Fresh Out Of Trucking School Opportunities

I am fresh out of trucking school - got my CDL on Friday. The program said it had 100% job placement, but in the end only brought in the Swift trucking company to do a presentation and that was it. What can I expect as a new trucker (age 60) in the industry? I live in WA State, and it would be great to find a job with health benefits. The first job that I am looking at wants to pay me on commission only (25%) and has no health benefits, currently. My wife is concerned about working Sundays since we are church-goers (I am Sunday School President, so I am required to be there Sundays). What can I expect in the industry? Many companies want 1-2 years' experience driving before they will consider hiring. I would really appreciate some advice from veteran truckers to a newbie in the industry. Do I have any hope of a job that doesn't require Sunday work, or that has health benefits included?

Wow Lpman....I think you should have come here BEFORE you went to school and all....cuz I don't have alot of good news for ya.... Trucking is like a hospital...open 24/7/365.....and Your the doctor on call.... Unless you can fall into a local gig that gets you home on weekends, you are looking at over the road , and it will get you home 3 days every 6 weeks or so. This will be different with each trucking company, but they really dont care that you want to go to church, thats why there are trucker's churches at most of the truckstops. I'm not sure what part of WA your in, i'm in the Southeast, Plymouth, WA..right on the Columbia River. I know that Interstate , May, Gordon, Watkins Shepard, Systems, and a few others run the western corridor. And A few of them do take on rookies. You will just have to reach out on the phone and talk to some recruiters. But if your gonna drive truck, you better get someone else to take your place at church.....I'm really sorry to say that, cuz I know I like to go as often as I can...but life gets in the way sometimes...you just have to prioritize...

Swift is a good company to start with. Most companies will require you to go Over The Road at the very least for training which can take 3 weeks to a few months. Unless you are really lucky and can get a local job fresh out of school ,which is rare as most companies require local drivers to have some experience, you will most likely not be able to be home on weeks ends.

One thing about trucking is that 99.9% of drivers have no social life do to the nature of our jobs. We are gone a lot from home. Having a commitment like Sunday School where you are required to be there EVERY Sunday is something that is likely not going to happen. Start with the link below and try actually call ALL the companies and see what you can come up with. Even if you are able to find a company that would agree to allow you to be home every weekend this early in your career there is still the training that is required for new drivers and most likely wll be out and away from home from a few weeks at the least.

Truck Driving Jobs

I hope you can find the job that allows you to be able to do stuff at home on the weekends but make sure you are looking at trucking in a realistic manner and realize that you might have to sacrifice somethings you enjoy doing at home if trucking is truely where you want to be.

Thanks for your replies - appreciate your time and thoughts. After you work for a while for long-haul company, does it get better schedule-wise? Can you arrange to get home each week for Sunday (work other 6 days) or is that so rare it's not really heard of in the industry? Any carriers better or worse to work with rookies? Thanks again!

After you work for a while for long-haul company, does it get better schedule-wise? Can you arrange to get home each week for Sunday (work other 6 days) or is that so rare it's not really heard of in the industry?

There are a lot of jobs that will get you home every night or on weekends but unfortunately there are very few that require less than 6-12 months of over the road experience. And even the ones that get you home on weekends can't guarantee what part of the weekend you'll be home. You might get home Saturday morning and have to leave by Sunday at noon to get to your Monday morning delivery on time. Sometimes you just don't know. They usually try to give you a minimum of 36 hours at home on the weekends, but trucking is very dynamic and there are no guarantees.

We have an excellent listing of truck driving jobs that will hopefully lead you to some opportunities. You can find those here:

Truck Driving Jobs

Do a search by zip code for best results in your area and fill out all the applications you like.

I'm confident you'll be able to find something that gets you home for church on Sundays but maybe not right away. You may have to put in 6 months or so on the road before getting that opportunity. It just depends on what's available in your area for new drivers.

I will say this - the dry van companies like Swift, Schneider, and Werner are your best bet for getting home more often. They tend to have more dedicated and regional divisions than refrigerated companies. Flatbed companies can go either way. But I would try to focus more on dry van than anything - I think that's where you'll have the best luck.

Thank you - I will look in those areas. Thanks also for this great website!