Profile For Brian M.

Any thoughts for the beginner. Thank you. Happy travels

I am in the same boat. Not really Financially. But just little nervous about doing something all brand new to me. I been in factory all my life. I also been a bus driver all my life as well. So I do have experience with the Smith system and the g.o.a.l stradages.

I am really thinking on doing the otr thing. I have a job lined up I have my CDL. I been a factory worker and school bus driver all my life. I am 55 years old no kids at home. Wife that is very supportive on this new adventure in my life. Back to the new career. It's 5 days out 2 home. Little nervous is this tipacal. An thoughts would be great. Thank you. To all the truckers out there that get the job done

Not sure where I want to start this. I've been browsing this site for a few days and a lot of my preconceived notions as to what truck driving is and what we've all seen in movies have already been blown away. Still, I'm not sure what to expect. After what I've been through and the life-long poverty I've endured the idea of getting paid even 12$ an hour blows me away, and I know trucking pays a LOT more than that. I'm not looking to match an attitude or take on some identity or lifestyle. I just want a living wage. But is truck driving worth it? I've been trying to find non CDL driving and delivery jobs in Phoenix but they are few and far between, and I'm still waiting to hear back from the one place I had an interview with. I wanted to do it for a year so I could tell whether I would enjoy driving for a living as much as I thought I would. I love driving. I love road trips. I LOVE maps (I collect them) and the one job I've had that wasn't silly minimum wage was a merchandising job with a company called CPM where I was left alone, worked without a supervising "boss" and had to complete tasks on time within a certain amount of time. The best part of all of that was the driving cross county and I didn't even get paid for that part! So since I don't seem to be getting any bites and most of the hooks are beyond my licencing Its starting to look like it might be a good idea to just jump the gun and go straight for CDL trucking. I know a lot of companies offer free training (but at what catch) and trucking certainly seems like an industry where the labor seems to have a fair bit of power and independence. Worlds away from what I've been doing wearing silly costumes and paper hats and selling people gas or office supplies, or what have you for 8.50$ because I'm just a 22 year old kid.

But still....I'm unsure and need advice. What kind of people drive trucks? Who will I have to deal with day to day? I'm not looking to enter a high school like environment where I have to "prove myself" to a bunch of guys. I just want to drive, and make a living wage, and provide for the one I love so they can be happy. All the technical stuff, the driving, in different places all the time, that I know I can handle. I might even be able to find a job that only runs me locally, or within the state so I can be home almost every night! Maybe I can even find a place that works me weeks out of the month and the 4th week I get off. (stop me if I'm being silly.) Point is, what can I realistically expect to find. Being as tired of my life as I am I'd tend to view this thing through rose colored lenses. I'd hate to waste a bunch of peoples time getting training in CDL, only to hate it because I'm only home 3 days a month, and have all this money but can never take the person I love out to dinner because I'm never there, or am constantly harassed because I'm not "dude" enough to drive a truck in the eyes of the people I work with.

Honestly, what can I expect, and should I even be taking this seriously?