Possible Career Transition

I guess I may have perceived some comments on a different forum, facebook and on youtube the wrong way. It's difficult to cut through the bullsugar at times and determine what is authentic. I opted to post on this forum because of the wealth of wisdom and sincerity most of you have. Again, I did admit that I could be all the way wrong.

Rui, that's a great answer, and to be honest with you that is what I was hoping to see. It is very easy to get yourself all confused and conflicted about this career when researching the stuff online. There is just volumes of misinformation, and a lot of it is based on the very things I've been trying to explain to you about how so many people in this career never grasp hold of the concepts of success that are basic to the career. There was a point in time where Prime was a company that really pushed hard for their drivers to lease trucks. That time has long been passed, but those rumors still run rampant among drivers. Prime is actually one of the highest paying places for a rookie to make a start, and they have benefits available to their drivers that rival any trucking company out here. They will work with you and help you learn how to succeed at this business, and their training program is one of the very best in my opinion because it is all real world, on the road experience while you are training.

I don't feel like I can do as well or better than the top earners. I have never driven a truck, I wouldn't know the first thing about being a top producer. I just want to make the right decisions going into it so to minimize regrets. Also, I don't know what in what I said lead you to assume that I feel as though I can come in and be a top driver. You seem to have taken my ignorance with Prime and taken it personally and then made assumptions of my thought process.

Haha! Rui, when we are dealing with just text it is sometimes hard to convey what you are wanting without being misunderstood. I haven't taken anything personally (I have no connections with Prime at all), and I sure didn't mean to come off as being snarky about you thinking you can be a top producer.

Here's the deal, I'm trying to help you understand how to succeed at this, and the only reason I went to the trouble was because it was obvious you had already been mislead by your own research. Who you are working for is a very small part of the equation, and to be honest with you I don't think it should even be a part of an introductory drivers concerns. The first and foremost thing is to land that first job, and commit yourself to learning the trade and how your company operates so you can develop your skills as a driver who understands how to manage their time and be productive. Almost everybody gets this part all wrong. Everybody thinks that the company they start with is the most important thing they have got to determine at the onset of their career. The main thing you want to concentrate on is being the best that you can be as a driver. Once you know you are being productive, safe, and efficient, you can land a job wherever you want to. It takes a couple of years to get yourself to that point, but you can accomplish that at any major trucking company out here.

You are an interesting and different type of person from what we usually have in here in the fact that you already know you are going to be reducing your income. Most people make the move into trucking so they can increase their income. Trucking has been a career that has saved many a struggling wage earner from financial ruin, and brought on ruin for many a person who came into it thinking it was going to be an easy way to make some real money.

Rui, I took a major pay cut by doing this also. I was a business owner for thirty years who had basically retired. I love being productive, and I really enjoy working. I started out with a company that is considered by all internet accounts to be a terrible place to work (Western Express). I learned all the things about being productive, safe, and reliable while there, and I actually made some really decent money for a rookie driver during my first year there. I was part of what I have referred to as the "core group" of drivers that they depended on, and that group of drivers are treated really well no matter where you are. I would probably still be there had it not been for a considerably better offer I received from Knight transportation.

My point in all this is to show the path to success at this career.

1) Land a job

2) Learn the trade while proving yourself

3) Then you can concentrate on which company you really would like to work for, and go for it at that time - they will be glad to have you on board at that time.

Thanks Old School. I appreciate all the advice.

Welp, 3 years has passed and I never made the jump. My fear got the best of me and also I had some miscalculations on earnings and commitments. Specifically, child support that I didn't factor in. My earnings would drop but my child support commitment would remain the same and to lower it would be a timely and arduous process.

During that time I became even more obese and became pre-diabetic. When I received that news I was in a bit of denial and just popped my prescribed pills and kept on consuming mountain dew by the case load. My labs kept reporting back that my numbers were still getting worse and it wasn't until I was nearly at the point where I would need to take insulin injections that I finally snapped out of it. Happy to report that I kicked the soda habit completely and only drink water now. I am no longer pre-diabetic but I continue to take metformin every morning along with cholesterol medication. I know this will be an issue with being medically cleared but I just don't know how big a hurdle it will be. For all I know I won't need metformin anymore if my labs keep showing improvement. I need to cut carbs as well but one big hurdle at a time. I also quit smoking a year ago so I am trying to knock out a lot of bad habits in a short period of time.

So, now I am back, circling the trucking industry once again like a hungry shark. I have 9 months left of child support from my kids with my first wife. I have sold my house and am currently renting while the wife and I seek out some land in north Texas to plop down a house. I would prefer North Carolina but I don't dare move her and our kids away from her immediate family while I am away on the road for weeks if not months on end. I have my eye on Prime Inc. Flatbed and Millis Transfer. Millis has a school right down the highway from me so I wouldn't need to go away and I would be home each night during training. Any idea if Heartland buying Millis will change anything in how Millis operates?