Profile For KentuckyBound

I will certainly let you know after I compete my paid CDL program, thanks

Hey folks,

Anytime you're about to sign up for something, you'll see recommendations or reviews about that product or service. I'd like to add a few recommendations or reviews to our application page for paid CDL training jobs.

If at least one of these applies to you:

• You filled out our application in the past
• You went through a paid CDL training program
• You approve of paid CDL training programs

...and you're willing to leave a quick review or recommendation that I can use, that would be fantastic!

All I need is like two or three sentences. Something like:

"After applying for paid CDL training, I began receiving calls from recruiters within hours. I landed a job with one of the companies and the training was fantastic. I highly recommend paid CDL training."

"I considered private training, but paid CDL training seemed like the better option. I'm glad I went this route. Now I have a great job with a great company. Paid CDL training was the way to go."

Just something simple like that.

All I'll need is a short quote and your first and last name.

This may seem like a little thing, but it's actually a pretty big deal. As always, I very much appreciate the help! I've come here many times over the years asking for help, advice, or ideas, and you guys never disappoint! Thank you so much!

I am steady checking out the lady truck board as I am trying to soak up as much as I can from you all!! Thanks 😊

WOW! Thanks for your reply

I stayed OTR for 6 years. Paid off $68k in debt.... Saved up a couple hundred thousand in cash and 401k. Last year I got an apartment and life is amazing

💯 love that! Can’t wait to start. I know it’s a pretty big learning curve and I truly appreciate everyone’s advice and tips here! I always try to stay behind those that have come before me!! Be safe

I stay out as much as possible and then when I take time off I consider one hotel as my home. I go there everytime and trucking pays me enough to go there for a week. Don't have to pay for breakfast, electric, wifi, water, no need for a gym membership, and they have many good restaurants and stores close by.

WOW! Thanks for your reply

I stayed OTR for 6 years. Paid off $68k in debt.... Saved up a couple hundred thousand in cash and 401k. Last year I got an apartment and life is amazing

3 consecutive quarters of negative GDP, still rising inflation rates, rising energy costs and coming food shortages. Keep listening to those politicians and media icons who tell you everything is fine though because why would they lie? Not to mention a public education system churning out dumber students every year, consumed with everything social media. I think it’s safe to say we’re in a bit of trouble.

Exactly!

I loved your testimony! It’s funny I am having very similar life ideations at this age. No interest in mortgage or land-locking myself to commitments of the materialistic nature. Have lived a midlife, raised kids and had two strong careers. Lived near Mexico border as a bucket list desire. Now have a traveling urge and have always wanted my CDL. Good luck to you…I start school I’m 2 weeks.

23 August 2022 Today during my lunch break I got a call from Mayra, my assigned recruiter at Swift Driver Academy here in Phoenix. She asked me a bunch of questions to see if I prequalify for eligibility to enroll in the school (“Have you ever used illegal drugs” threw me for a bit of a loop). After hearing my answers she said I did qualify, and she invited me to come to the Phoenix terminal on Friday for a tour and an interview. I’m off early on Friday at my current job in Phoenix, so getting there by 4 will be easy. I’m smiling. It’s exciting to feel excited.

I’ve been thinking about taking truck driver training for several years, and in recent days I filled out the info on the Swift website to get more info on their training program. It’s time for me to take a deeper look at what my life could be like if I were to become a truck driver. I have Trucker's Truth to thank for helping me do an enormous amount of research before I decided to apply for training. I'm going to try to write a diary of my experiences to help inform others who find this site after I did.

I’ve read many Trucker's Truth posts and watched dozens of YouTube videos posted by drivers in their first year on the job. Big concerns seem to be equipment breakdowns that keep drivers off the road (thus not making money), and not enough “home time,” or days off near where they live. I noticed Swift now guarantees new hires will make $1,0000.00 (one thousand dollars) weekly after they get off their mentor’s truck ($800 a week while on the mentor’s truck), so that addresses the equipment issue for the first six or seven months of the gig. There is no payment during the four week training, and I am OK with that. As far as home time goes, I don’t technically have a home, or live with or near my family, so it’s not an issue for me. I’ve just been renting rooms in houses for years, usually with friends. If I can take my Phoenix Terminal “home time” in Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, or Virginia, that would give me time off near family. So I’d kinda rather stay on the road. Not much holding me here in Phoenix.

I’ve lived all over the Western United States (Idaho, Utah, California, Washington, New Mexico and Arizona) and traveled in about as many Western states I’ve lived (Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and I’ll include Oklahoma and Texas). I’ve owned homes in California and Washington state, but I’ve not had interest lately in putting down roots, and even less ability to pay for anything of the sort. But if I could swing it, if I could cobble together some cash and get my own place on a little bit of land, I have a pretty good idea where I’d like to do it. El Paso, Texas. It’s like Mexico but it’s not in Mexico, and I love Mexico. I love the culture, I love the food and I love the language. I speak fluent Spanish, having learned it as a missionary back in the late 1980s.

It feels a little odd to have a dream again, a goal maybe. I’ve become such a minimalist in midlife that owning things holds very little value for me. I value experiences. I value adventure, and I don’t mean planned ones, I mean when things don’t work out, how do you work them out? Challenges maybe. The more I read about trucking, and the more videos I see about it, the more I think it may be the right fit for my wandering soul always in search of adventures that challenge my intelligence and my patience. Lots of other people are doing this work safely and efficiently every day. There’s no reason to think I can’t as well. I’m ready to give it a try.

I think Over The Road sounds like the kind of challenge I would love. Big trip, be disciplined about my schedule, and get it done a little bit early. Five hundred miles a day does not bother me. Back in March I drove backroads from San Antonio to El Paso in a day and had the time of my life. Windmills, oil rigs and two-lane blacktop for hours on end.

I’m interested in team driving if that is an option for newbies and it sounds like it may be. Teams can be on the road even longer than solo drivers, so they can get really long trips, like 2,000 miles each way. I like the road warrior lifestyle. “We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there” are lyrics to "Eastbound and Down," a song I used to sing along with on the radio when I was in elementary school and Smokey and the Bandit was in theaters. Being four states away by morning holds a certain appeal for me. But finding a good partner for team driving must be a real trick. How do you choose a person you can be cooped up with for three weeks at a time? What if their farts are horrible? What if they are lazy? Or worst of all, what if they don’t know the difference between “there” and “their?”

I know it’s been 7 years since this post was made, I would be curious to know how the adventure went. I am starting school soon and plan to stay out on the road just like this. Thanks for reply