New CDL A Driver Facing Experience Barriers – Seeking Home Daily Or OTR Job Near DeKalb, IL!

Telling you the truth is as empathetic as I get. Making you feel better about this situation does you no favors. Ignoring the realities of this business won't get you very far either. Many people try to jump into driving, without the slightest bit of understanding of how brutal and rough it is, especially in the first year or two.

It does you and your husband zero favors to blow sunshine up your 🍑. It really is no skin off our nose if you take our advice or not. It will not impact me whatsoever. Not taking the advice and information given however, will make the journey much more difficult and frustrating than it needs to be, FOR HIM.

Your attitude about this situation is actually going to be a hindrance to him as well. You don't know, what you don't know. Neither does he. There is not a snowballs chance in hell that almost 4 years in, I would ask for half of the stuff on your needs list. Why? Because I actually understand the logistics of it all.

But sure, we aren't showing any empathy, or understanding of your specific situation. After all, we are just speaking to the void.

I’m just going to be straight up blunt and honest with you. Listen to all of these replies, especially from these two wonderful ladies who have loads of experience to share. I am still very green, having only been working OTR for 6 months now but I will say, I am beyond grateful for the experience I have already gained just by doing so. I would have never felt as comfortable as I am now if I would have taken some local, home everyday type job right out of school. You just don’t get the same kind of experience. And once you have a year of verified OTR experience on your resume, it really opens the doors for you. I don’t plan on doing OTR forever and where I’m at now (one of the 3 mega carriers hauling bright orange trailers 😉), I’m grateful we have opportunities for me to switch to other contracts that will allow me to be home much more. I’m not even considering it until I at least have 100K+ miles of OTR under my belt. And that’s a minimum. I’d like more than that.

As someone who’s still very fresh in this industry, I’m beyond grateful to already have a job. Had I waited an extra few months to get my CDL , it would likely be very different. There’s 2,500 extra drivers with tons of experience looking for a job now. Who are these companies going to take? One of them who just wants to drive or someone who has a list of things they’d like before they consider employment?

So with that, I feel like I can offer some pretty decent advice as a newbie to another newbie. A vast majority of your requests/wants/desires are just not realistic. I’m a newbie who was in a similar situation just last year. It took me 3 months to find my job and it was a “here’s how it’s going to be; take it or leave it” situation. And that was going straight into OTR and coming to terms with the fact that I would likely be doing that for a year plus. You can’t be saying “I don’t want to be going to this state.” “I don’t want to go to that customer.” You’re new. You just kind of need to put your time in with no difficulties for the company and do whatever is expected of you. Your dispatchers learn VERY FAST who they’re “difficult to work with” drivers are. Trust me. That means going anywhere, at anytime, no matter the distance. You and your husband sort of need to get realistic of what’s actually going on. That’s just the honest truth. I am in no way trying to be mean or act like I have all this experience. I’m the first to admit that I don’t. But my reply here echos those who have tons of experience and they are all exactly right.

This is an extremely hard industry to get into right now. Having all these requests and demands and this sort of naive attitude towards the industry is going to be a major hurdle to overcome for you both.

I originally came on this site and asked all of my questions, too and got similar answers. No one is going to hand hold you and sugar coat it because how does that really help you in the end? It may not be what you were hoping to hear but this is “Trucker Truth” after all. So do you want the truth or do you want a watered down answer that makes you feel better.

I understand you’re helping your husband out here with making this post and trying to help with the job search and that’s great but he really needs to be putting in the work. Whose CDL is it in the end? I think once you both realize things aren’t going to be as you had hoped, it will be a little bit easier for him (and you) to get rolling.

From one newbie to another, this can be a very rewarding career and I still love it! Yes, there are certain days where I’d rather be doing just about anything else but that comes with any job. I’m on a permanent paid road trip vacation. I drive through the mountains of Colorado and say to myself “I can’t believe they’re paying me to do this right now.” I wish your husband all the best in finding something that works for the both of you but PLEASE, again as one newbie to another, listen to all of these replies, including mine, because they are right on the mark. Hope to see you out there!

I remembered I have a local rookie video. I post some picks of very tight backing. One was inner city Philadelphia, on a one way street that i jad to back down with cars on both sides.. and traffic driving on the sidewalk to get around me!

Should Rookoe Drive Locally?

Good idea Kearsey!

Picking up a loaded trailer of paper rolls, the trailer was too high to hook, so I had to crank the nose down.

This is what happens in tight docks when the other person isn't straight and in their lines.

Teamwork makes the dream work, outside Chicago. The blue truck struggled to get in, without a truck in my dock. She held my trailer door off her mirror when I was sneaking in.