I am thinking about getting my Class A license when I'm 21, (in 6 months) & i am wanting to hear others' experiences on being a truck driver. i am interested in regional. My goal is to be able to buy my own truck & hopefully work for myself one day. thanks for your time family. :book:
I have a CDL. I have no advice on driving over the road but you will need a truck to test on. Depending on your state, you will probably have to pass a written test to get your CDL permit. This will allow you to drive/practice with a CDL driver. When you're ready, you will have to do a "walk-around" inspection of the truck, possibly an obstacle type of driving test (parking, turning, backing up, etc) and then finally your driving test. Good luck and don't over-think it.
i don't have a CDL, but i used to work with several people that did. none of them said that it was particularly hard to do. might as well just go for it, even if you don't end up sticking with driving truck, the CDL will pay for itself pretty fast and you'll always have it as a backup.
Also...get whatever endorsements you can get. You might not need them now but you never know if a hazmat endorsement, etc. will land you a good job later. And when you do the "obstacle" part....they will probably ask you to back the truck up and stop it between some cones. They want the rear most part of the truck between the cones. That made me lose a couple of points because I tested with a utility truck. I put the rear end in the middle of the cones but didn't think about the boom hanging 5 feet over the back of the truck. The end of the boom needed to be between the cones. Food for thought but I still passed and got my CDL.
My buddy just bought his first rig after 15+ years of driving. He has since 16 and OTR when of age. I help him with his rig and the cost of maintenance is not cheap! You have to foot all the $$ you're own. The price of fuel, I get snapchats of $750 dollars in fuel constantly. Air valves always go bad and they are $100+ Brake chambers and doing the work yourself to save $125+ an hour to do it. Trailers are not cheap and require the same parts and maintenance, Less a drivetrain. IMO go with a company that will pay you're schooling and drive for them for a year to gain seat time for a better paying OTR job. Best bet if you want the money, Go to diesel mechanic school, That's where the $$ is. The tools it takes for a big rig are high dollar and HUGE compared to a full size truck wrench. Making what a diesel mechanic does, You can buy you're own and drive and or lease it out and make more $$, Labor is free now! The offers and $$ sounds tempting, But look how many are out there now? Loads are hard to find and or the easy from home, But you get there and spend you're profit bobbing home. Not an easy thing to do and sorry if its not what you want to hear, But you need to hear as much bad as good to decide if trucking is for you and constantly driving in rain/sleet/snow/ice you cant stop or loose $$ to a point of conditions. Good luck man
i drove a truck mounted crane when i worked for the railroad, and several other heavy vehicles. never drove common carrier so i don't know about keeping a log book and all that. but i did have to get a class a and had one at the time. this was a long time ago though. back in the very early 70s.
