New To The Industry And 40 Years Old.

As the title states, I am new to the industry at the age of 40. The short-hand version of my story is that I am in aviation currently (US Army) and lost my medical but was able to get it back on the military side. I mean, I was grateful to get it back but I already had retirement in. The FAA on the other hand? That is an entirely different story and I won't bore you with the details. Needless to say, for the next several years I will not be flying. Nothing in my medical will prevent a DOT medical issuance so I will just leave it at that.

Whether or not I stayed in aviation I was going to get my CDL eventually. I figured this was a good time to do so. Retiring out of the service soon, I LOVE the open road, and I have always been fascinated by all things "transportation". I actually thought about working on ships because I love water and port cities (even the dirty ones :P). I opted for the CDL because it is offered on the base I am currently at so why pass up such an awesome opportunity?

The question I have is this: What do I need to be looking out for and what are some things I should be doing right now that can help in any way possible? I will try to add some info below that may help. Not sure what to ask because I don't know what I don't know.

I live in El Paso. I don't plan to relocate at the moment (daughter is in high school and wife has pretty good job). I'm ok with being out on the road. Based on my personality and what I have gathered from watching hours and hours of YouTube, I would like to work towards or get into flatbed. Other than that, I have zero trucking knowledge. My uncle was a logging trucker in Michigan and I have pictures of me as a little kid in them. But thats about where my experience stops.

ANY advice is greatly appreciated and Im a sucker for good stories.

Look forward to seeing y'all out on the open road.

JB

Welcome JB and thank you for you and your family’s service.

Is the school on the base a state or military school?? If it is for a civilian state license then the next quedtion is how long before you retire?? You could run into a staleness issue if you get it too long before you use it. As a new inexperienced cdl holder that is sometimes harder to get a job than if you didn’t have it already.

Read through the forums and there is an AI section you can ask questions and it pulls the answers without alot of time searching through the site.

You will be overwhelmed with information overload for awhile. Just take it in stride and always focus on the current tasks at hand. Kinda a step by step process. Don’t waste time and energy too far in the future.

Being in Texas you should have a vast amount of oppurtunity. Your out west but still a good bit of freight. Flatbed out there is generally pretty limited, but dry van and refer are pretty good.

Ask questions as you go and we will do our best to help you out.

Best wishes!!

Hello JB.

You are in a great position to start a commercial driving career. I personally wish I had started my career when I was 40. And your location is an advantage, also.

Regardless of your CDL training options, go to the links below and start the High Road Training Program and practice tests. This site is like an online university for new drivers. Check out other links and start getting immersed in the knowledge available here.

One thing I like to remind myself of everyday is that this is a profession that requires total concentration at all times. Any driver is only as good as their last mile. You come across as a success story waiting to happen, so welcome aboard and keep the questions and comments coming.

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

High Road CDL Training ProgramTruck Driver's Career Guide

This is great! Thank you! I will look at those links and get going on some material.

I tried replying to this earlier, and I could have sworn that I did, but I will try again. The school is on base through Phoenix Truck Driving School. I retire officially on the 1st of February, but I really don't have time to squeeze in school or training unless it happens right now or I postpone it until much later, like after 1 April. I have tons of things to get done on the personal, administrative, medical, and professional side in the next few months. I don't want to show up to a place with any monkeys on my back. It's best to take care of it now when I can react to short suspense times with medical and yes, even some FAA requirements. I haven't completely given up on that, and I anticipate having to make several last-minute appointments out of state while I fight that particular battle.

Probably the biggest factor is that a move to another state is not entirely ruled out, but the chances are better that we stay put for the time being.

Also, something I did not mention earlier is that health is one of my largest concerns. It was sort of why I was leaning towards flatbed. It seemed like the most activity. I would even consider oilfield work if I could get placed in Texas. 2 on 2 off seems like a pretty awesome deal, but I have heard that most are going to 2 on 1 off, and they work the absolute hell out of you. I have no aversion to hard work but I also want to remain realistic going into a new career field at 40.

I started the online courses this site offers and am working through them. I'm trying to do one or two sections a day.

Thank you again for the replies. You all have already given me more guidance in a short time than I could have hoped for. I really appreciate it.

Welcome JB and thank you for you and your family’s service.

Is the school on the base a state or military school?? If it is for a civilian state license then the next quedtion is how long before you retire?? You could run into a staleness issue if you get it too long before you use it. As a new inexperienced cdl holder that is sometimes harder to get a job than if you didn’t have it already.

Read through the forums and there is an AI section you can ask questions and it pulls the answers without alot of time searching through the site.

You will be overwhelmed with information overload for awhile. Just take it in stride and always focus on the current tasks at hand. Kinda a step by step process. Don’t waste time and energy too far in the future.

Being in Texas you should have a vast amount of oppurtunity. Your out west but still a good bit of freight. Flatbed out there is generally pretty limited, but dry van and refer are pretty good.

Ask questions as you go and we will do our best to help you out.

Best wishes!!

JB, I hope you get it all figured out. I know it’s a hard puzzle to solve. As far as physical work goes, flatbed is good but dry van and reefer provide some physical activity. Consider that with any job you might be required to sit on your butt for 10 + hours per day. What you do in your down time is critical. Every driver can get out of the truck and exercise sufficiently. Heck, a driver can exercise a lot without even leaving the truck. It’s just that driving can make you lazy unless you fight it. The strength of the effort is the measure of the result.

JB, I hope you get it all figured out. I know it’s a hard puzzle to solve. As far as physical work goes, flatbed is good but dry van and reefer provide some physical activity. Consider that with any job you might be required to sit on your butt for 10 + hours per day. What you do in your down time is critical. Every driver can get out of the truck and exercise sufficiently. Heck, a driver can exercise a lot without even leaving the truck. It’s just that driving can make you lazy unless you fight it. The strength of the effort is the measure of the result.

I'm sure it will all come together. Usually always does. For now, I am just going to focus on the day-to-day stuff and do the best I can in the CDL course. I'll admit, it's very tough to move on from what I love(d) so dearly. Imagine going in for your DOT physical and you find out you can't drive anymore. Then you find out the road to getting back ON the road was going to be a hard and long uphill battle with no guarantee of success. But thats life in general. I'm extremely lucky, though. I have an awesome support network at home and it looks as if I will be able to find some work doing something I love. Which is driving big trucks. As an added bonus, maybe they will let me drive somewhere that has trees lol. The point is that I am looking forward to all of it. Even if I don't get it figured out right away or in a timely manner. The journey will be awesome.

Welcome JB!

First and foremost THANK YOU for your military service. One thing that is strongly recommended is to get your CDL from a carrier. Trucking schools are typically CDL mills and carriers usually will want to "untrain" you and then teach you their way.

Paid CDL Training Programs

Some carriers have incentives for veterans as well. Best of success and please let us know what we can do to help you be successful.

At this point in time, the CDL mill is probably going to be the way I go just due to time constraints. It isn't coming out of my pocket so I have that to be thankful for. Also, I see you are from Bark River? I went to Gladstone High School my 9th to 11th grade year. I lived up on the bluff. We moved to Virginia my senior year. What year did you graduate high school?

JB

Welcome JB!

First and foremost THANK YOU for your military service. One thing that is strongly recommended is to get your CDL from a carrier. Trucking schools are typically CDL mills and carriers usually will want to "untrain" you and then teach you their way.

Paid CDL Training Programs

Some carriers have incentives for veterans as well. Best of success and please let us know what we can do to help you be successful.