CDL.. One Year Later.

Well I am 3 days short of having my class A CDL for an entire year! So I thought id post some of my thoughts on the first year and some thing's I may have done differently.

First off I love the fact I got this license. Even if I don't end up becoming a "career truck driver" I have something to "fall back" on. For example 5 years from now I decide to do something else. 5 years after that I get laid off, fired, or am out of employment for whatever reason I have a CDL to go back to. They will always need drivers. So I will still be able to find an income somewhere to support me, or if fate has it by then a family.

I have had a good journey since truck driving school.. but a quick refresher I took off for the oil fields for the "big money", Got laid off after 7-8 months, now I'm driving locally and hopefully will start doing transfer driving for this same company which would be runs to LA or El Paso from Phoenix.

Now.. what I would have done differently. I wish I would have done OTR work for AT LEAST 6 months but preferably that year. Why you may ask when I was making that big money in the oil fields? Well.. experience. After I got laid off I had a rough time finding local work. I probably submitted 25ish applications/resumes to different companies before I found someone that would hire me. Companies, More insurance then the individual company, didn't want to accept my experience in the oil fields. I don't know why that is or if I just was applying to the wrong companies but it wasn't "True OTR" I guess. Combine this with a ticket I received while in ND it was hard to find a company. Plus the OTR lifestyle is a draw for me. I wish I would have done it. I probably will end up going OTR this fall/Winter but now I face having to possibly go through a training program even though I'll have 18 months experience. I am currently in search of a company that has a "reduced training program" or something. Right now I'm leaning towards Watkins Shepard trucking. Anyways, I wish I would have taken the advice of people on this forum and paid my dues on the open road.. cause it has handicapped me now.

Another thing.. as you can see according to my mini bio on the left I have been a member for over 2 years but have only had my class A for one year. That is because 2 years ago I was seriously considering truck driving but then I let the opinions of family/friends get to me. To sum it up if someone my age wants to truck drive most people think that you are just "giving up on life." So I let their opinions get to me and influence me to "stay in school" and so on. Well honestly I was not happy. I hated school, I hated my situation in life and I knew that truck driving would be a much needed change. Like many of you, I have always felt a desire to drive a truck. I needed that change 2 years ago to make me happy, I didn't listen to that urge and spent another year and stayed in the same rut I was in. I finally did it though.. and I am in a much better situation regarding personal happiness than one year ago. I wish I would have started when I fist felt that urge.

This is just a couple of things.. don't want to make this post to long. I may add to this later on.

Hopefully this helps someone who is considering truck driving.

Hey Max, it's great to hear from you again!

That is a really great post - I like to reflect back on time and try and see what I learned, or how I could have done it differently and been better off. You know what they say about hind sight.

Glad to hear you're working again!

The trucking industry is a strange beast, no doubt about it. That first year is especially important because you learn your trade and you establish enough experience to land bigger, better jobs if they come along. Well, normally that's what happens. You took a job in the oil fields and nobody blames you for that. It was awesome money and the oil fields were all the rage before oil prices plunged, which you had no way of knowing was about to happen.

You would think driving experience would be driving experience but most companies want OTR experience, specifically class A trucks that cover more than one state during the course of their driving. As far as the lifestyle goes those companies are justified asking for someone who has lived the OTR lifestyle and knows what life on the road is all about. As far as actual driving skills are concerned it's actually more difficult to drive class A tri-axle dump trucks or to do local city driving in almost any truck than it is to drive OTR in a big rig most of the time. But hey, OTR experience is what most companies are looking for whether it makes much sense or not.

It's awesome to see you're still in the business and doing well. Keep that safety record clean and you'll find better and better jobs as time goes on.