Profile For Kimberly T.

Thanks! That’s exactly what I needed to know.

I’m leaning towards training with one of the mega carriers, but I won’t be back in my home state and able to get my CDL permit until early May (it’s going to take a few months to get the boat back north). Given that, how early should I start applying? Do I wait until early May, or is it better to get the ball rolling earlier with an early May start date? Thank you!

Thank you, PJ and Errol.

Now I have a “Margaritaville” earworm! I wouldn’t be much of a sailor if I didn’t know the song, but sometimes people think cruising on a sailboat is literally Margaritaville, so I just wanted to clarify it. 😉

Thank you both. Errol, you’ve mentioned in a few other posts re: work history that employers want to be sure you haven’t been in Margaritaville for the past three years. What does that mean?

I’m 55 years old and have worked one year out of the past three, because I’ve been traveling with my husband on our sailboat since 2018 and living off our savings. I worked full-time for the same employer from 2005-2018 (and held steady, multi-year long-term positions before then with the exception of going to college and law school.). Since leaving to travel on our boat I’ve had one seasonal maritime job and one other maritime job, so about 15 months of employment since 2018. I can prove that we’ve been traveling - I have the passport stamps and a long-term blog to show it. Will that work history and proof of traveling be sufficient? Thanks.

I’m still doing a deep dive on research before I commit to pursuing a trucking career. I can certainly see the benefits (and drawbacks) of going through a company to get my CDL A. With the job market the way it is now, are people guaranteed an OTR job after completing company-paid training? It seems it would benefit them to do so given that they have invested the time and money into actually getting licensed, but the web sites don’t specifically say that you WILL be hired. Thoughts? Thanks.

Thanks for the info. It’s really helpful. I could definitely use a different address, so that isn’t a problem.

I probably should have phrased it differently. I actually have over 35 years of work experience (I retired early after working as an attorney), but only about 1 1/2 years since 2018. And I’ve had a driver’s license for 39 years (clean driving record). I also already have my TWIC.

Good to know about how the home base works. The 6 months off figure was arbitrary. It was more about taking extended time off for other things. Even a few months would be fine.

From what I’ve researched, the job market sounds a bit soft. I was thinking of training with Schneider or someplace similar so I’d have a guaranteed job when I was finished. Thank you again for your response!

I’m a 55 year old female interested in getting my CDL. I’d like to do OTR but I don’t have a land home as a home base. I’ve been traveling for the past 7 years on a 30’ sailboat. I’d like to drive for a year or two, bank some money, and then maybe switch to driving 6 months on/6 months off. My husband would ride with me once I’m allowed to have a passenger, but we don’t want to do team driving.

How would days off (once I finish a route) work without a land home? Would I just be able to explore wherever I happened to be? And is working 6 months on/6 months off viable after a few years of experience?

If I did training with Schneider or Prime, would they just send me to the closest training center in Baltimore (the closest thing I have to a home base)?