other small ag outfit will train you to get started. Give it a shot.

You need to get online and see if you can download a copy of the CDL manual from your state driver's license office, or go pick up a hard copy from a CDL testing sight, and start cracking the books. To get any kind of a decent job, you need the General test, the Combination test, and and the Air brake test. Basically you need to shoot for the CDL A, which includes what I just mentioned. Might as well throw in Tanker test at least while you are at it. That is needed for anything from hauling bulk liquid containers in a regular dry box to pneumatic bulk tank. You will broaden your job prospects the more endorsements you have. Leave hazmat for a later time. You are not going to need that one right away until you get experience. No one hauling hazmat is going to have a newbie do it, except one of the mega carriers that will keep you away from your family and pay you doodly dip to do the job.

Unfortunately, this is still one of the career fields that still has a high demand on paying your dues. I do exceptionally well, but I own the truck, pick my loads, and have been at it for over 3 decades. Your first year is the worse. Everything is stacked against you. The odds are against you in so many ways. You knock out that first year, and doors start opening.

 

[jk_636]

Find a volunteer fire department. Join. They will pay for you to get your cdl to operate fire apparatus. Normally it is a class b but they may have something large enough to qualify for class a. Food for thought, help your community and get your license! And let me tell you, it is a great change of pace from other 9-5 jobs!

OR:

Buy 18 wheeler, mount sails to it and call it a boat. No license needed now

 

[Kruse]

I got my CDL through a local community college. It was an official one hour credit class. The class consisted of about two weeks of classroom time that amounted to three hours per evening. I then had two sessions with a driving instructor who sits beside you in the cab with the driving instructor supplied by the college. They also supplied the truck and trailor that was needed for the practice driving and the final examination that included the driving test with the DOT examiner sitting beside you. Total cost was about $700, which wasn't too bad considering that the college supplied the truck and trailor. I have also gotten several other license endorsements suck as tanker, but do not have a HAZMAT license. (I don't need it and maintaining one is a royal PITA)
I am not an OTR trucker, but I live on a farm where the CDL license is quite often needed.
While I have a CDL license and use it frequently, there is no way I'd do OTR trucking for a living. Independent truckers can't making a decent salary and truckers who work for national companies don't either.

 

[Lyman]

I have been driving since 1981. I started driving a bobtail with a rigging company and the owner asked if I could drive their semi. I drove it for a year with no CDL. He came to me one day and asked me if I had my CDL yet. I told him no. LOL He hired another driver to go down to the DMV with me. Back then it was a walk in the park. I am now in my gravy train job and loving it. I drive for a DOD contractor and haul radar systems for SPAWAR. Pull in about $50k a year never working OT. And Im home by 3:30 99% of the time. If I were you I would get some HVAC training. You will make a better living in the long run and be home every night. It's easy work as long as you know what you are doing.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Originally Posted By: Kruse

While I have a CDL license and use it frequently, there is no way I'd do OTR trucking for a living. Independent truckers can't making a decent salary and truckers who work for national companies don't either.


Wow. talk about generalities. But you are correct for quite a few drivers. I do very well owning my own truck. It is all about running a business. All business' have winners and losers. All thru this last recession, I did well. Ordered and bought a new truck tractor 2 years ago to replace one, put in a new 21x35 drive in front of the garage this year, finishing up on a 16x45 deck on the south side of the house, bought a new 2013 Siverado last year. Even replaced the John Deere riding mower with a nicer JD zero turn with a 54" deck this year. Nice ranch home sitting on 40 acres. And with freight capacity down, fuel cost down, and freight rates rising, I am doing exceptionally well right now. By the house a couple of times a week and off the truck on the weekends and holidays. Take a minimum of two weeks off a year, and throw in hunting in the fall. I keep my running area generally within a 500 mile radius of the house. Mostly recession proof customers that i deal with like Conagra (bulk oatmeal and rolled oats), Sioux Honey, BD medical, Michael's Foods (bulk dried eggs), Purina bulk pet food products most plant to plant. Packaging in and bulk livestock feed out of the Blair, NE ethanol plant. Lots of other various stuff as filler here and there. When it comes to the government's cut every quarter and filing taxes, doing well is not as glossy as it seems during other times in the year I pay at almost, but not quite, as much in taxes alone as the average income of the entire U.S. (surveyed as of last year).

 

[whip]

Where in Ohio is the OP located? There are plenty of schools in NEO for getting a CDL. Some of the bigger LTL companies also have driving schools. What ever you do, get every endorsement available. All of the big LTL companies require doubles/triples, Hazmat and tanker.

With the driver shortage, local jobs are getting easier to get into. A lot of companies that would have never hired a new driver are now doing so.

As far as pay goes, there is money to be made. Drivers with some of the top LTL companies can make 6 figures running line haul. You won't start out making that, but the potential is there.

 

[Chris142]

If you are OTR and your hours run out, you're done. Doesn't matter if you are only 100 miles from home. You're done.

I couldn't do it [/quote]we still had paper logs so there was never a reason to run out of hrs.plus being in a day cab,out in the desert with nothing around aint no place to take an 8 hr break.we always finished that run and went home.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Well, to a point. There is an allowance called OFF DUTY DRIVING. I use it frequently. As long as one is not under a load, under a dispatch, dead heading to pickup a load, or doing anything else directly related to commerce, they can operate the commercial vehicle to go home, go eat, go to a movie, go get a motel room, whatever. Doesn't matter if on paper or e-logs. Many times I have dropped a trailer and bobtailed on home and never used a minute of time. Got stopped a couple of times and checked, never any issues or citations. One local in KC didn't understand how I could be off duty and driving a semi, so he had to call back to his people. They verified, he looked confused but bid me a good day.

I realize this is something relatively few drivers or even LEO's know about, but it is legit. Here ya go.... see question 26....

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/part/395.8?guidance

Sometimes those years working for the feds, and the college, actually pays off. There is a reward to those who are willing to invest the time to research things.

 

[Mr Nice]

I talked my nephew out of getting a CDL and driving a truck.

Very stressful job if you are working for low wages and long hours.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Good for you! I can see the freight rates going up for me as I write this. Thanks!