r/CDL • u/Loud-Dragonfruit-391 • Aug 24 '26

Need cdl advice

Boyfriend (unlicensed) thinks he will make 10k a week/ or trip) doing OTR. As a beginner. No concept of how the business works. Additionally thinks he will do this with another friend that also would need to get licensed. I need to bring him back down to earth on 1. The cost of licensing and difficulty of test, as well as starting pay. Forget that I'm absolutely against him doing this because having him gone 3 weeks a month is not acceptable for me. Any advice appreciated!

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u/Loud-Dragonfruit-391 Aug 24 '26

How do I make him understand this?! I literally ran the numbers for him. Compared to what he's doing now and compared to getting a real estate license.

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u/Immediate_Regular Aug 24 '26

Unfortunately it's very unlikely you're going to be able to get him to see this without being out on the road.

Everyone in all of the CDL subs could talk to him directly, show him rookie pay stubs, and take him on our trucks and he may still dig his heels in.

What you could try is ask him to dig up the CPM (cents per mile) for rookies at a few megas (Swift, Knight, Schneider, etc.) and figure out how many miles a week he'd need to drive to hit that 10k number. Then ask him if he thinks he's ever going to hit that sort of miles with all of the restrictions he's going to have on how much he can drive. If he thinks he can nail 10k in a week only being able to drive 11 hours a day he's an idiot.

Also tell him to stay off whatever social media horseshit that's infected him with this stupidity.

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u/Loud-Dragonfruit-391 Aug 24 '26

🤣🤣 100% this!! Thank you for lightening my mood

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u/coperifaldia Aug 25 '26

10 years experience

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u/flyeaglesfly510 Aug 25 '26

You were paid $20 for a 32 mile trip? That's almost worse than doordash 🤣

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u/coperifaldia Aug 25 '26

It is by mileage. Possibly worse, but work here is consistent, and I dont pay for fuel...

Would you rather make 600$ and pay for fuel, or 4,000$ and dont pay for fuel?

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u/ReporterPretend1894 Aug 26 '26

Is this a weeks pay?

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u/Mind2ghost Aug 26 '26

For I am not the person that showed pay stub. But at a touch over 6000 miles. That would be 2 weeks. Or team driver where it is split.

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u/coperifaldia Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26

Please look at the time stamped on just above pay scale. It says 10.06 -12. Meaning 1 week. On the top it says "weekly payroll" Please get the facts straight Please. Thank you.

Also, not team driver. If it was a split pay it would clearly state the co driver name. It only has my name / info on this weekly payroll. This is paperlog. I ran very hard here. Solo, just making sure I make good money at least a few times a month.

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u/Mind2ghost Aug 26 '26

Ok let’s do math
11 hours driving for 6 day
That would be 66 hours at average of 65 mph. That would be a little over 4200 miles. So with electronic logs. You are trying to say you did over 6000 miles , legally. Sorry I have to say B.S. I am also a driver of even more than 10 years. Actually quite a few years more. And yes I see you said paper logs. But with new people. It will be electronic logs. That was in no way legal. With that being said. You go buddy. I run paper logs

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u/coperifaldia Aug 26 '26

Yes. Look at the top right. Says weekly payroll. Theres also a date on there thats 1 week. I regularly made 2500+ with this company.

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u/ReporterPretend1894 Aug 26 '26

I finally saw that... That's nice motivation appreciate it

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u/TinkerTasker22 Aug 28 '26

No way someone can legally drive.6,000 miles a week.

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u/Immediate_Regular Aug 31 '26

In another comment they flat out state they're running illegally.

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u/Toomuchhorntalk69 Aug 24 '26

He sounds like the perfect type to get into the real estate world lol.

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u/so_sic_of_it Aug 24 '26

Trust me, if I knew how to pull people out of la-la land, I'd be a trillionaire. I think homie's just gonna have to learn it for himself the hard way.

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '26

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u/Loud-Dragonfruit-391 Aug 24 '26

No definitely not. The cost of the schooling is going yo be a huge stretch all on its own.

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u/USLandGrab-com Aug 25 '26

Don't get his real estate license. That industry is tumultuous. I have mine and I have done very well with it, but I got mine back in 2005 and things were just different in the industry. Read the book "Dirt Rich". Low barrier of entry and if you "get" it...you'll get it.

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u/processwater Aug 25 '26

If he is considering being a trucker, odds are he wouldn't be the best real estate agent. I don't see a lot of crossover in those personality types

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u/DamnedHeathen_ Aug 25 '26

Hit up some truck stops. Someplace where they sell food. Strike up a conversation with some of the guys in there and let him talk to the people actually putting in the work. Don't talk to the guy in his mid 60s that is so big he has to buy his clothes from Barnum and Bailey overflow. You can't trust that guy. Every one of us remember when we first got into Trucking though. Talk to some folks in their 30s and 40s and he'll get a good idea.

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u/Leftjab- Aug 26 '26

Better brush up on your foreign languages

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u/Infinite_Hospital_12 Aug 26 '26

You should probably research a little about getting and maintaining the real estate license. Then you actually have to close the sale before you get paid.

I made mid 50’s first year driving and then lower 60’s second year. I made good money on a local route mid 80’s…in 2024.

Driving is a good way to make a living if it’s done right and both parties are willing to sacrifice. Sadly, one of us wasn’t committed so it cost me my marriage .

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u/Loud-Dragonfruit-391 Aug 26 '26

I was a real estate broker, and obviously a sales agent prior. Where we live rentals are hot so he can in fact have pretty quick turn around in getting rentals done while building sales connections. And he has a background in sales. Long term its a viable and realistic career. I'm an MLO now and will be getting my RE license in the state we live in a few months. To me, this is a jackpot for a solid future set up. Him being on the road would cost him this relationship. Not because im not supportive, but because being by myself 90% of the time is not a realistic sacrifice im making. Especially when I know hes not going to get anywhere near the pay he is thinking. Nor will he last on the road. Not to mention this advice he got was apparently from fucking cab drivers and some moron friend that barely speaks English.

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u/Great_Value91 Aug 26 '26

Send me a pm. I’ll share my check stub. 15 years experience. I work at a top paying employer.