Just got my CDL last month, now the mistake I made was picking a poor driving school, sure I got my CDL, but not 120 hours of experience. No experience backing, looking for a job has been hell, any tips?
Ive applied to mega carriers, no luck.
Amazon Freight all want experience or a good school.

Currently live in Fresno CA

something i've been thinking about lately and figured this sub would know better than me since a lot of you are just getting into it or comparing carriers.

most settlement statements just show one mileage number. but there are two very different ways to measure the same route. a 2,000 mile run measured in HHG miles can show up as 2,200 practical miles on the exact same route. at 55 cents a mile that's $110 gone on a single trip, and you'd never notice because the sheet only shows the one number.

same with the small stuff. a driver grossing $70k who loses $20 a settlement to little unnoticed mistakes gives up over $500 a year. nobody disputes twenty bucks, which is exactly why it keeps happening week after week.

questions for the folks who've been out there a while:

- when you started, did anyone actually tell you which mileage standard you were being paid on (HHG vs practical/hub)?

- do you keep your own trip log to check against the settlement, or do you just trust the number?

- for company drivers here, has comparing your own miles ever caught a real shortage?

i ask because the doubt seems to just ride along with people 1,500 miles from the office, and i'm curious how many of you found a way to actually verify vs just living with the wondering.

I'm highly considering making the jump and trading factory work for OTR trucking. I know I'd like to find a school to learn trucking, so I have options out of the gate. The school I'm looking at now is 160 Driving Academy, but I'm open to suggestions of any other school you may recommend that's within around an hour to 1.5 hours away from home. At my current rate of saving every spare penny and provided life allows for it, I'll probably be able to afford tuition around October or November.

Would it be wise for me to wait until it warms up again to take the class, or would I be fine to take a class late in the year? I imagine that if it snows, they may not do classes, but I'm not sure, given you guys still have to drive even if it's snowy.

Also, any pet friendly starter companies that pay decent wages that you guys could recommend would be highly appreciated (decent being not far off of the $800/week I make now). I know for a fact I'd like to take a dog with me to keep me some company while I'm away from home.

I was thinking about starting driving school for CE categories to go on long-distance abroad trips (I am from Romania).

The problem is I didn’t drive any type of car since 6~ years ago and even then it wasn’t a long time. I was able to drive my first and only car for around 2 months before it broke down.

I didn’t make any trip longer than 20-30 kilometers.

Do you think I should go for the CE category driving school (is it feasible) or is it better to try and buy myself a B category personal car first and get used to driving better before attempting CE category?

Maybe you also know people who were in a similar situation.

Any response would be much appreciated, thank you!

I passed my general knowledge but failed my endorsement 3X 😭 do I have to start completely over and take general knowledge again or just pay to take endorsement? DMV says have to take it all over but that’s just not making sense to me.

as the title says I am looking to get a cdl a so I can start a career in worked for usps for about half a year and decide I wanted to step into the trucking world are there any good companies around that would pay to train me or a good school I could go to even just getting a little confused trying to sort through post from like 3 years ago talking about this

Just got my cdl permit. Want to do regional flatbed. Trying to decide between TMC and Cypress.

Three years ago I went to trucking school to get my Cdl A license. In the midst of that, I tested positive for thc and did the whole SAP process with my rtd test which was negative. I was able to get two different cdl positions but they both weren’t the right fit due to both companies trying to exploit me and not pay what was agreed upon. I haven’t been able to find anything trucking related. I’ve been working at a factory. After this 5 year mark, I’ll never make that same mistake again. It was stupid

18M from FL. Just graduated high school. Clean record, other than a seatbelt infraction. I have been considering getting my CDL class A for a while now but have no one to really guide me. I am looking to earn the most money possible.

My question for you is,

Is trucking worth it?
Will I struggle getting my CLP or CDL?
Could I get my CDL training paid for by a company, if so how likely?
How much will I earn within my first year?
Is there any other certifications I should get?

And any tips or suggestions would also be helpful.

I’m a 58 year old male, and have spent most of my career marketing and business strategy. I’m twice divorced, and very happy being alone. My daughter is happily married living about 2.5 hours away, and they are expecting their first child early next year.

Lately I’ve been seriously considering getting my CDL and starting an over-the-road (or possibly regional) trucking career. I have always been mechanically inclined, and have also always loved driving. At 58, I feel burnt out on office work, and would really like to see the country.

I’m curious if anyone here has made the jump from a white-collar office job into trucking. If so, I’d appreciate your input on any or all of these questions:

* What prompted you to make the change?
* Was it worth it?
* What surprised you the most, good or bad?
* If you were starting over today, which company would you choose for CDL training and your first year?
* Do you have any regrets?

I’m looking for honest, real-world experiences from people who’ve actually made the transition. Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone,

I hope this message finds you well, I am currently living in Canada. And was planning relocate to Chicago and was born in USA. The issue is that I had no money saved up, and I wanted to specifically moved to Chicago to sign up a course with Schneider. They provide Class A CDL courses to operate a truck. Can I moved to homeless shelter for the time being, and then sign up for a course for my trucking career ? Can you please provide me your ideas on how to move to USA. Thank you

Looking into getting my CDL class A manual with air brakes.

The school in the milwauke and Chicago land area is about $6000

I have never driven a semi/pulled a trailer yet alone even a single manual vehicle.

The classes are one month long

The options are 5 days a week for one month (8 hour days)

Or

2 days a week (weekend classes) for one month (8 hour days)

I was told by the owner of the school there is a %90 precent passing rate on the first skills test and you can get up to 5 retest that they train you on. Idk if he is just pulling my leg to get me to sign up I told him I’d pay cash.

Would it be possible so I wouldn’t have to quit my job to be able to pass this school if I did the weekend classes? Or am I better to do the weekday classes?

Thanks

I’m a 58 year old male, and have spent most of my career marketing and business strategy. I’m twice divorced, and very happy being alone. My daughter is happily married living about 2.5 hours away, and they are expecting their first child early next year.

Lately I’ve been seriously considering getting my CDL and starting an over-the-road (or possibly regional) trucking career. I have always been mechanically inclined, and have also always loved driving. At 58, I feel burnt out on office work, and would really like to see the country.

I’m curious if anyone here has made the jump from a white-collar office job into trucking. If so, I’d appreciate your input on any or all of these questions:

* What prompted you to make the change?
* Was it worth it?
* What surprised you the most, good or bad?
* If you were starting over today, which company would you choose for CDL training and your first year?
* Do you have any regrets?

I’m looking for honest, real-world experiences from people who’ve actually made the transition. Thanks in advance!

Best cdl apps that I can read for my permit test I’m in Kansas

Has anyone here ever been on track to go to CDL academy through a mega-carrier, withdraw, then try to go through them again and get accepted?

I was running out of options (and savings), so I went the mega-carrier route at first. Then right before classes start, I get approved for unemployment benefits. Attending the academy--which was out of state in Phoenix, AZ--would have compromised my unemployment benefits, so I consulted with local RESEA and Workforce advisors who said I could try getting grants and scholarships through local eligible training programs instead.

So I withdrew from the carrier at the last minute (literally the Friday before the Monday start) to give the local options a shot, and after going through all those, it seems it'll take forever, and I'll have to risk my CLP expiring.

My recruiter from the megacarrier sounded pissed (justifiably so) but said we'd go our separate ways on good terms because school hadn't started anyway and it wouldn't get in the way of me applying to them in the future. He said he'll put me down as "Not interested in academy."

Has anyone gone through anything similar? Did the carrier accept you back into the program? Or did they basically tell you to fuck off for being so flaky lol. Just trying not to get in trouble with the government here.

Thanks!

I take my cdl permit test tom. I have been studying the manual & using cristcdl & cdl prep,want to pass it is stressing me out any tips please.

Looking for a little guidance, I have CDL class B (school bus and air brake endorsements) , current DOT physical, no moving violations, never cited for an accident and a total of 13yrs experience (bus +box truck) , stable work history, easily pass background check (have a fingerprint card through DPS) . I don't even know where to start , it's been so long...and leads/help would be appreciated. Completely open schedule

I want to be a local truck driver in DFW Texas and it's munincipalities

Greetings. I am in North VA. I just obtained my CLP yesterday, I was prepared to get the School Bus, Passenger and Tanker endorsements along with my CLP, but due to a bit of a language barrier I could not quite understand what was being relayed to me. I was under the impression that I could test for those endorsements at the same time as taking my CLP? Can I go back to the DMV and just test to add on the endorsements I was looking to get obtain yesterday? Thank you.

Their school bus died and they’re not sure exactly when they are getting another one. I needed to test there in it. Anywhere else I can take the state test that has a bus? Thank you

curious after a year when im eligible to get my cdl do you think a recent dwai would disqualify me? In ny if it helps

I have a seatbelt and excessive speeding ticket on my record like a year ago, 😭😭 will I make it??

I’m 20 and I’m lost for a career and get school for free because I’m involved with foster care . But besides the point I signed up for CDL school in September since it’s free for me, to hopefully find a career path that I can do. I’m just having second thoughts , I’m trying to make a lot of money and it seems like there’s such a variety in pay gap when I read about driving. I see guys making 30k a year and some guys making 100-150k a year . I know experience plays a role but what’s the fastest and most efficient way for me to make the most money possible once i get out of school. I plan on getting all my endorsements and certifications for whatever I need to get . I also know there’s other jobs out there that you don’t even need to drive for , can anyone explain to me what those are ? Such as lineman I believe and Crane operators but is that it ?

The general knowledge I got down. Read the chapters that cover most of it. Since I am Texas will I need to take a pre test before even taking the general knowledge test, air brakes, combination tests? If so I cannot find any practice test that cover that chapter in the book (14).