New Here With Many Odd And Unheard Of Questions.

Hello everyone,

So I am new to the site. I have been thinking about making a career change. I am currently a High School teacher living overseas. So here comes the first of my odd questions. I still have 15 months on my teaching contract. Now when this time ends, I will have been living and working overseas for 8 years. I have both a S. Korean and Japanese class C & M license. However in the past 8 years, I have only gone home twice and used my International DL. My PA license has long expired. When I move back to the US, what would not having any US driving exp in the past 8 years cause me? Would this DQ me until I have American hours under me again? Or could I bring records from Japan to show I have still been driving? In the US, Korea, and Japan I have clear driving records.

The next question is this, I have been talking to a friend who has his own truck back in PA and also works part-time with a driving school. He has told me alot about different carriers out of PA which is where I would like to live still. So I have been looking at companies that will train you and get your your CDL you know do everything with them the first year sort of deal. I have been looking a lot at TMC, their pay is very fair and home time is good as well. So looking for input on these kinds of companies. I dont want to drop 4,500 bucks on a CDL class first.

Third, I am married and have 2 kids. My wife is Japanese. I will be moving back to the US first to get started on a job and set everything up for her and the kids. Once she and the kids make the move, they will stay with my parents. So being that there may be a 8 or 9 month gap in time, Will a company like the ones I am looking at, let a driver do much longer OTR to start for say 8 months and then let you switch back to your regional or dedicated run. When the wife and kids are still in Japan I would like to try and earn as much as I can.

Forth, I see tons of adds saying make 60K, 70K, up to 80K a year with-in your first year of driving. Are these numbers at all real? They all say drivers are home on weekends, Family time is important, etc... I'm thinking the real number is around the 55~60K a year mark. Am I wrong?

Lastly, My uncle was a trucker after he left the St. Police. He is long gone so I can not ask him any questions, but I remember he used to do runs where he would be out 7 home 3 or 4. He had a nice house, pool, 2 dogs 2 kids the whole set-up. Granted most of all that came from his St. Police job. So how realalistic is it to be able to support a family of 4 and still get home on weekends. Weekends at home are very important as It will be a little hard at first for my wife to adjust. She has been to America before and alos lived in Canada and Australia, so English is not a problem for her, just more adjustment to such countryside living. My kids both have citizenship already and speak both English and Japanese, so the kids no real issue.

Well thanks for letting me introduce myself and ask some questions. Back to the classroom now.

40k is a reasonable first year income for a new driver. More than that seems to be wishful thinking, but perhaps not impossible, if you pick up on the job quickly and work hard. I'd say a top end first year job expectation would be 60k if you get hired by a good company with lots of freight, AND if you catch on quick and bust your butt.

Weekend home time should not be expected in the first year, though it might happen, depending on the company. Regional drivers frequently have regular home time. Most drivers spend at a very minimum 3 months Over The Road before moving to a regional or local job though.

The complexities of international licenses and how they impact your eligibility for hiring should probably be addressed to individual companies.

Your state of residence may also have some requirements about going from international license to state CDL. Check with them as well.

Welcome Matthew.

Your biggest hurdle is the license. Not completely sure how your resident state (PA) will handle this. Since you have US driving experience the initial one year requirement may not apply. You'll need to investigate this further. This is the kind of question "Rick" typically excels at addressing.

In the mean time here are a set of links, the TT starter kit you can begin to review and digest. The content helps set realistic expectations, a primer of information and a CBT course designed to enable success in taking the CDL permit exams. Good luck!

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road Training Program

Welcome Matthew.

Your biggest hurdle is the license. Not completely sure how your resident state (PA) will handle this. Since you have US driving experience the initial one year requirement may not apply. You'll need to investigate this further. This is the kind of question "Rick" typically excels at addressing.

Hmmm.

This is one that hasn't really come up before.

Where we would see this the most, is for military personnel that are deployed and let their licenses go expired, etc. - and we tend to bend over backwards to accommodate our veterans on issues like this (wish we did the same for them in other areas too).

Having not held a US drivers license for the last 8 years may present an issue, as there's really no way of determining/verifying recent driving history. Getting MVR records from our friends in CANADA is usually not an issue for folks that want to drive here (and I believe the 1 year previous licensure is waived for Canadian drivers) - and is usually acceptable to trucking companies and their insurers.

Our friend Matt is honestly going to have to make a Skype call to a recruiter or two - and perhaps the DMV of his intended home state (good luck with that) to see what their requirements may or may not be regarding CDL permits/licensure for previous holders of US license that have been abroad for a number of years.

I believe - despite having held a foreign license for all these years - he may have to retest even his road test to get a US/PA regular operators license - again - because his MVR records from Korea/Japan (along with certified translations, etc.) is more hassle than it's worth for most licensing offices, and it's easier for them to just re-test.

Despite what you see in the movies (fast & furious, etc.) Japan is very serious about their drivers - most offenses there carry criminal liability, drivers are considered to be "professionals", at least it was like that when I was over there.

The other issue may arise with BG checks for employment and references. This is a Homeland Security thing. Were you teaching english to the Japanese/Korean kids, or were you at a Abu Sayyaff terror camp teaching infiltration skills?

I'm drawing a question mark on this one myself. Again - typically we see this type of question coming from deployed military, not civilians.

Don't have any real answers for you Matt. Sorry. As G-Town mentions, I'm usually pretty good at these questions.

Rick

Matthew, re: your license issue, I'm in a slightly similar situation in that I've been out of the U.S. for 3 1/2 yrs, however my driver's license is still valid and doesn't expire until 2018. Several trucking companies (their recruiters) have flat-out denied my application as they require 1-3 years (depending on the company) of recent driving experience in the U.S. Doesn't matter that my license is still valid, or that I've had it for 28 years. Insurance was also a problem: because I sold my cars and haven't been driving for at least three years, one of the companies would not accept me into their school or consider for employment because they require three years of current insurance history. It's not their rule, it's the rule of the insurance company they use, according to the HR person I spoke with. BUT, THERE ARE COMPANIES where this is NOT a problem. Contact the larger fleets, like Swift or Werner, and you are more likely to have success. I'm happy to say the majority of companies I've applied to don't recognize my particular situation as a problem for them, just a few.

Thanks for the info guys, I have taked to one of the companies I am interested in, and they told me as long as I have a valid PA Dl, no matter of history status and I have my CDL-P they will take me on. No need for Japanese or Korean driver checks. However they would still need to do a job check with the places I have worked while overseas. Will be starting a blog soon on my adventure as I know I have a very unique situation. Who knows, maybe some day in the future somone else like me will come around.