Paging all Long Haul Truckers

I need some input from anyone who's worked in the trucking business.

Right now, my wife is the money maker in the family, but she's about to give birth. She gets 3 months of paid maternity leave, but at 75% (or maybe less) of her salary. Right now I'm working as a Security Guard, and it's not going to be enough. So I'm trying like hell to get a better job.

I got an offer from a trucking company (CR England). I could start their class this coming Monday, and being in a truck less than 3 weeks later. I would have to ride along as a trainee for awhile, but after that I would be making 35k a year. Which while not, is better than what I'm making now.

I know the hours are terrible, and health benefits probably non-existent. I have a Police Position I'm working on, but it could take 3-5 months before I even got to the Academy for them.

So here's what I'm thinking, take this job as a truck driver and keep looking for something else. Hopefully it would only be temporary.

Don't expect to ever see your kid as a long-haul trucker.

Don't expect to be able to work on your tax-officer position as a long-houl trucker.

One of my brothers did about 6 months under CR England, trained by them and everything. He absolutely hated the job and quit shortly after paying them back for the training.

Drewsifer wrote: I got an offer from a trucking company (CR England). I could start their class this coming Monday, and being in a truck less than 3 weeks later. I would have to ride along as a trainee for awhile, but after that I would be making 35k a year. Which while not, is better than what I'm making now.

Hmm, with the potential police academy looming - are there any lock-in periods after the trucking co's class?

I thought long haul paid a little better but I guess that might be if you're an owner/operator.

I knew the owner of a trucking company and he offered me a job if I got my licence. I drove a big truck for precisely an hour before attempting to get my licence, and I passed. I drove long haul for 10 years, covering 1.2 million miles without an accident and it was great. I saw wonderful things including F1 races, Indy 500 and worked for a Porsche team at the 1999 12 hours of Sebring. I nearly became the driver for Alex Zanardi's race car hauler at Chip Ganassi racing except I couldn't get my green card in time. I met my wife when I was a truck driver and discovered indoor kart racing, and now I own a track. Trucking was well paying and great and if the kart track goes belly-up, I'm going back to trucking. As long as you have a clean abstract, you will always have a job.

I doubt you'll regret learning the skill and having the experience of driving a truck!

Driving a truck can only make you a better all around Driver. Truckers need to hone their ESP to a fine tool to anticipate what all the smaller cars will do around them.

as a trainee and new trucker.. expect to get ALL the really sucky routes that take you far from home for long periods of time

25 years with UPS, 6 in package cars,15 as a local feeder driver,and 4 as an intermodal team driver (long hauls) doubles, triples. Retired so I could see my kids graduations/weddings etc, since I missed alot of their growing up.

I looked at going back to CR England as a per diem cover driver, wound up driving/pitting for a race prep/storage shop on a very limited schedule (5 or 6 events a year). Get to go to famous tracks, stay at top class hotels, eat with the drivers at 5 star restaurants,sleep in hotels while driving even though the tractor has a 70" sleeper, and leave my wallet home and use their credit card for all expenses. Plus I get a very nice paycheck for taking such good care of their cars.

Now I hooked up with a FedEx ground linehaul contractor and work for him 3-4 days a week and he agreed to let me take off to run the vintage events when they come up.

Finding jobs as a CDL driver is not difficult, finding the ones that pay decent is. Expect to be insulted with offers of 11 - 15 dollars per hour for local work, and 28 - 34 cents a mile, 3weeks out, 4 days home on long haul.

The experience is good to have and if you ever get hungry you would be able to find something, even if the pay isn't that great.

If you have a good driving record, call Roehl or go to GoRoehl.com

I when to their school and have been driving for them for 3 years accident free. Depend on how close you live to a terminal or drop yard, the are different schedules available. Our national fleet is out 11 home 3. We have Home Time Plus fleets that are out 7 home 4 out 7 home 3, out 14 home 7, or out 7 home 7.

I do the 7/4-7/3. I don't know of any other company that offers as much home time.

Good luck.

Well to be honest, being a trucker doesn't sound much better (in terms of family time) then going back into the Army. It sounds like after a few years it would be a better job though. Thanks for all the input guys.

I started with Schneider 14 years ago and went through their training program. Sounds a bit like England's, no cost to me but I signed a agreement to work with them for 12 months. If I left before then I would only be liable for the cost of training if I worked at another job that I used the CDL that they furnished me.

That being said it was one of the best choices i made. I left after being OTR for 2 years and went to work for Waste Management as a garbage man. I left that after 9 years and now work for a company that does restaurant grease recycling.

When I worked for Schneider I made aprox. 35k a year. When I went to Waste I started around 40k and when I left i was at about 65k a year. Currently with my present company I am on track to make 60-61k this year. Keep in mind though that the two local jobs I had/have involve 55-60 hour work weeks, but at least I was home every night.

I say do it. A CDL is great thing to have and even if you change careers later on it is something you can fall back on in case your life situation changes. I know that I will ALWAYS have a decent/good paying job in a field that is almost always hiring no matter where you live.

I also wouldn't be so leery of the benefits. I have no idea what England's benny's are like but most of the industry offers pretty good ones. Mine currently are (to me) great. I have profit sharing, 5% 401k match, family insurance that is affordable and isn't a stripped down plan...... There is a lot of competition for good drivers everywhere and most companies know this.

That being said my only 2 pieces of advice are this, take everything the recruiter says with a grain of salt and if you can try to get on a dedicated fleet account ASAP if home time is what you are concerned about. Trucking recruiters are no different that military recruiters. They are their to fill spots and will try and sell you on their needs, not yours. A dedicated fleet route is better for home time as the business needs of the customer are more predictable and will mean that you should be able to plan when you get home easier.

Either way, good luck.

Thanks Marty. However it looks like I may not need to take the trucking job any more.

My father-in-law made us an offer that would pretty much save us. We're tentatively looking to move up to Connecticut and live with them. My mother-in-law said she would stay home and help with the baby so the wife could keep working, and I could go to school full time.

In some ways it's worse, because we would be sharing a house. But it gives us some much needed breathing room. Again, thanks for all the input guys.

Drewsifer wrote: Thanks Marty. However it looks like I may not need to take the trucking job any more. My father-in-law made us an offer that would pretty much save us. We're tentatively looking to move up to Connecticut and live with them. My mother-in-law said she would stay home and help with the baby so the wife could keep working, and I could go to school full time. In some ways it's worse, because we would be sharing a house. But it gives us some much needed breathing room. Again, thanks for all the input guys.

when someone offers you a way to improve your lot in life, take it. yeah, sharing a house might suck, but it's temporary. get into school and do it like it's your full-time job (because it is), and -- here's the key -- choose a field that is both something you find interesting and something that pays well.

good luck!

I figured this thread was going to be about scoring some meth.

AngryCorvair wrote: when someone offers you a way to improve your lot in life, take it. yeah, sharing a house might suck, but it's temporary. get into school and do it like it's your full-time job (because it is), and -- here's the key -- choose a field that is both something you find interesting and something that pays well. good luck!

Exactly. I'm not about to turn down what could be our best bet for survival right now. When my options are 1) Army, deploy 2) trucker, be away all the time or 3) go live with my in-laws and go to school full time, that isn't even a hard decision.

I'm thinking about getting a degree in Operations Management or something along those lines. I know it's a rather vague area, but I'm really good in Operations. I did it very well in the Army, and I think I would be a good match for say managing a warehouse or distribution center.

good choice, nowadays with supply chain logistics critical in day to day operations with most companies. Why inventory and stock when it could be there almost the same day in a lot of cases.

I went through this same debacle 15 years ago. I've never known a corporate training program that didn't require 3 years. I've also never seen anyone trained under those programs get respect on the road... I'll explain.

Taking a corporate training class from a company who hires like that and then hitting the road is kinda like a NYC Jew going hunting with an Arkansas farm boy. -OR- like reading a book on how to race circle track and then competing in the Daytona 500. Or... like a 30-year old college grad who enters the military as an officer. You wouldn't get the time of day from a Lance Corporal. It will train you to know how to drive, but its a very deep subculture based on good-ol-boy respect.

On the road, it will show. If you're like me, you want to fit in, be part of the "truckers." Other drivers see a CRE truck and there is no love. You won't get courtesy flashes for lane changes, you won't get anyone helping you out on the road.

If you don't mind being the 4-eyed kid on the playground, go for it, but I might make another suggestion.

Go for Class B and drive buses. OTR trucks will take you away from your kid. Next thing you know, you'll be dreading your 3-year contract, your kid will learn to walk and talk without you around, and your wife will be shacking up with the milk man. Ok, not really, but it is VERY time intensive. You'll be constantly on the edge of your weight limit, desperately trying to doctor your log books so you aren't over time, then realize you just reported that you went 1100 miles in 9.75 hours (and they can give you a speeding ticket based on your log book, by the way.)

Driving for a charter company is pretty sweet if you're into the whole driving thing. Most companies have sexy sweet buses that are a dream to drive, you are usually only gone for a few days at a time at most, and if you flash a winning smile and hold the ladies' hands as they exit the bus your tips will usually double your pay.

It won't pay as much as Class A, but a coach is almost always loved by other truckers, you can bypass almost every weigh station, and you get to eat free and do all the stuff free that the charter is doing. Three day trip to Branson, MO? That means every meal you eat is free, and you get to see the Statler Brothers free as well.

Plus, if you ever find yourself out of work I can't think of a single school district in the country who isn't desperate for drivers. Dump trucks, bobtails, tow trucks... lots of opportunities.

And a Class B is much easier to get.

curtis73 wrote: Three day trip to Branson, MO? That means every meal you eat is free, and you get to see the Statler Brothers free as well.

Might be wrong here, but I believe the Statler Brothers have retired.

In reply to mtn:

They knew they were no match for Yakov's dinner adventure

What part of CT are you headed for? AS long as you can just do scool do that, load up on classes if you can handle it. If you do need to kick in some money at some point Curtis's idea isn't to bad, but I'd go right to schoolbuses. Many companies will train you, and you're home when the kids are home. It most likely won't be full time so it will leave you time for school. Good Luck.

It really sounds like you are just looking to put food on the table while you look for something you actually want to do. With that in mind - OTR trucking sounds like the worst possible option because it does not leave you the free time to search for work that interests you - or move quickly if your other opportunity knocks.

When I was younger and needed fast cash without a long term commitment - I went and found a job tending bar at a place with a wine list. If you can hustle, and carry on a charming conversation at the same time you can make long haul trucker money in two days a week. I paid off an electrical engineering degree with part-time work before I got my first "real" job. It was close to 7yrs before a "real" job out-earned two part time jobs.

Just make sure you go for the air brakes endorsement if you go B.

And lately in the tri state area buses are not the ride of choice, 3 fatal accidents in 2 weeks have put a massive crackdown on bus drivers/companys and taken the heat off us good ol' boys.

Apparently it's RI not CT we're moving too. I misunderstood when I talked to my in-laws. But we're going a head full force with that plan. My in-laws were in the process of finding a new house anyways, so now they're looking for houses big enough for all of us (her parents, us and the baby). Her dad has friends in this area and is helping us find a renter. As soon as my wife's maternity leave is up, we heading up there. I'm probably going to work for awhile so I can establish residency and get a lower rate. That GI bill might be sweet, but I gotta work it for all its worth. I've already got 26 credits. It won't be the most fun I've ever had, but having that much fun is what got me in this mess!