?'s for you truck drivers

[wyopdrsqrl]

I'm thinking about going to school to get my class A CDL. My questions are 1. Is the trucking industry really crying for drivers or is that just a bunch of hype from the schools?

2. Coming out of school, how hard is it to get a job? Are the chances of getting placed good.

2. Can you make a decent living at it?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Wyopdrsqrl

 

[Himark]

I have 3 close friends that are independents. Yes they need drivers, Yes you can make a good living at it but you WILL work hard! Your freindships will suffer, your families will suffer and you will miss alot of things that you normally could be there for. You will also have to pay your dues driving for someone for a while before you can start to make the better money. All 3 of my friends wish they never would of ever set foot in a truck and are locked in them now. They make good money and cant find something else that will pay them that well but HATE there jobs. BTW, one of them has rolled 188k miles this year and he is not a team driver<------dont ask how.

 

[Skogen]

Remember the thing with a truck and this does not matter if you are driving for somebody else or your own. The wheels have to be moving to make a living.

 

[Snow Duck]

yes the above posts are correct!!!! i work on trucks and have for 20 years now and i have seen lots of guys make a good living and not so great living at it and i have seen guys loose most everything....just remember what ever peeps tell you is that trucking is not what it was 10 years ago...good luck if you do and wish you well....
truckers keep my pay coming.......

without farmers and truckers this world would not survive!!!!!!!!!

 

[wyopdrsqrl]

Thanks for the info guys. The reason I'm asking is I've been a carpenter for 25 years now, log work, framing an the like, and my body just can't keep up anymore. I have had a couple of accidents, fell 30 feet and landed on my head, had a 10 foot long 24inch across log fall on me, so I'm kind of beat up. It seems like with out having alot of out of pocket expence {4 to 5000 dollars} driving is about my only opption.
Any more info on this subject would help me a great deal.
Thanks again
Wyopdrsqrl

 

[IDspud]

If you are unsure, find a farm haul during harvest, no cdl needed within 200 miles of home for certain ag needs. I have done carpentry and trucking and would much rather truck, the moneymakers are the short, repetative hauls that allow you to bust your butt to get more loads.

 

[TruckerBallZach]

I drive locally for a company and deliver food to resturants. They pay is great, but its super hard work. Yes I am home every night but even after just 3 years on the job, (im 24) I'm having back and shoulder problems that I shouldnt have til im 60. So my advice would be to get your CDL, and drive anything but a food truck! Even in a crap economy, having that red licence puts you in a higher percentage of finding any kind of work. Double triple, tanker, and has mat endorsements arent a bad idea either. They will all increase the chance of landing one of them gravy jobs!

 

[sledheadjake]

i drove long haul for 2 years, made pretty good money,but the trade off if you have a family I found was not worth it.great job if you are singleand love to travel, the other thing youy have to realize about driving is that you are allways on the job and that gets old.Good luck with waht you choose

 

[Skogen]

Something else you might consider is the oil fields. Wyoming is booming just like ND. Lots of people have headed to the rigs, and quite a few drivers who typically made their living hauling grain are now contracted out hauling frack water. Might be able to pick something up in the oil fields hauling something like that.

 

[mulestar]

Skogen is correct, the fellas that are making the most money up here are the ones that have their own trucks. You dont even need to have a trailer if you dont have one. Some companies will supply you with one as long as you have someone to drive and a rig to pull it. Find yourself a beat up truck that still has some miles left in it and make some cash. I feel there is no need to spend 100k on a truck that you will just trash out here anyway.

Tough nasty work and you will turn into a fatman fast, you will also start plugging toilets more regularly.

Can you tell I have to deal with truckers on a daily basis? Its true, their are some dandy's out there.

We actually had a terminal where the toilet broke, so they pulled it off the floor and scooted it into the corner. They also put a sign across the lid that said "OUT OF SERVICE DO NOT USE". What was waiting for the emoployees when they got back on Monday? A nice warm, well cold by then, chocolate poo poo train in the broken toilet. Trucker got it.

Try not to be one of those when, and if you start.

Good luck!

(Sorry I got a bit off topic, but its a story worth telling)

 

[mOdD]

There are other ways to use a CDL. There are a lot of local contractors needing drivers. If you look hard enough you can find one that may hire you if you get your learners permit. Then you can use their truck to get your license. Check out your local gravel haulers. Check out your parts houses. NAPA hires drivers to deliver parts from town to town. My CDL is used to plow snow for the MDOT. As a supervisor I have gotten CDL's for two people over the past years. You have to show ambition. A local job gets you home each night. Good Luck.

I plow highways for winter work here in BC and love it! I have a class1 but would never consider becoming a fat long haul trucker.
If you can get a job working for highways or local gravel hauling it would be worth it. Even driving a logging truck you can make good money and be home every night but you have no life ( leaving at 1 or 2 am) and working on youre truck all wknd.

 

[ragincajun]

construction co. pay really good for belly dump drivers dump truck etc. cdl's look good on a resume' too. i just got my learners the other day and hopfully will have it by christmas.

 

[AkMike]

Do your self a favor an learn the piano instead. Anything except driving a truck for yourself or someone else! This is based on 37 yars of driving these dam things.

 

[priest lake rmk]

I drive a Concrete Truck, Cement tankers, belly dumps and dumps. Great Union job when the economy is good. You couldn't pay me enough to go over the road. Try to find something local is my advise.

 

[miko]

I too have been around trucks all my life. The trucking industry is not what it was in it's hay days but it is still a lucrative career to get into. Are you planning on owning a truck or driving for someone? I do know the local hauling companies are always looking for drivers here in South Dakota but I don't know about Montana...

 

[azreal]

The second post eplained it very well. I have been doing it for 17 years now. 7 years over the road as a owner operator. It is getting harder to make money as a owner. Over the road drivers have a hard time with family responsibilities as well. Puts a huge stress on that aspect of your life. If I were to do it all over again..No I would not have chosen to drive. Alot of my friends moved on and were raising familys while I was on the road. That being said. I paid my dues, and now still hate driving but do have a very good home every night job. I work mon-thurs with friday on call. Great retirement and medical. I will make just over $64,000 this year. Thats not for bragging. That was me working my butt off. That is just stating a dollar figure that will give you a idea of money potential. There are better paying jobs out there and some pay less. But before you take the leap of getting in that truck. Just really think if you are ready to put in long hours, work very hard, and potentialy (depends on your choice off driving careers) be away from family and friends for extended period of times. It is a way to get yourself to retirement age while making a good living. It has its good and bad. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[IGOTGAS]

If you go down this road, excuse the pun, during your employment search, find out how much physical handling of the frieght you'll have to do. Pallet work blows.

If you haul flat beds, be prepared to tarp.

If it snows, be prepared to chain-up.

If you get enough experience, you could end up with a UPS local route, or a beer/grain/Coors route - good gigs.

For me, it was fun for a year, after that, it was incentive for me to finish college, which allowed me the oppotunity to hate my office job for 30 years.

10 years and I'll be done with fulltime work so I'm in the home stretch......if I last that long. Good luck.