Becoming a truck driver? (employment, apply, CDL, profit)

[rgomez912]

Anyone with experience on this? At the moment Transport America is hiring loads of new/experienced truck drivers who are HAZMAT endorsed to go to Canada. I would like to be one of them yet I don't know how old you must be since when I graduate high school and if I get my CDL training ill be 19 years old. Then theres the matter of getting HAZMAT endorsed which the company would be willing to train.

[YaFace]

Companies are not going to hire you unless you are 21.

[wolfeyes]

Hmmm since you have never driven for a trucking company before you might not get hired right off the bat..(due to they require.. If you have more than 6 months OTR experience, unless they have a school that will train you) and since your fresh out of high school with no "over the road experience", they will more than likely tell you.. you need to go to either a truck driver training school like MTA or USA truck driving school or find a company such as Schneider that will train you. There are several trucking companies out there that will train you for hire..but in most cases you have to stay on with them for at least a 6 months to a year before you can leave that company.
Good luck and hope it all works out for you..

Agreed trucking companies will only hire 21 and over.

[rgomez912]

Thanks for the information, gives me more time to think about since theres a public training school in my area and a training center for Swift Transportation here as well. Was wondering since the public school told me I can begin training at 18 but must be 21 for interstate employment so mostly small or local transportation company's would hire me.

Roadmaster Drivers School - Admissions (http://www.roadmaster.com/truck_school_admissions.asp - broken link)

http://www.swifttruckingjobs.com/index.php (broken link)

[Union Proud]

Most companies raise the age to 23.

[nicet4]

Never give up until your dreams are realized.

Somehow the drivers on the road today all started with zero experience and you can too. Not a cakewalk but you can do it even if you work for minimum wage for experience.

[rgomez912]

Thanks for all the information. I found a very good site that had loads of information and a forum for truck drivers and soon to be drivers. From what they told me I can be a truck driver at 19 but cant drive out of state. I live in Texas so till I turn 21 will only be able to do deliveries in Texas. Also learned that truck drivers don't get paid the way others do. There is no wage or salary type pay. You are paid around .29 cents a mile and some companies start new guys off at .35 cents. Then every year you get 2-8 cents more a mile and so forth. You only make money driving and only when you drive around 2300+ miles a week do you make the big bucks. Some truck drivers even make more money than people with a college degree O.o. Tho they have been trucking for 6+ years.

I wonder what you put down as home address if you don't have one? As a trucker you get maybe 1-2 days of home leave a month and you spend the rest on the road so why pay for a apartment or home if you are never there for 90% of the year?

[Crew Chief]

RGomez912, do a "search" on City-Data; there are several threads with extensive discussions about entry-level truck drivers. As someone with 13 accident-free years and an outstanding customer-service record as a truck driver; here's some quick advice:

Guys with records BETTER than mine are literally a "dime-a-dozen"; you'll be competeing with all of us as an entry-level driver with no experience. In this economy, companies aren't paying US that well. So you can imagine how tough it will be as the new kid on the block.

All ANY truck driver training program will teach you is how to pass the CDL driving test. You don't get GOOD with a big rig until you have YEARS of left seat time. The most cost-effective training programs are public; such as Vo-techs and community colleges. For-profit programs won't be any better training, they just cost more. Some carriers will pay for your training. IMHO, that is really the "last resort" way to get into trucking. Granted, it's usually "no money up front" but most of the carriers that offer it pretty much make you an "indentured servant". And if you find that trucking is really not for you, you could end up reimbursing them for a lot more than you would spend at a community college.

DO NOT "LEASE PURCHASE" OR OTHERWISE INVEST YOUR MONEY IN A TRUCK!!! Sorry for the caps, but there are PLENTY of truckers that have gone belly-up financially, even though they've been trucking for plenty of years. You have very little chance of becoming a financial success as a beginner.

RGomez912, I don't mean to scare you away. Trucking is probably the toughest way to earn a living doing something you may learn to love. If driving is your thing, you never really get cured of your addiction to the road. I've been at this racket (and it truly IS a racket...) for 13 years and there's NO place I'd rather be than behind the wheel of a big truck. But I want you to go into this with you eyes open and not sink like so many do who get into trucking thinking that it's an easy life as a paid tourist... Best of luck to you!

An excellent resource: www.ooida.com

[rgomez912]

Thanks for the info Crew Chief. From a few truck drivers I talked to on the web most point me to go and get trained at a company. Since its free and you are hired right after training by the company only thing is you have to stay with them for 1 year. I got into trucking after watching Ice road trucking and plan to go and test my self out there one day. If I like trucking then I plan to one day maybe 5-8 years after trucking to go and apply for a job up there. I know its tough but I like the freedom that comes with it from getting to see so much land and get paid to do so is great.

Even if trucking is not for me at least I tried and can say I did that. :P

[Kansoku]

Originally Posted by Mr. Whips

Most companies raise the age to 23.

Y is that?