Looking For Local Driving Without OTR Experience

I would like to change professions, but am older, have a family and home. I see I can study here on the site for the written test. This would allow me to get my CDP. What's the chances/opportunity to find a local job that will allow me to train/drive locally?

If I pay to go to school and get my license, will I be able to get a local job driving a bus without any experience? What kind of pay will this type of job provide?

What are my options to get into driving without OTR experience?

What are my options to get into driving without OTR experience?

Hello Ken, and welcome aboard!

The traditional way to break into a driving career is to go Over The Road first. It's not set in stone that you have to go that way, but there are many advantages to "getting your feet wet" by taking that course of action. First off almost any truck driving job you look into is going to want experience, unless it is with one of the self-insured mega carriers who make a practice of hiring rookies as part of their business strategy. The industry standard for consideration as experienced is Over The Road (OTR) driving. To give you an example, a guy who has been driving a truck for fifteen years locally who then tries to go get an OTR job is considered to have no experience - sounds crazy, but it is what it is.

I always recommend that a prospective person looking into this career try to do a year of over the road first, and then switch over to looking for a local job. There is just so much you will learn on the road that will help you be a better local driver, and you get to kind of ease into all the different aspects of driving a big truck that way instead of being forced immediately into dealing with difficult locations to get in and out of, impossible docks to back into, and constant local traffic. I usually suggest to a person like yourself to make a plan with their spouse so that you both understand that you need to get out there on the road so that you can get the basics down, and then have a plan and an intention of changing your career path to a local job once you've gotten yourself established with that first year of driving with a good solid safety record. The golden goal for that first year is that you Don't Hit Anything - that is important!

Ken, I too started this as a 53 year old guy who had already retired from his own business endeavors of thirty years. I know how important Family is, but it is also important that you get your truck driving career off to the proper start. We've got a member in here who is a single mom, she is a great gal with a lot of spunk and potential - I have a lot of admiration and respect for her. She had to have a local job due to the fact that she has children at home still - and they still need a "present" mom. She went through driving school and was fortunate enough to land a local job. It didn't last long as they decided she wasn't going to work out - this is the hard reality of local work - they need experienced drivers due to the way their insurance is set up, and basically they decided she wasn't going to make the cut after all. She got very fortunate and was able to get another local job, she then had a very minor accident (something very easy to have happen to you as a rookie) and they let her go. Now she's looking for another local job, and she doesn't qualify for an OTR job because she is not considered "experienced," and it has been too many months since she was in school.

I'm just trying to illustrate why we stick to our guns on advising folks to get an OTR job first and then focus their efforts on a local position. Now, as you can extrapolate from the real life example I gave you, it is sometimes possible for a person to land a local job first. It just doesn't always come out like a bowl of peaches and cream. If you are set on doing it the hard way, and I completely understand, then here's my suggestion: Before you attend any school, go into visit them and see if they help their students with job placement. If they don't I would pass on that particular school. Find yourself a school that will help with job placement, and see if they have contacts with any companies that will hire their students for local driving positions. They should have a list they can give you of companies that have hired their students for local positions. Now, before you ever give the school any money, start first by contacting some of those local companies and see what is the likelihood of them hiring you once you've gotten your CDL. Then you should have an idea how to proceed from that point.

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and am sorta the same boat as Ken. I have my learner's permit and have been studying the practice tests here for a couple weeks now, I will be plunking down my $$$ in about a month or so at a local truck driving school. I am not crazy with the OTR idea and being away from home for looong periods of time. I'm 49 and have responsibilities at home, if I was younger and still single/unattached I could do the long haul thing for awhile. I am willing to compromise being gone for two or so days at a time, as long as I could get two days home a week. I would prefer a local or regional job to start if I could get one, and work my way up to LTL or P&D. Hauling construction materials or a dump truck is even more appealing, coming from many years of hard backbreaking work in the trades and getting my hands dirty. I live in the busy New York Hudson valley, there seem to be a lot of jobs here, so I'm hoping I have a shot at making a choice that fits me.

Hi Ken. Old School gave you some good, generic advice. Safe advice. Advice that applies to a lot of potential drivers. And it's especially worthwhile to pay attention to what he said about going local, and then not having the OTR experience to land a different job. But, I'll add to that in saying that a trend is that companies are now requiring just "tractor trailer" experience, and not specifically OTR experience. JB Hunt, a national truckload carrier, is one such example. But, you still have lots of local and OTR companies that want that specific OTR experience.

Your opportunities will vary depending on your location. Location often trumps experience. Based on what you wrote, I can see that you have your heart set on local work, and maybe nearing retirement? That's fine. You should start checking around your area at potential employers to see what they need as qualifications. Local jobs vary greatly depending on the location, as do the requirements for any experience.

If you're at the age of near retirement, and are looking for the type of job that will bridge you into social security, a school bus gig would be great. Keep in mind those jobs don't pay very well, but it all depends on what you need out of a job. I know the local school bus jobs around here will train new drivers - no prior experience needed.

Again, depending on your age and what you want out of a job, you could always go into food service, but that is very physically demanding work.

Other options involve garbage truck, construction (dump trucking), and LTL (P&D and linehaul work).

Before you shell out the money for a CDL , make sure you can get a local job in your area. You'll ultimately need to do the footwork to determine what your area offers. I can try to help if you tell me where you're located.

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and am sorta the same boat as Ken. I have my learner's permit and have been studying the practice tests here for a couple weeks now, I will be plunking down my $$$ in about a month or so at a local truck driving school. I am not crazy with the OTR idea and being away from home for looong periods of time. I'm 49 and have responsibilities at home, if I was younger and still single/unattached I could do the long haul thing for awhile. I am willing to compromise being gone for two or so days at a time, as long as I could get two days home a week. I would prefer a local or regional job to start if I could get one, and work my way up to LTL or P&D. Hauling construction materials or a dump truck is even more appealing, coming from many years of hard backbreaking work in the trades and getting my hands dirty. I live in the busy New York Hudson valley, there seem to be a lot of jobs here, so I'm hoping I have a shot at making a choice that fits me.

You might not even need to work your way into an LTL job. I didn't go OTR first before joining Old Dominion as a linehaul driver. But, not every OD terminal has the same hiring requirements. You need to put together a list of LTL companies and see where they are near your location. Then, give them a call and ask if they would hire without experience. You might need to work the dock first. Or, like my terminal, they might even have their own paid schooling program. This can be company specific, as well as terminal specific, in regard to your opportunities. It's all based on what your location offers.

Here's my thread on LTL and my job.

LTL Trucking: My Linehaul Job

To clarify about myself, I didn't work the dock to become a linehaul driver for Old Dominion. I went to private CDL school, interviewed with OD while in school, and then applied and got the job right out of school. I went right from CDL school to being a linehaul driver for OD. Turns out, I could've gotten paid to earn my CDL at OD since they have this program at my terminal , even for folks right off the street, but I was unaware of that. Not every OD terminal has that opportunity.