If Money Is Not An Issue....

Thanks for all the advice. I'll do some more research before I make my final decision.

I'm scheduled to enroll in Tampa Truck Driving School on 1/9 and have a prehire by Stevens Transport. Upon further review, I see that Stevens while a solid training company, offers lower than average training pay ($350/wk) and starting pay (26cpm). Although I know first year's pay isn't really what to focus on, I will be making a move at the end of the month from NYC to Tampa and going a year without decent income will effect me financially.

just so you are aware Training pay is $450 for three weeks then $500 and it starts at 30. cpm ..... Also Rick. S I didn't hide or keep it private that I worked for a school. Don't really get why you had such a long winded post about what Dominick asked.... well I kinda do know...

There are some companies that DO REGIONAL - Tampa may not actually be one of the BETTER LOCATIONS to do it from. While it's better than Fort Lauderdale (where I'm stuck), it's not nearly as good as, say - ATLANTA, or even NY (though you did have an issue getting offers in NYC as I recall).

Is there some COMPELLING REASON you are moving to TAMPA in particular? Or was it mainly for Trucking School (which lasts less than a month anyways)?

WHY are you moving your wife OUT OF someplace she already has her "people"? Having support of friends and family is important for spouses whose husbands are OTR. You're just going to dump her in Tampa ALONE? (playing the jewish guilt thing here). If you want to get rid of her, just leave her in NY.

Oh - you DON'T want to get rid of her? Then don't move her to Tampa and just leave her there alone, while you go out in a driving situation that may not have you home for a COUPLE OF MONTHS INITIALLY.

ANY COMPANY YOU GO WITH - is still going to have an "initial training period" where your hometime might be "iffy" - especially if your trainer isn't home based out of the same place YOU ARE.

I'd take a deep breath and consider the logistics of YOUR RELATIONSHIP.

Rick

I personally did the community college route because of my GI Bill. It is financially more beneficial to me that way. By getting my CDL first it did open a lot more options for choosing a company. However, I agree with Rainy, company sponsored program perhaps may be more thorough in your training. Plus by doing a company sponsored program that company is more vested in you. Yes they get supplemental income from the government to run a school. I doubt any additional funds they get make them rich. At best they probably break even running their program. By getting your CDL first any company you go to will not have that vested interest to such a degree. You have more expectation to perform.

Let's say hypothetically a company, with their own CDL school, spends $10,000 on you for orientation, CDL training, and finishing training. During that time you have been with the company 3 months. They have $10k and 3 months vested in you. They want you to succeed so they can see a return.

Now let's say you show up with your CDL. The company you choose spends $3,000 for orientation and finishing training. At the end, you have been with the company 6 weeks. You can plainly see that they do not have near the amount of resources put into you. Plus they have tuition reimbursement. So by keeping you around it is costing them more money. Unless you are performing, they have far less incentitive to keep you.

In my personal opinion this is the reason that rookie accidents are forgiven easier by the company sponsored programs. I work for one the large companies who actually has a trailer rebuild department. I banged a trailer my first month knocking the axle out of alignment. They didn't even make me feel bad about it and did their best to calm me down. They fixed it, yes it will be on my DAC but it was never mentioned again. And I learned better control of the trailer.

Had I gone to a smaller company especially a mom and pop...I'd have been fired. Not saying that getting a CDL then going would have gotten me fired, but as stated above, more invested in me now than if I got the CDL elsewhere.

just so you are aware Training pay is $450 for three weeks then $500 and it starts at 30. cpm ..... Also Rick. S I didn't hide or keep it private that I worked for a school. Don't really get why you had such a long winded post about what Dominick asked.... well I kinda do know...

It's not all about you - much as you'd like to make it so. And we can beat the dead horse about whether or not you came right out and said represented a trucking school - or whether it was pried out of you on our last go around. That's right - we did that on the last discussion.

So troll away mon frer.

Either way - I'm trying to look out for Dom. If his best bet is at Tampa Truck Driving School - then I'm all for it. But it seems like he has more "moving pieces" to his equation, than just where he gets his CDL. He's talking about relocating a spouse to Tampa and then leaving her there with no support system, while he goes OTR.

I thought he already was IN TAMPA, doing his training. I was wondering why he was having second thoughts.

And yes - I tend to be "long winded".

Sue me.

Rick

Thanks for all the advice. I'll do some more research before I make my final decision.

I'm scheduled to enroll in Tampa Truck Driving School on 1/9 and have a prehire by Stevens Transport. Upon further review, I see that Stevens while a solid training company, offers lower than average training pay ($350/wk) and starting pay (26cpm). Although I know first year's pay isn't really what to focus on, I will be making a move at the end of the month from NYC to Tampa and going a year without decent income will effect me financially.

I spoke to a recruit at Prime and she told me that if all my info is as I claim, they should have no problem getting me into their program which offers much better training pay along with better starting cpm.

My dilemma is this... I'm moving with my wife to Tampa. Obtaining my CDL-A is something that I've always wanted to do and given Florida's low wages, its something I can do and make a decent living for myself. Problem is, I'll be away for quite a while for the first year before I'm able to land something regional or local and it'll be hard for her to get acclimated by herself in a town where she doesnt know anyone while I'm out. I know its going to take some sacrifice, but that's why I was thinking about paying my own way thru CDL school and trying to find a company who will take me straight from school that will allow me to start off regional where I can get more at home time for at least the first year while we get settled in. Is that something that you think is possible?

Prime would put you on Southeast regional as a newbie. Schneider will too. I know primes is FL to NC and I think as far west as LA and I think every other weekend home for two days. My friend at Schneider lives in Atlanta and home every weekend.

Keep in mind...FL wages are lower cause cost of living is lower. I'm from jersey..I shop down south cause of the cheaper prices ;)

It's not all about you - much as you'd like to make it so. And we can beat the dead horse about whether or not you came right out and said represented a trucking school - or whether it was pried out of you on our last go around. That's right - we did that on the last discussion.

Hmmm correct not about me but... you brought it up no reason for that was there...

BTW...prime has a drop yard 100 miles south of Tampa so getting you home and picking up out of tropicana there should be easy. I'm not sure about Schneider.

Keep in mind regional might get you home more often but not for longer periods. Whether you get home every other weekend or four days after 4 weeks...its still just four days a month. By the time you do laundry, catch up on sleep, stock the truck....you will be leaving again and not feel like you spent home time lol. Heck I take four days straight and don't feel like I was home or had enough time.

Would your wife be able to join you on the road? I got rid of my apartment and only pay my car, insurance and storage. I'll be paying my car off a year early because of it. Realize too that truckers can write off a bunch of stuff on taxes. I a little more than half of what I normally did in my govt job but have double the available cash.

The move is a mutual decision between my wife and I. We travel to Tampa frequently and love the area. We have a few friends but she'll still be by herself. She has some jobs lined up as she's a professional and will have no problem landing a high paying job right away.

Maybe what I'll do is push back my school start date for a few weeks while we get settled in rather than getting to Tampa and starting school right away. I have about 3 weeks before I make my final decision.

Thanks for all the replies.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll do some more research before I make my final decision.

I'm scheduled to enroll in Tampa Truck Driving School on 1/9 and have a prehire by Stevens Transport. Upon further review, I see that Stevens while a solid training company, offers lower than average training pay ($350/wk) and starting pay (26cpm). Although I know first year's pay isn't really what to focus on, I will be making a move at the end of the month from NYC to Tampa and going a year without decent income will effect me financially.

I spoke to a recruit at Prime and she told me that if all my info is as I claim, they should have no problem getting me into their program which offers much better training pay along with better starting cpm.

My dilemma is this... I'm moving with my wife to Tampa. Obtaining my CDL-A is something that I've always wanted to do and given Florida's low wages, its something I can do and make a decent living for myself. Problem is, I'll be away for quite a while for the first year before I'm able to land something regional or local and it'll be hard for her to get acclimated by herself in a town where she doesnt know anyone while I'm out. I know its going to take some sacrifice, but that's why I was thinking about paying my own way thru CDL school and trying to find a company who will take me straight from school that will allow me to start off regional where I can get more at home time for at least the first year while we get settled in. Is that something that you think is possible?

Prime would put you on Southeast regional as a newbie. Schneider will too. I know primes is FL to NC and I think as far west as LA and I think every other weekend home for two days. My friend at Schneider lives in Atlanta and home every weekend.

Keep in mind...FL wages are lower cause cost of living is lower. I'm from jersey..I shop down south cause of the cheaper prices ;)

Thanks for the info Rainy!

Considering your pre-hire from Stevens, you might want to run your question by them.