Are you thinking about a truck driving
job?
 |
| cc from hdwallpapersinn.com |
Truck driving for a living is a life
style choice, one that'll change the direction of your life. Just
to be candid and up-front, I've never even driven a semi-truck, but I
have studied the field enough to clue you in. If you are like me,
you've gotten the truck driving bug, and now you are
scouring the internet trying to figure out what this job is all
about.
The thought of driving a truck for a
living never even sunk in, even though I had people even mention it
to me as a way to make a living. I never did consider the job because
to me it seemed too dangerous driving over the mountains. See, I live
in Oregon, on the west side of the Cascade mountains, and I have
traveled over the mountains to see family and friends many times over
the years. I've traveled in summer and winter, snow and rain, and at
times I feared for my life.
Maybe you've had the same thought,
it's too dangerous? Also, the thought of being in traffic in the city
stopped me from thinking about the job. What if I took a turn too
sharp and ended up blocking traffic for hours in a major city? These
fearful thoughts kept me from considering this fantastic opportunity.
Sometimes I wish I would have simply gotten my CDL when I was out of
high school, and built a career driving a truck.
That's not how it
worked out for me, but I would be set up fairly nice about now.
See, driving a truck is a progressive
job, where you have to pay your dues. I want to share the information
I picked up researching this opportunity for about three months. This article will be a place where you can get some answers, see helpful
videos, and learn how to go about getting started if you decide to do
this. Even if you already are a trucker, you may be able to enjoy my
take on this career. Feel free to add your comments and insights.
Let's begin.
Where to Begin?
I began to get the truck driving bug
when I saw an ad on craigslist, from a company called Central
Refrigeration Service. It stated I didn't even have to have a CDL,
but they would train me and even pay me to be trained! The pay it
said I could make was $35k-$80k/year. Wow, I thought this was too
good to be true. This seemed great, as I was struggling to make even
$1700/month working my lawn care business I started just last year.
My wife was tired of not making much money either, and so with her on
board I started looking into the matter.
Night and day I researched about this
matter, finally being convinced I wanted to do this. Then I would
think no, then yes.
You may be a person that has never
even driven or been in a semi-truck. This is the way I was and still
am, even though I feel like I have after all the videos I've watched.
You may be young, old, male, or female, well this is still for you if
want. You have to ask yourself one question: are you willing to go
over the road? What is over the road? Let's take a look.
Over the Road
 |
| cc from commons.wikipedia.org |
Over the Road is how newbies to the
field start off in most cases. This is where they have to pay their
dues, working long hours away from home and not getting paid as much, while traveling across the country.
On the other hand, this is the exciting part of the job as well,
because you get to see the country, driving all across America, and
even into Canada with some companies.
If you look at most trucking job ad
placements, you'll see they want you to have either one or two years
over the road experience before they'll hire you. Now these are the
better jobs, the ones you are working for the first year or two to
attain. See, one has to be in this for the long haul-haha.
Really though, this field does work for
those who put their time in.
The companies that are willing to hire
you as an inexperienced driver are around of course (see list below),
and these either will train you themselves through their CDL training
schools, or will hire you out of a truck driving school that is
independent. Over the road, will be the next step after you attain your CDL in one of
these two main ways.
How much money can you make?
Truck driving jobs usually pay by the
mile, not by the hour. The keys to getting paid well, is getting the
right amount of miles, and a high CPM (cents per mile). The rates
starting out I've seen anywhere from .26 cpm - .31 cpm. These will
increase over the first year by about .04 cpm, then each year they
will increase by one or two cpm. There is also safety and on time
bonuses, and paid per stop money you could earn as well.
Generally what I came up with is after
taxes, getting decent miles, you can make about $2100-2500/month net.
This to start out with, and not counting paying into the medical or
dental. Also have to factor in the costs of the school, whether you
have a dog, and if your have a passenger (like wife ride-a-long).
These factors costs more, and if add all them in there you could be
looking at averaging $2000/month the first year, net pay.
Now for basically working nearly all
the time and living in a truck, this may not seem like such a great
deal. Especially, when driving over mountains and risking your life.
That's just part of paying your dues in this line of work.
If you are looking at it for a career, then just think about how
after about two years if you work it right, you could be making about
$3500/month take home or even more. And if you want to own your own
truck and contract it out, you may be able to even make up to about
$8-9k/month. That's the potential, so now it seems pretty good right?
How long am I on the road?
Most companies will keep you out at
least 2 weeks at a time, before you can get just 2 days off. The
general rule here is every week you work, you get one day off, and
you can't take any time off until you work at least two to three
weeks. If this sounds harsh cause you have a family, then this may be
the deal breaker for you, it is the hardest part for people.
This part of it may not be a big deal
though, to a person who doesn't have a family, and sorta wants to get
away from where he/she is at. So it just depends on who you are. You
may be a family person, but are willing to go away for a year, coming
home every two to three weeks. If you do this you can look to get a
regional or local job after a years experience and be home at night
and on the weekends, or at least every two to three days.
If you go to a CDL school at one of
these large companies which offers this, you will be contracted to
work for them for a year, or have to pay a penalty. The penalty would
be a couple thousand dollars or so, which is the price of the school.
Other companies may hire you on with the other companies
accreditation, or may not recognize it's validity.
Which CDL school do I go to?
This depends on your situation, and
what you can afford. If you have four thousand dollars, or good
credit and one thousand, an independent trucking school would be a
better choice.
If you don't have very good credit or
the money, then going to a trucking companies' CDL school is a good
choice for you.
If you go to an independent school you
can have choices after graduation, as to which company you want to work
for. Most companies that hire graduates from these schools, will pay
them tuition reimbursement around 100/month. This will help pay the
four thousand or so you spent to go.
The independent CDL school I was
looking at was ITTR in Creswell, OR. Because I have poor credit I was
going to have to get a co-signer and pay about $1000 for a down
payment and for the fees of getting the license and endorsements.
Going to a companies trucking school
you won't have to pay for much of anything, would have to bring about
$200 dollars at least, because you won't get paid until about two
weeks into it. The schools are faster pace and the training in the
classroom will last two to three weeks. Then you are put in a truck
with a trainer for a month or two, at that point you become a paid
employee.
Either way, the company school or
independent, you will have to go over the road with a trainer for a
month or two. You will be driving, and living with another person for
this time. The pay during this time is less than when you get out on
your own, averaging about $450/wk, gross.
After this training period, if you
make it out alive, you start driving on your own, or as a team with
someone else. Depends on the company or your preference. This is when
you start making better money.
These company schools are fast paced,
and likely treat you a little worse than an independent school. The
companies will usually pay for your bus ticket to the location of the
school, pay for your hotel, and even sometimes pay for the food.
Sometimes they may require you to pay them back for these expenses
out of your paychecks coming, and also may have you pay for your
food. Trucking jobs pay weekly.
Why I chose not to be a trucker
You might ask why I decided not to be
a trucker. I'll try and answer that without spilling my whole life
story. I did end up deciding to become a trucker and applied to
Central Refrigeration Service online, after talking on the phone with
one of their recruiters. The odd thing is they never gave a reply,
they said they would reply either way with a phone call in 24 hours
time. I never received that call, and at that point I wondered if God
wasn't telling me something. See this company is always asking for
drivers desperately, and there is no reason why they wouldn't hire me
that I can tell. So I decided God had other plans for me. That's the
simple answer, I have a lawn care business, and there are other
factors. Maybe in the future, who knows.
I went with Central Refrigeration
Service because they allowed dogs with a deposit, and allowed my wife
to ride a long with me. Also they were closer by in Salt Lake City,
Utah, and they had a short training program consisting of 7-8 weeks
total before I was on my own. I'm not going to go into extensive
detail about all the companies, but there will be a list below on
some of the ones I was looking at and know.
Companies with a CDL school:
- Swift Transportation
- Central Refrigeration Service
- Stevens Transportation
- Prime
- C.R. England
- USA
- FFE
- Roehl
- Knight Transportation
- Pam Transport
Companies that'll hire recent graduates from an independent CDL school:
- Werner Enterprises
- May Trucking
- Schneider
- Watkins and Shepherd
- Garner
- Gordon Trucking
- USF Reddway
- Fed Ex Ground
- Conway
- Sysco
Give it some thought
Hope this article helped inform you on
some of the aspects of driving a truck for a living. For not ever
driving a truck I am limited in telling you the actual facts about
the day to day life, but as one who studied it night and day for
months, I can give you a jump start on where to look and what to ask.
Of course you'll inevitably have to research more on the subject
before you can make your final decision.
Truck driving is a good job that
involves adventure, travel, and challenges. It pays well considering
you'll have to pay your dues first. There aren't many careers one can
get trained for free and after two years in the field make $50k/year.
So if you like driving and want to travel, this could be the job for
you. Best wishes and God bless your efforts.
Comments
Post a Comment
What's on your mind?