Profile For Green_Eyed_Bandit

Thanks for the responses everyone. I had a hectic weekend and wasn't able to check back in. In regards to the first few posts, I wasn't necessarily trying to badmouth Swift or megacarriers, I know they will give me the experience I need. And the research I did about megacarriers wasn't from disgruntled employees, I had read/watched videos of people who said they enjoyed their time with them, but eventually moved onto different companies with higher wages.

I went and signed up for trucking school today. It was a lot more expensive than the 3.5k I had originally read from a yelp review (few years old so it makes sense) it was closer to 7k, gotta love inflation.....either way I went through with it. It seems like a good school; small classroom sizes, a trucking simulator video game thing to help learn double clutching, adequate amount of drive time practice with a trainer, a big yard with makeshift docks too. Plus the school has a job placement program. The classes start at the end of April.

I'm done doing drugs, I hardly even drink. I'm just desperately trying to fix my life and start my career. No need to call me a drug addict.

Hello all. I've recently made the decision to become a truck driver. I've always enjoyed driving, especially road trips. I'm an introvert so I don't think I would struggle with the loneliness factor of being an OTR trucker. Not to mention I don't have a wife or kids so home time isn't an issue for me.

So my plan is to enroll in a proper trucking school and pay 3k rather than go through a megacarrier's training program. The reason I'm doing this is because I don't like the idea of being stuck at a megacarrier based on the contractual agreement, plus I have heard mostly bad things about them.

My plan is to complete schooling, get hired at a megacarrier (from what I've read they are pretty much the only companies who will hire a rookie fresh out of school - correct me if I'm wrong,) grind out 6+ months with them to get some experience under my belt, then switch to a different company that offers better wages. I've been looking at OTR jobs in my area and there's quite a few companies paying 70cpm, but each one of them requires 6+ months experience. I'm not planning an entire career of company hopping, but I don't want to be stuck at a company like Swift for years... Thinking long-term my plan is to save up money and become an owner operator after a few years.

Also, is hair follicle testing a common procedure nowadays? In 1.5 weeks from now I will be able to pass a urine analysis, but for a hair test I'd have to wait at least 2 more months, not really interested in that because I want to get to work, I'm sick of being unemployed and I'm running out of savings.

Another thing too...my work history is pretty ****. Huge gaps in my history from all kinds of things; college, attempting to start a business, personal medical reasons, etc. Do you think this would be an issue for any of the megacarriers that hire rookies fresh out of school?

My 10 driving history (not official, just going off of memory): illegal parking ticket in 2014, speeding ticket in 2017 and 2020 (both within 15mph over speed limit.) Would this be an issue? I've heard trucking companies are very strict about this. In hindsight I wish I would've kicked up money for an attorney.

Thank you for reading, looking forward to your responses.🙂