CDL license

[jrscuba]

Judith and I are moving to Missouri (after we sell our home in SE FL) and I am looking for ways to make money. I am looking into getting a cdl license and am wondering if anyone else is doing this and how is it going?

Jeff

[Up North]

My dad got his CDL 5 years ago and couldn't be happier. My mom routinely rides along with him. Every two weeks they come home with all sorts of stories and interesting things that they have seen. They wouldn't recomend this job for anybody with kids but since the kids are all grown it's no big deal. Dad thinks it's the perfect job for an older married couple. Dad easily makes over $50,000 a year driving a 53' van. BIL has a Masters Degree in Buisness and he prefers driving a flatbed over the road. He for sure pulls in over $60,000, if not more. With driving a flatbed he has to tarp his own loads. He is also willing to drive anywhere on the east coast which a lot of people don't like. He gets extra money for that. His wife just retired and rides along with him as well.

Heather

[FourDeuce]

Some people like the job, but it does take you away from home a lot. Just something to keep in mind if you get into it.

[Trixie]

A lot of people do it and make a good living.

My son drove for a while, as a mother, I am glad he is no longer on the road and is home at night - but that's because he has little ones.

He now has he own diesel repair business, but keeps his CDL as he sometimes has to drive the vehicles for test drives and all of his employees don't have the license.

I have read, and he seems to echo it, that truck drivers, especially long haul drivers are badly needed and more and more will be needed in the future.

Not sure how that would fit into the homesteading life - if you have livestock.

[bqz]

I looked into it not long ago,there a places out there that will train you and get you into a job but be careful which training company you hook up with,you really need to do your homework on that part.
Then from what I gathered it 's like everyone else is saying it pays good money but your always away from home.Could be OK if you could take the Mrs. with you providing you don't have kids.My dad was a truck driver for years and it's a little hard on a family when there's not a dad around.Not that it can't be done ..it's just tough.

Good luck ,hope it all works out for you.

[countrydreamn]

But it is a class B, I used to drive school bus in FL. But I have heard that I could easily get on here and could make roughly 11,000. Not a lot but it would do if something were to ever happen to DH.
He drives for Waste Management (garbage trucks, recycle, roll offs and front loaders-dumpsters) He also drives semi's for the Army Reserve. Hauled fuel over in Iraq.

There seem to be a lot of over the road drivers around here. No idea what they make but I would guess that it is pretty good.


Blessings,
Debi

[dragonfly1113]

My husband drives a truck over the road and he hates it because he is not home enough. It is good money but just not worth him being gone all the time and the stress and worry during winter when he is in snow. It really depends on if the wife can handle you being gone all the time. Some companies allow riders and others do not.
Susie

[brreitsma]

Knew some people that both the husband and wife had their cdl. They didn't get a regular house until it was time for the oldest child to enter kindergarten. Then she stayed with the kiddies.

[jrscuba]

Hi all and thanks for the replies, Jeff will be back soon, this is Judith lurking under his username.

bqz, thanks for the tip and were there any particular bad or good training schools to watch out for that you can think of?

[fantasymaker]

What you really have to watch for is the trucking companies that have a in house traing program look very carefully about the costs and how they are handled Some will tell you that you wont owe a dime after a years service to them but in small print it will say something like AND 100,000 miles thats a hard enough milstone but all they have to do is hold out on you a month and it can become impossable. Most trucking companies will gig their drivers any wichway they can they are total experts at it and then they will wonder why they cant get enough drivers.
The truth of the matter is expect to be treated pretty shabby and not make much your first year after that things get better and after 3 or so you are in pretty good shape...its paying your dues.

[bqz]

I can't think of any particular name but what you want to watch for are the contracts. How it works ..is the trucking company's will pay for your training if you sign a contract saying you'll work for them for two years after gradation of training.What you want out look for are the training company's that have contracts with the honest transpiration co.
Some training co.are kind of fly by night co.that will promise you the moon and send you a bill at the end.
Just make sure you read the contract real good and you'll be OK ,most of them are decent.and after the two years you can go to work for anybody you want to .The big trucking co.are looking for people with a couple years experience.What I've learned is your first year you'll get a lot of crappy runs but will make around 40k not bad and second year about the same but a few bucks more and after two years the big trucking co. will hire you and your pay will jump about 5k or more.So the money is good but I chose not to take it because of wife and four kids.

I looked at "c-1" training ,google it and check it out.
hope the best for you.

[unioncreek]

A few of the companies you don't want to work for is Swift and J B Hunt, they both have a turnover rate at close to 100%. My son drove for Swift and was gone for 3 weeks to up to 2 months at a time. He drove from the west to east coast.

Bobg

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

I haven't driven a truck in a few years now but I keep my CDL up just in case. A trucker can almost always get a job.

You might check your local trade school for driver training. As someone mentioned before a number of those schools aren't very reputable.

But, with a CDL I could live and work anywhere in the country and not starve.

[ceresone]

How about Pam Transport in Tontitown, Ark--last 12 years of driving , hubby was there.

[moopups]

One of the local to Orlando schools wanted $3,500.00 about 10 years back, don't know what it is today. But it came with the guarantee that if you did not get the license, you owed nothing. In print.

[jrscuba]

there is one i am looking at called Roadmaster, they have 7 locations and three of them are in Florida. the cost is around 6K plus food and lodging.

Thanks for all the replies

Jeff

[BeeFree]

There are many jobs around for someone with a CDL. In my area school bus drivers, Propane haulers, log haulers, just for starters.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by unioncreek

A few of the companies you don't want to work for is Swift and J B Hunt, they both have a turnover rate at close to 100%. My son drove for Swift and was gone for 3 weeks to up to 2 months at a time. He drove from the west to east coast.

Bobg

My dad drives for Swift and is home every 2 weeks. He's been driving for them for a few years now. They have always been good at getting him home. The first couple of years he had a swift route delivering for Sears within 500 miles of Chicago. This year he quite that route and is doing long haul. Now it's a little iffy when exactly he will be home but he has never been out longer than 3 weeks.

Heather

[connie in nm]

Don't know about Missouri, but down here in the oilfield, if you have a CDL license AND can pass a drug test, you can pick your job and start immediately.

[OldCoot]

One of the issues not mentioned in any of these replies is this ... after you get your CDL and start to work, keep it clean. What does that mean? It means this ... I have three unbreakable rules:

I don't speed
I don't overload
I don't cheat on logbook (keep your paperwork current at all times!)

And after years of driving, I have no tickets, no accidents and can go to any trucking company I want and get a job.

As for getting your CDL, see if you can find a community college that offers the training and financing. It will be much easier to pay tuition off than to keep a commitment to what may turn out to be a crappy trucking company. And now days, with 6 months OTR experience, you can just about get a job anywhere as long as your driving record is clean. Getting a job gets easier the longer you drive, so long as your record is clean.

Personally, I've driven several different styles; OTR (Over The Road), local dry van (53' trailer that doesn't have refrigerator on it), reefer (53' trailer that has a refrigerator on it), and local dump trucks, just to name a few. In my opinion, the easiest on me is the OTR dry van work, with OTR reefer running a close second. I refuse to do flat-bed work after I got blew off a trailer while trying to tarp the load.

As others have said, OTR trucking is very hard on a family, but it pays the best and usually has the best benifits. I love doing it when my DW and girls could go with me, but the girls got bigger and I was needed at home and so here I am. Local driving is ok, but you have to deal with local traffic all the time and you start to feel like a gerbil on one of those wheels that go round and round and round (same thing all the time every day), especially driving a dump truck. However, you are home every night and most times on the weekends. The benifits with the local companies are slim to none, too, in my experience.

So there you have it ... more choices. Life is all about making choices, after all I wish you the very best and look forward to hearing what you decide to do.

Have a great day!
Old Coot