Profile For Bob D.

Hey now gosh come on. I never said I was proud until old school insinuated that I seemed proud and I'm not embarrassed of the fact that the tax payers payed for my cdl. I been a tax payer all my life and worked harder physically and put in more hours over the last 20 years than most people have in their whole life times 2! Im sorry for putting it out there that there are grants and other such government funding to get your cdl. Our government isnt all bad and these type of opurtunitys to get back on your feet or to just retrain for another career are nothing to be ashamed of. Now this will be my last post on here ever but I will continue to read on here like I have for the last year and I will continue to listen to the podcast as I'm rolling down the road on 18 wheels. Good stuff here and reading and listening to this stuff has probably been part of the reason I'm consider an A driver by my company even though I've only been driving solo maybe 6 months. It's probably the reason I'm getting paid like the top 10 percent of drivers even though I still struggle to do a 90 sight side at the truck stop with tight lanes. I know I'm still a rookie and I'm not expecting my trophy for 2 years of this stuff. Anyway I know how good this forum is and I'm more self aware than you know and I know how my style can dirty up a thing like the trucking truth so farewell to all and to all a good night. PS "A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." I know I came off like company sponsored school is junk and private is great. I came off wrong I know this now. It's obviously better to go to a private school And I just wanted to help and I made myself look like a fool. SEE YA :) I needed to get it out there that many people going to company sponsored schools are eligible to go to a private school using government grants and I went about it like a real idiot. I app la gize

Old school I am extremely proud that I was able to get the United States Government to pay for my cdl schooling.

Proud? Really? Why would you be proud of that? That's not an accomplishment. Are you one of these "participation trophy kids" who was taught to be proud of themselves even when you've done nothing to be proud of?

People nowadays sure do have a completely different way of seeing the world than what I was taught growing up.

Old school I am extremely proud that I was able to get the United States Government to pay for my cdl schooling. My companies that I worked for over 10 years decided to start making their product overseas. Are government has decided that this is ok and to just retrain workers who lost there job to foreign trade. I though my life was over and then I learned that I was getting to go back to school. Any two year school that I wanted. I picked trucking because it would be a quick fix to an extreme hardship for me and my family . So I would encourage everyone comming into this to get down to your state jobs center and see what they can do for you. Im not really saying a private school is superior because it isn't. I couldn't drive s truck to save my life after cdl school.lol. However there are a whole lot of companies who don't hire people unless they have there cdl already.

In 3 to 4 weeks you will have your cdl and then you will have your pick of the litter. And you will have that if you go to a half decent trucking school. I had an offer from every major trucking company that takes on students in the country 2 weeks before I got my CDL. This let me pick the company that worked the very best for me. I picked my wage, my home time, my health insurance, my freight and the list goes on and on.

Bob, you are really throwing out some unique opinions here today. This is not the type of forum that just allows everybody to throw out their opinions on how to go about getting started in trucking. There is a really good reason why Brett named his site "Trucking Truth." We like to deal in facts, not baseless opinions. We are trying like crazy to provide factual information for newcomers to our industry and it makes it hard when people just throw out something like you've done here. The companies that are providing Paid CDL Training Programs are some of the top rated companies in our country - that is partially why they are able to do such a thing. There are plenty of companies that one can choose from when they go the company sponsored route, they still get to make their "pick of the litter" as you called it. They just make their choice before going to school as opposed to the way that you are so enamored with - after going to school. What is the problem with that?

You seem to have that attitude that you were a free agent, a rock star who was able to call all his own shots! And yet somebody else paid for your ability to make such a claim - are you really proud of the way you have presented this?

I've got to tell you that I would reconsider my position on this if I were you, but you've already thrown it all out there so why don't you try to break it down for us with some facts and show us why this approach is so superior to a person who makes a commitment to a company who is willing to take them on, make an investment in them, and give them a shot at working for one of the top rated trucking companies in the country? I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

Me personally I don't skimp on things. If I need it I get it. When I first got my truck the first most important things I needed and got was a GPS, Bluetooth headset and a nice phone holder placed within easy reach. Then I just kept buying things pretty much everyday as the needs arised. I never though it would end but a few thousand dollars later and I really can't think of anything else I need for in the truck.

I drive flatbed up and down and all around your area. Everywhere I go I see TMC drivers. flatbed is the way to go just getting out of school. They will give you so much more training than the super carriers and after 5 or 6 weeks you will be making a real living immediately. No working your way up 1 cent a year!

I don't know how it all works but at my local career link you can go and apply for funding to go to a CDL School and get your licence. I don't know if it's based on income or what but I would look into it before I went to a company sponsored program. I lost my job and got funding through the government through TAA. I had to go through the state career link and met a few people who was getting funding for cdl school without TAA but through other state programs. In 3 to 4 weeks you will have your cdl and then you will have your pick of the litter. And you will have that if you go to a half decent trucking school. I had an offer from every major trucking company that takes on students in the country 2 weeks before I got my CDL. This let me pick the company that worked the very best for me. I picked my wage, my home time, my health insurance, my freight and the list goes on and on. I'm in love with trucking. I been bugging my wife to get her cdl so after the kids grow up and move out she and I can team drive into retirement. Good luck.

Not sure how to use the quote system here but I wanted to point out this mention of not making money when your at home. This is something I don't get yet. I'm also a newb. How does an over the road out for months at a time benefit more than say a regional driver home for his 34? What I mean is don't over the road drivers do. 34hr reset? When I was in CDL school just about 9 months ago the teachers and recruiters would all say there's more money in over the road. Im flatbedding and that's all my experience so maybe that's why I can't get my head around ovr making more money.

Who'd you end up going with Cortaro?

Don't go with a specific company just because someone else went with them. His needs are different than yours.

The real difference between the two is hometime and pay. Roehl has the best hometime policy in the industry for OTR companies, Prime has the typical policy of 1 day off per week. But remember you're not earning money at home.

Want to be home more? Roehl.

Want to make more? Prime

I'm new, just out of cdl school solo now maybe 3 months flatbedding. I was wondering how long it takes the average joe to unstrap, fold two wallboard tarps and put it all away. I set a stop watch and it took me 45 minutes. This was probably my 15th load of drywall now. I watch other truckers sometimes and they seem like they are securing stuff twice as fast. I don't know why I care about my speed so much. I been unsecured sitting here waiting for an hour now to get unloaded and sometimes I wait 3 hours on top of the unsecurement.