Does This Sound Like A Good Business Plan?

You're welcome young man.

Linden you have ambition for sure. If you have the means and the motivation I think it's best to get some secondary education under your belt, 2-4 years. No one can ever take that away from you. You can then get your CDL and chase your dream. Depending on how it turns out, I think the additional education will benefit you regardless of what happens.

Good luck.

^^^^^ This...

G-Town has a good suggestion.

Since you're only 16 now - and you can't CDL OTR until you're 21. Assuming you grad High School at 18, you can be 3/4 of the way to a BA/BS by the time you're old enough for an Interstate CDL.

A lot of us would probably do things quite differently that we had, if we had started making ACTUAL PLANS when we were still in High School.

Get your education first. Once you have the responsibility of providing for a family - the time and expense involved in a higher education gets less and less likely.

God - do we sound like a bunch of old farts or what?

Rick

^^^^^ This...

G-Town has a good suggestion.

Since you're only 16 now - and you can't CDL OTR until you're 21. Assuming you grad High School at 18, you can be 3/4 of the way to a BA/BS by the time you're old enough for an Interstate CDL.

A lot of us would probably do things quite differently that we had, if we had started making ACTUAL PLANS when we were still in High School.

Get your education first. Once you have the responsibility of providing for a family - the time and expense involved in a higher education gets less and less likely.

God - do we sound like a bunch of old farts or what?

Rick

Compared to him, we are!

God - do we sound like a bunch of old farts or what?

Hey! I resemble that remark!

^^^^^ This...

G-Town has a good suggestion.

Since you're only 16 now - and you can't CDL OTR until you're 21. Assuming you grad High School at 18, you can be 3/4 of the way to a BA/BS by the time you're old enough for an Interstate CDL.

A lot of us would probably do things quite differently that we had, if we had started making ACTUAL PLANS when we were still in High School.

Get your education first. Once you have the responsibility of providing for a family - the time and expense involved in a higher education gets less and less likely.

God - do we sound like a bunch of old farts or what?

Rick

Compared to him, we are!

Hahaha... I think I will do it for two years... Because even if I did 1 year I would be sitting around for two years thinking "Well... now what?"... I mean considering all the info I've gotten over the course of the past month, I don't think I would need two years to plan. I have added to my plan since you guys told me all this:

1. Graduate High School 2. Go to CCRI for 2 years taking buisness administration and CDL training 3. Graduate from CCRI 4. Rent a small house or something in a place where truck driving is popular (e.g. Pennsylvania) for a reasonable price (probably one maybe two bedroom, nothing fancy) 5. Go to Truck Driving School and earn my CDL 6. When I turn 21 start applying for over the road trucking jobs 7. When I get a OTR driving job, move out of house (otr drivers normally live in sleepers so...) 8. Work as an OTR driver for 4-5 years 9. Apply for Car Hauling jobs (prob. United Road) 10. Once hired at a car hauling company, buy house from money earned (I want to move back to Rhode Island at that point because car hauling buisness is good here) 11. Work at car transport company for another 4-6 years 12. Purchase my own car hauler and hire drivers w/ own trucks & dispatchers 13. Blue Leaf Trucking (name for company I came up with) is up and running!

If anything should be changed, let me know :)

Rick senses something

do we sound like a bunch of old farts or what?

Yes, that's why old farts hang around. But it's good advice.

... and the practice will do you good, too.

If the projection is 3-5 weeks school (translates to 1 1/2 months) your savings should be 2 month minimum. Maybe you get that first check on schedule, but the first couple may be a bit skimpy. My first check was $0.00 (I kid you not). My third check, for my first really full week of road training was $535.35 gross take home. My second check OTR solo was $755.28 gross.

I've enjoyed watching this discussion. It is amazing how some folks know exactly what they want to do at such a young age. I'm 56 and still wondering what I might do when I grow up! For some reason Linden reminds me of Professor X, a young man I visited with on the C.B. radio last year.

I'm 56 and still wondering what I might do when I grow up!

Old School, ME TOO! Now I don't feel so alone!

Linden, I too have enjoyed reading the thread. You remind of myself with your 'obsessive' planning and attention to detail. It can be a blessing and a curse. Unfortunately I was a knuckle head for most of my teen years - good for you by keeping a good head on your shoulders and not being part of the Teenage Wasteland.

I'm against getting a degree for the sake of getting a degree. Unless you're going to specify in something for your secondary education, I think it's nothing more than an expensive luxury. If we're just talking about earning a living, going to a trade school is a much better return on an investment. Too many college grads nowadays soar out of their university with idealistic enthusiasm, looking for those white collar jobs, only to find a job market saturated by other college grads and getting two jobs just to start chipping away at their mountain of school debt. I have a bachelor's degree and it did not open doors of opportunity in regard to jobs. A library card is much cheaper for personal edification, and if I was giving advice to someone who was using college as a means to gain job opportunities, I'd say learn a trade and save that college money for a down-payment on a house.

In your case though, business courses would definitely be specifying in something for an end goal. I learned a lot about business through my father's business, and then started my own successful business. I could have benefited better from a business degree than a liberal arts degree, had I known I was going to start a business. But the meat and potatoes of business can also be learned from a savvy business person who is willing to be a mentor. I'm certainly not trying to talk you out of business school or taking business courses, but sometimes there can be some 'fluff' in there as well, depending on what kind of program you're looking at.

Good luck with your endeavors. Your ability to define what you want and how to meet your goals will be a huge deciding factor in your success. The only other thing you'll need is grit.