The Long Road Ahead

Hey everyone, I know I've been on hiatus recently, had to finish up my engineering degree/finals and started getting everything in order for CDL school at National Trucking Inc. in green cove springs/orange park Florida.

I first spent a month at their heavy equipment operators course, graduated and got my NCCER certification, and began the CDL portion last sunday! I just got my permit Thursday morning, and we begin our work on shifting tomorrow. Im looking forward to learning as much as possible, getting my skills test knocked out, and getting on the road with a company. Going to spend the next few days sending out applications, and getting a hold of recruiters, its my hope that having the heavy equipment certification (and the ability to actually operate the equipment in a safe, professional manner) will open up additional employment opportunities for me and provide additional experiences that can be shared with you all.

Hope everyone is having an absolutely wonderful weekend, be safe out there!

Sounds great man!

its my hope that having the heavy equipment certification (and the ability to actually operate the equipment in a safe, professional manner) will open up additional employment opportunities for me

It certainly should, but maybe not right away. A little experience behind the wheel might make all the difference. And I would assume you're going to be looking at flatbedding if you want to work for companies that haul and operate equipment? That would seem the way to go.

A person doesn't have much value in trades like trucking or operating equipment until they get some experience. Schools teach you enough to land a job so that you can begin your real training on the job. So I would expect even 6 - 12 months behind the wheel should open up some opportunities. There are a ton of small companies out there so you'll do well to really dig around and find a bunch of them to look into.

Keep us updated!