Getting Started As A Team: Newbie With Experienced Driver

My boyfriend has his Class A and I have been thinking about jumping from my job into a truck with him. We have done some research and right now I am working on studying to get my permit. Since we are not 100% sure this will be right for me and us we have decided to go the Class B route. We have found a company that is willing to have Class B permit drivers in a team. Then when the permit driver gets her license you are a full team. Has anyone else gone this route? Tips/ideas/thoughts?

More info about what we have worked out so far: I am also going to get my hazmat. We are looking at time frame of April so I can save some money beforehand. In february get the paperwork sent to be able to take the permit test, and all that. First week of March get the permit and make a trip to the company office/terminal. Also talking to owners to find out what is available when up there. Find out just how a training team works. (I was told 14 hour days with all could be driving: me 11, him 3) So that way I have my 3 on clock not driving and 11 on clock driving.

Thank you for any tips/ideas/questions/thoughts!

Dennie, welcome aboard!

This sounds just a little odd to me, but maybe I'm not fully understanding what it is that you guys are doing. Are you saying that your boyfriend is going to switch to a different company and start driving a class B truck and they will let him train you? Most companies don't just hire someone and then let them immediately be a trainer. Maybe you guys found someone who will do that. I guess I usually tell people to forget about the class B and just go for the whole enchilada, but your basing your decision on the fact that you aren't even sure if this is what you want so you are just going to dip your toes in the water a little bit first. I've got my doubts about this working out real well, but I think if you want to really experience what this is all about then you should just jump right into the deep end and go for the Class A.

That is just my opinion, but I don't see much future in that class B team idea.

I agree with Old School....that does seem like a bit of an odd setup.

I never tell anyone to get their class B. Most people wind up regretting it and go back to get their class A because that's where most of the good paying jobs are. There are some good class B jobs of course, but if you're going to make a career out of driving you don't want to limit yourself to just class B.

And honestly, if you can handle class B you can handle class A and vice versa. I don't mean handling the rigs themselves. I mean handle the job and lifestyle of someone driving for a living. The fact that the truck bends in the middle isn't going to make or break your driving career. Nobody ever quits class A because they can't handle it and then goes to class B and finds a home because the trucks are smaller or lighter. You can either handle the stress of driving for a living, or you can't. But it isn't about what you're driving, it's about your personality and your ability to make good decisions.

Also, I wouldn't count on that job being available or being what they say it is right now. Hopefully nothing changes. But you certainly don't want to make career decisions based upon the possibility of landing one particular job based on something someone said on the phone. You might go through a lot of trouble and then the job doesn't work out.

Finally, remember you can always drive a class B truck with a class A license, but not vice versa. So getting your class A will open up all possibilties to you.

I say get your class A if you're going to get anything at all and go for it. Give it at least a year before you decide driving isn't for you. Because that first year is one h*ll of a struggle and there's going to be times you'd give anything to walk away and never look at another truck. It happens to everyone. So if you go into it thinking, "I'll just do this if I enjoy it" you're going to be out of trucking in three weeks. You have to have some serious fortitude. You're not talking about knitting blankets. That's something that's easy to "dip your toe in" and see how it goes. Trucking takes a long time to get comfortable with and that initial learning curve is seriously steep and difficult. You're also making life and death decisions every single day so you have to have the personality for it. So keep that in mind also.