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Jun 18 2017 10:23am
yeah i was currently accepted into a truck driving school in Tennessee to get my class a cdl license



i currently already have my permit and dot physical all that is passed...

i was just wondering what i should be expecting... if i pass my driving test after three weeks of school they give me a job.. no idea how i will like living on the road but i kinda got to for now for at least 6 months

thing is i am taking a chance i currently have a decent job and i am home every night with my family... but the truck driving job pays more and i will be better off in the future

i was just wondering what some of you might do ? should i quit my job and take a chance on trucking? i actually have three weeks vacation to use so ill be getting paid to go and if i dont like it i can come back home i assume


but the class is 5k for three weeks.. if i sign with the company for 6 months that is offering me a job my school is paid for free nothing out of pocket...

but if i come back home and not take the job they will finance the schooling to me with 1.5k down payment .. just dont know what to do

really wished i knew what life on the road would be like.. after 6 months the school said they would help me find a local job close to home... i will be driving all over the eastern coast of the united states

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Jun 18 2017 02:43pm
5k and 6 months of imprisonment is a better deal than some. mine was 1 year with usa truck (shithole). i dont know what pay rate is but when i started for usa they paid .25 cents a mile loaded only. it was shit pay but once you get your time in this frees you up to find a local job that will pay better and hopefully let you be home every night. what company are you signing on to work for?
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Jun 18 2017 03:00pm
Quote (JDH @ Jun 18 2017 08:43pm)
5k and 6 months of imprisonment is a better deal than some. mine was 1 year with usa truck (shithole). i dont know what pay rate is but when i started for usa they paid .25 cents a mile loaded only. it was shit pay but once you get your time in this frees you up to find a local job that will pay better and hopefully let you be home every night. what company are you signing on to work for?


excuse my ignorance, but $0.25 a mile? that just covers gas....
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Jun 18 2017 03:01pm
Total transportation of Mississippi the pay is 36 cents a mile after I finish my school. They said i should average 2500 to 3000 miles a week.

So roughly around 800-1100 dollars a week. Of course with more experience the more u get paid and miles u get

I have to let a trainer go with me my first 3-4 weeks though which I won't be getting paid by the mile but salary in those weeks of 620 a week i kinda dred that not gonna lie.

I just don't know how I will like over the road driving said I will get home every 2 weeks maybe 3 weeks. But if I can get through the 6 months I should be ok. I just don't want to quit the job I have now and take a chance on truck driving and hate it lol. They local jobs around here with hazmat I can make up to 80k a year with a year experience
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Jun 18 2017 03:17pm
Quote (Marinda @ Jun 18 2017 05:01pm)
Total transportation of Mississippi the pay is 36 cents a mile after I finish my school. They said i should average 2500 to 3000 miles a week.

So roughly around 800-1100 dollars a week. Of course with more experience the more u get paid and miles u get

I have to let a trainer go with me my first 3-4 weeks though which I won't be getting paid by the mile but salary in those weeks of 620 a week i kinda dred that not gonna lie.

I just don't know how I will like over the road driving said I will get home every 2 weeks maybe 3 weeks. But if I can get through the 6 months I should be ok. I just don't want to quit the job I have now and take a chance on truck driving and hate it lol. They local jobs around here with hazmat I can make up to 80k a year with a year experience


tough it out and get the experience. thats not bad pay just dont let them stick you in the northeast the miles are shit up there. once you get experience that will open up more choices for you in driving with more local jobs. thats what i done and havent looked back. also be prepared to be lied to dispatchers are assholes and dont care about you.

also i hope you get a good trainer a lot of them dont have much more experience than you. my trainer had over 20 years experience in a truck and was patient and helpful but a lot of them are no nothing shithead steering wheel holders. the hardest part of OTR is if you have a wife and kids at home.


Quote (stupidkid282 @ Jun 18 2017 05:00pm)
excuse my ignorance, but $0.25 a mile? that just covers gas....


ive been driving 8 years now so things change. but when they have you bent over the barrel its either accept what they offer or come up with the 8k or 9k whatever the school i went to cost. not everybody has family or friends with semis to teach you how to drive and give you a job with no experience so you have to take what you can until you can make your own way in trucking.

This post was edited by JDH on Jun 18 2017 03:22pm
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Jun 18 2017 03:28pm
Quote (JDH @ Jun 18 2017 09:17pm)
tough it out and get the experience. thats not bad pay just dont let them stick you in the northeast the miles are shit up there. once you get experience that will open up more choices for you in driving with more local jobs. thats what i done and havent looked back. also be prepared to be lied to dispatchers are assholes and dont care about you.

also i hope you get a good trainer a lot of them dont have much more experience than you. my trainer had over 20 years experience in a truck and was patient and helpful but a lot of them are no nothing shithead steering wheel holders. the hardest part of OTR is if you have a wife and kids at home.




ive been driving 8 years now so things change. but when they have you bent over the barrel its either accept what they offer or come up with the 8k or 9k whatever the school i went to cost. not everybody has family or friends with semis to teach you how to drive and give you a job with no experience so you have to take what you can until you can make your own way in trucking.


Yeah man me and my wife been talking about it. She is supporting me the whole way so that's awesome. I believe i am going to try it out and get the experience. I've been on Google and see truck driving jobs hiring experience drivers 1-2 years starting at like 55 cents a mile or so which would be real good money. No idea what u making now with 8 years experience none of my business. But them jobs might actually be hard to get no idea cause I do know they would be alot of experience drivers applying for them. U still driving over the road or local now? My plan is to hopefully get my tanker endorsement and be able to deliver fuel and come home every night and be with my family every night. That is the only thing I keep thinking about though leaving my wife and kid behind while I'm gone
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Jun 18 2017 03:39pm
Quote (Marinda @ Jun 18 2017 05:28pm)
Yeah man me and my wife been talking about it. She is supporting me the whole way so that's awesome. I believe i am going to try it out and get the experience. I've been on Google and see truck driving jobs hiring experience drivers 1-2 years starting at like 55 cents a mile or so which would be real good money. No idea what u making now with 8 years experience none of my business. But them jobs might actually be hard to get no idea cause I do know they would be alot of experience drivers applying for them. U still driving over the road or local now? My plan is to hopefully get my tanker endorsement and be able to deliver fuel and come home every night and be with my family every night. That is the only thing I keep thinking about though leaving my wife and kid behind while I'm gone


i drove otr for my first year and been local the last 7. technically i drive for a otr company but both jobs we haul within 2 hours of home. i get paid 25% of load pay which does have mileage figured in also but a load consists of loaded and empty miles not loaded only like you will get paid. i make in the area of 50k a year but being home every day and where i live 50k gets you pretty far its not like 50k near nyc or la or something.

ive seen those total trucks but honestly i have no idea what the company is like. just always expect for them to not give a shit about your hometime or other things just in case they are as bad to you as usa truck was to me. also if you have stuff wrong with your truck or trailer make sure its fixed because even if its minor like a marker light being out if its wrote up during a dot inspection that goes against your record which can affect you when applying to other companies.

good luck with e-logs also we are still hoping something will happen to strike them down before they become mandatory its a shit mandate that only has financial repercussions for small businesses. if you get tired stop and get a nap dont let force you to run fatigued because they will use that e-log against you if you let them. they can reschedule appointment times
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Jun 18 2017 03:56pm
Quote (JDH @ Jun 18 2017 09:39pm)
i drove otr for my first year and been local the last 7. technically i drive for a otr company but both jobs we haul within 2 hours of home. i get paid 25% of load pay which does have mileage figured in also but a load consists of loaded and empty miles not loaded only like you will get paid. i make in the area of 50k a year but being home every day and where i live 50k gets you pretty far its not like 50k near nyc or la or something.

ive seen those total trucks but honestly i have no idea what the company is like. just always expect for them to not give a shit about your hometime or other things just in case they are as bad to you as usa truck was to me. also if you have stuff wrong with your truck or trailer make sure its fixed because even if its minor like a marker light being out if its wrote up during a dot inspection that goes against your record which can affect you when applying to other companies.

good luck with e-logs also we are still hoping something will happen to strike them down before they become mandatory its a shit mandate that only has financial repercussions for small businesses. if you get tired stop and get a nap dont let force you to run fatigued because they will use that e-log against you if you let them. they can reschedule appointment times


Yeah buddy I appreciate the advice. And 50k here where I live is pretty good money also considering minimum wage is 7.25 a hour here in eastern Kentucky. Home time also means alot to me also I would love to drove and come home every night. That is my plan. And with the total company they have both good and bad reviews about like anywhere else. And yeah for sure I would NAP if I get sleepy that is one fear I have is hurting or killing someone with a loaded truck. One question though what happens if u are late for a delivery do they cut your pay or ?
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Jun 18 2017 05:38pm
Hotshot and charge near 2$ a mile.

That's what I recently started doing.
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Jun 18 2017 05:41pm
Quote (CuttingEdge @ Jun 18 2017 11:38pm)
Hotshot and charge near 2$ a mile.

That's what I recently started doing.


Did you lease a truck? Owner operator? I'm more interested in company driving right now
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