Unreasonable Job Plans?

I am one week into the FSCC driving school in Kansas City, so far so good. Though there are five weeks left, I am concerned about passing the CDL-A skills exam in Missouri, as I have been told that they are quite exacting. Here is my situation and why I am seeking advise now about job prospects. I am 59 years old and was self employed for the last 17 years. Due to the economy I am seeking work in this field, as it seems about the only one where there are opportunities. In my class of 11 students the youngest is in his early 30's and over half are my age. They, too, are in the same situation as me, having been laid off from their jobs and unable to find work.

At my age I am not looking so much for a career as just a job to pay the bills and try to get ahead. I am at all interested being gone for weeks on end nor particularly interested in seeing the nation. My plan is to land work that gets me home daily or at least a couple of times a week. Is this plan unreasonable? Do any of you have suggestions on driving jobs that might work for me? Lastly, are there any endorsements that might help? Thanks

Welcome aboard Thomas!

Your plans are not unreasonable but you may have to get 6-12 months of over the road experience before you find a local job you qualify for. Once in a while someone comes out of school and finds something right away that gets them home daily, but it's not often. You'll really have to do a lot of digging around and contacting every company you can find that might have an opportunity.

We have an excellent listing of Truck Driving Jobs so start there for some ideas. You can apply to all the jobs you like.

Also, have a look at Craigslist. A lot of smaller, local companies have job listings there. You might find something.

As far as endorsements, we always recommend that you get all of them. There's no reason not to. Other than Hazmat they're all just a short, simple written test you take one time and you have it for life. But they'll definitely give you more opportunities.

Besides the job listings I've mentioned you might consider driving a school bus or public transportation bus. The hours would likely suit you much better than a class A trucking job. Remember, with trucking you can legally be on duty up to 70 hours every 8 days. A lot of local trucking jobs are 10-14 hour days.