Old Man Leaves Six-Figure Management Position To Begin Training As A Trucker: Psychiatric Evaluation Pending

I watched a news story on the cvcc program I will see if I can find it again. The story mentioned partnering w Foster Fuels and Watts petroleum to hire grads. Looks like a tanker job could possible right out of the program.

I watched a news story on the cvcc program I will see if I can find it again. The story mentioned partnering w Foster Fuels and Watts petroleum to hire grads. Looks like a tanker job could possible right out of the program.

Thanks for the information, George. I might just reach out to Foster Fuels and see if I can find anything out about that. Much appreciated. If you can find that link I'd be very interested.

Tankers, especially food-grade (unbaffled), are not recommended for rookies.

Flatbed, Reefer and dryvan is far more forgiving as you hone skills and develop “a feel” for the dynamics of a 72’ long, 80,000lb semi.

I watched a news story on the cvcc program I will see if I can find it again. The story mentioned partnering w Foster Fuels and Watts petroleum to hire grads. Looks like a tanker job could possible right out of the program.

Thanks for the information, George. I might just reach out to Foster Fuels and see if I can find anything out about that. Much appreciated. If you can find that link I'd be very interested.

Tankers, especially food-grade (unbaffled), are not recommended for rookies.

Flatbed, Reefer and dryvan is far more forgiving as you hone skills and develop “a feel” for the dynamics of a 72’ long, 80,000lb semi.

Steve, Grandpa Clark;

I TOTALLY agree w/ G'Town here, 1000% ! Tom had many years of driving behind him, before he even pulled asphalt tankers. Very low viscosity, even. Yet you could SURE feel the movement, the surge could push one right into the intersection if not in the right gear/brakes/everything just so. I was with Tom for the few years he had that job. It's NOT for 'starters,' trust me from knowing and being there.

Foster Fuels will still be hiring a year or two from now, after you get your feet wet ! Read some of PJ's posts; he was with a mega (or 2?) before he got into hauling tanks, and Daniel B., as well. Daniel was even a trainer for Prime, before he moved to tanks. Now, he's with ODFL. Have you considered LTL? Read G'Town's thread on PFG; there's definitely some 'physicality' to it, as well!

Many other recruiters will probably show up at your class, with offers right out of the gate, as well. System Transport is another flatbed company to look at; since you'll already have your CDL. Pianoman worked for them, as did (i believe?) Starcar, quite some time ago. You can search by member, and read their materials. Keim is another flatbed company you can look into; don't know their level of experience required, however; I'll let YOU look! Keim T.S. . Another 'big boy' in the flatbed world you can look into, with some van experience, that hires in your area, is Transport National.

Always something to work TOWARD!

Regarding your training, here's that info you were talking about: CVCC's New CDL Program! Looks pretty cool; just published 2 days ago.

Best to all;

~ Anne ~

I watched a news story on the cvcc program I will see if I can find it again. The story mentioned partnering w Foster Fuels and Watts petroleum to hire grads. Looks like a tanker job could possible right out of the program.

Thanks for the information, George. I might just reach out to Foster Fuels and see if I can find anything out about that. Much appreciated. If you can find that link I'd be very interested.

Tankers, especially food-grade (unbaffled), are not recommended for rookies.

Flatbed, Reefer and dryvan is far more forgiving as you hone skills and develop “a feel” for the dynamics of a 72’ long, 80,000lb semi.

Steve, Grandpa Clark;

I TOTALLY agree w/ G'Town here, 1000% ! Tom had many years of driving behind him, before he even pulled asphalt tankers. Very low viscosity, even. Yet you could SURE feel the movement, the surge could push one right into the intersection if not in the right gear/brakes/everything just so. I was with Tom for the few years he had that job. It's NOT for 'starters,' trust me from knowing and being there.

Foster Fuels will still be hiring a year or two from now, after you get your feet wet ! Read some of PJ's posts; he was with a mega (or 2?) before he got into hauling tanks, and Daniel B., as well. Daniel was even a trainer for Prime, before he moved to tanks. Now, he's with ODFL. Have you considered LTL? Read G'Town's thread on PFG; there's definitely some 'physicality' to it, as well!

Many other recruiters will probably show up at your class, with offers right out of the gate, as well. System Transport is another flatbed company to look at; since you'll already have your CDL. Pianoman worked for them, as did (i believe?) Starcar, quite some time ago. You can search by member, and read their materials. Keim is another flatbed company you can look into; don't know their level of experience required, however; I'll let YOU look! Keim T.S. . Another 'big boy' in the flatbed world you can look into, with some van experience, that hires in your area, is Transport National.

Always something to work TOWARD!

Regarding your training, here's that info you were talking about: CVCC's New CDL Program! Looks pretty cool; just published 2 days ago.

Best to all;

~ Anne ~

Wow, Anne! Ask and ye shall receive! Thanks so much for the helpful links and everyone's advice is very consistent regarding starting w/tankers. As with any industry, you don't know what you don't know and that's why this group has been such a blessing over all these years I have been lurking. Hearing this great advice from people with real-world experience makes all the difference. Thanks to G-Town and you both for taking the time to provide such valuable information.

Every so often I’m charged with moving our water tanker… it’s like driving a wave tank. Especially when it’s half empty, off-road.

I pulled chemical tankers for 5 1/2 yrs. Just about everything liquid non food grade. Any company that would put a inexperienced driver in that position is a complete idiot, in my opinion.

Liquid is constantly moving. The smoother you are the better, but still a product in constant motion. That is a challenge. New drivers don’t have the skills needed to safely deal with this. I have experienced surge of product and would have sworn someone rear ended me.

That is just the driving part. Tankers are not all the same. It takes much more training and experience to safely deal with the tanker plus the wide variety of products.

I loved the job, maybe I’m a bit off, lol.

I have moved forward toward slowing sown and back to flatbed work. Same product all the time, so not really a true flatbedder.

Best of luck to you. I walked away from being the broker owner of 3 real estate franchises to start this adventure at 62. You can do it! I can say from conversations I’ve had with our corporate owners, safety department and terminal manager our company (Knight Transportation) loves their “older” drivers. One at our terminal is 77. Don’t want to say it’s the easiest but from my limited experience would recommend training and experience in dry van. Then move to what interest you from there. I really wanted flatbed work, but it was not sustainable for me. Gaining experience every day DV with the new goal of moving to tanker someday down the road. Keep an open mind and be receptive to correction/direction. There’s a good chance your trainer will be half your age.

Best of luck to you. I walked away from being the broker owner of 3 real estate franchises to start this adventure at 62. You can do it! I can say from conversations I’ve had with our corporate owners, safety department and terminal manager our company (Knight Transportation) loves their “older” drivers. One at our terminal is 77. Don’t want to say it’s the easiest but from my limited experience would recommend training and experience in dry van. Then move to what interest you from there. I really wanted flatbed work, but it was not sustainable for me. Gaining experience every day DV with the new goal of moving to tanker someday down the road. Keep an open mind and be receptive to correction/direction. There’s a good chance your trainer will be half your age.

Thanks, Glenbob, I appreciate you sharing your experience and advice. When you were considering flatbed, did you then, or do you now have any companies that stood out to you as good options for guys of our era? I'm looking for some physical exercise after sitting in a cubicle for the past 25+years. I'm in good health and looking to stay very active as I move into my retirement years. The corporate stress bs has definitely taken its toll on me and I have no preconceived ideas that a new career as a driver will be stress-free, however, I have always felt that if your attitude and work ethic are on point, you can tough your way through new and challenging experiences. Based on reading the experiences of others, including your own experiences, it seems that it is an intense, ongoing learning experience for the first years for sure. Having been a life-long learner, I'm always suspicious when I meet experts that say that they know everything and have nothing left to learn. This website has really helped me glean some great information from people who are willing to share their victories and their failures. Both can be equally valuable. Learning new skills is one of life's greatest blessings and I'm looking forward to learning this new skill-set.

This may be too late, but how about TMC? Great equipment based on my observation.