Profile For Allen V.

Again, great advice, thanks Pete B. I did a lot of searching Trucking Truth, and found the trucking companies review section and that was a goldmine of info for me. I plan on contacting Prime, Maverick and Schneider (based on proximity to where I live and reading posts about those 3 companies) and will continue looking at other companies as well.

Thanks for the responses so far and Pete B. that is really what i'm looking for. So, many companies are out there, I don't even know where to start. There are so many things that professional drivers do, that I've never had too, or, just done very differently. (E-logs for instance, we run our logs significantly different than pro drivers) I have been searching the threads, watching a lot of YouTube videos, etc. trying to get a little more insight. Definitely appreciate everything so far.

Greetings Trucking Truth folks. Over the last year or so, I have been contemplating a career change from the oilfields to OTR driving, but, I do have questions. First off a little about the noob here; I have had my A CDL for quite a few years, (X endorsement) always maintain a current med card, no accidents/ citations/ OOS violations on my record. The vast majority of my paycheck come from when my wheels aren't turning, a complete 180 from the OTR standpoint, therefore although I do drive a tractor/ trailer I don't accumulate very many miles, don't trip plan, in the sense of what y'all do, etc.

I guess my questions are, someone that has CDL, but, has no experience OTR, what companies would be a good fit for training? I would not feel comfortable just hopping into a tractor and taking a load to wherever because I don';t have that experience. I would really need some sort of orientation/ training into OTR driving. Don't get me wrong, I know how to pre-trip, drive a tractor, the basics, but, what I have done with my CDL is night and day different than what the professional drivers do on a day to day basis. Hopefully that makes sense.

So far I have spoken to two companies with complete different answers. Company #1, told me that I would start with them, just like any new student obtaining their CDL. I would sign a contract and have to work for them for a year, while my schooling is paid off. Please don't get me wrong, because I'm not looking for entitlement, but, I really don't see why I would go through another school to obtain my CDL, because I already have it. I'm just looking for some on the job training, ride with a traininer for a bit and whatnot. Is that how most of the major companies do it in my case with little experience? If I'm wrong, I'll accept it, but, I hate to pay for something I already have.

Company #2, They need team drivers and can start me in as little as a week. That kind of offsets what I'm looking for as far as a little bit of training, because my co-driver would be asleep while I drive and vise versa. Nothing to really gain there.

I'm just seeking some guidance on a career change, and hoping some of y'all seasoned veterans can give me some advice.