Question:
Hello all I am a 36 yr old male who is extremely interested in becoming a driver. I have been researching the occupation for the past 4 months and have taken several compatibility tests to make sure it was the right choice for me. I have no doubt in my mind that this is the right choice for me. However here is my problem.
I currently live in Alaska but I want to move out of Alaska. My plan as of now is to work one more fishing season (from May-Sept.) up here to get extra income saved up and help me with financing my move. I don't care all that much about where I move to but would prefer to be somewhere out west. Here is my problem. I can't get any of the companies or schools to talk to me now. I have contacted several of them and they all have told me the same things, either contact them again in Sep or Oct closer to my move date, or contact them once I have already moved.
I want to be able to buy a plane ticket in advance and search for housing before I move. I can't do this if I don't know where I am going to live. I don't know where I am going to live if the companies and schools won't talk to me. I basically want to know if there is any school or company that will accept me as a trainee now so I can plan my life. I have the money available now to pay any tuition cost in advance. But all of the schools I have talked to so far will not accept payment in advance of the schooling.
I could move somewhere within a month if there was a school that had some type of residential program I could get into. This way I would not have to worry about housing right off the bat. Do you know of any schools like that? Please any help you can give me would be appreciated, as I am eager to get started on the way to my new career.

Answer:
The vast majority of commercial truck driving schools will take your money, and find you a seat for training, on a moments notice if you can pay for it. Nothing to worry about there.
The logistics of moving from Alaska to wherever you go for training can be a hassle so why not make arrangements to store the majorityl of your belongings until after you've finished school and gone through the training process with a carrier?
Between now and the beginning of fishing season (I imagine that you'll be too busy after it starts), try to sort out who you want to work for/where you want to live.
If you want information from/about a certain carrier, don't tell them that you'll be living in Alaska until September. Instead, tell them that you live in (pick a spot suitable for your needs) and have them FAX you the information you want. If you want to find out if you meet their hiring criteria and will offer you a "pre-hire", go ahead and FAX them an application giving that 'suitable spot' for an address. They don't care where the FAX goes to/comes from - don't worry - and you can cancel your orientation due to illness when the time comes.
I realize that being "dishonest" may not sit well with you but if this level of deceit concerns you, I can assure you that you're not cut out for the OTR industry. BOL

Answer:
Honestly, you're best bet is to find a company that has a trianing program for non-experienced drivers. But you also have to understand there are other things to think about too. How is your MVR, do you have a criminal record? If you're good on all accounts, then finding a company to go with will relatively be easy.
The easiest thing to do is look on here for companies that run primarily the west coast or find a big company like Schneider or JB or Werner...someone who has tons of trucks and has dedicated possitions all over the states.
1. Decide where you want to live.
2. Find a school in your area
OR
2. Find a company that has a school
The rest will fall into place. if you go to a non-company school then be thinking about what companied are out there. For an extra fee, most companies will help you find a job doing what you want. And they have lifetime placement.
There's Dry Vans, Refridgerated, Flat Bed, Doubles, Tankers. depending on what you want to haul.... may depend on the company you go with. If you're not looking at doing anything till later this year, you have plenty of time to do research.

Answer:


Answer:
choclit snda
Thanks for the link am checking them out. Noticed that they have housing available do you know what it is like?
Tooslowtruckin
MY MVR is perfect never have had an accident, ticket or DUI. My criminal record is not as good. I have 2 missdemeanor charges one for fraud in 1991 and one for larceny in 1997 but I have no drug related charges.
I really want to live somewhere around the Lake Elsinore, CA area. This is where most of my family is now and want to be somewher close by them. When I say close by I mean withing 4-5 hours drive. I looked at several schools in that area but wasn't able to get anywhere with them. I talked to a recruiter from CR England but after some research and reading on this site and others not sure if they are a good company to work with. Got any suggestions for that area?
John C.
Have most of my stuff already stored up would just have some clothes and one or two boxes of stuff to have to move. I can use my faimlies address in Lake Elsinore since this would be the area I am looking to move to. I am just wondering if canceling and orientation will hurt my chances later on when I am actually ready and able to start? I'm not worried about the "dishonest" part that was one of my highest scores on the compatibility tests I took.

Answer:

Don't even worry about it. If you want to be courteous, call the company the week before you're due to start orientation and tell them a "family emergency" has come up and that you'll have to push back your orientation until you get it cleared up. Thanks to the driver turnover in this industry, they're not going to turn down a warm body with a CDL, a decent MVR and a less than obscene criminal background. Maintain a relatively clean MVR and a perfect on-time delivery record and you're durn near bulletproof. BOL

Answer:
When I attened Central, they put us in regular 2 bedroom apartments.
2 people to an apartment.(since I was the only female in my class I got an apartment to myself.)
You are responsible for your own food , TV, toiletries.
The apartments are furnished with beds, refridgerators, stove/oven.
There is a Wal-Mart in the next town.(unless they have built one in that town since then)
There are food places in the same town as the school.
Overall, it's a pretty good place to stay.

Answer:
Im worried about his 'larceny' charge. I know that it raises alot of question marks in the 'major' trucking companys.He may just be S.O.L. because of it.I would make sure the company can accept this.Dont lie cause you may have to go into Canada and then youd be busted for sure.Good luck...

Answer:
not a whole lot in drumright to do but you can goto cushing they have a cheap movie theatre walmart pizza shops bowling etc. tulsa and stillwater are about a 30 minute ride. the town pretty much shuts down on sunday i used to live near the campus and you see the trucks all over the place.

Answer:
Here is my 3 cents worth:
You can go two routes with this:
Rte 1 is to pick the place you want to live and get moved in there, then find a school to attend and then a company to work for.
Rte 2 is to find a company or two you want to work for, find out thier hiring areas and then move to that area, attend school and go from there.
The reason(s) no one will really talk to you is that you are a BIG maybe in their eyes. Maybe you will move to the lower 48, maybe you will choose to live in their hiring areas, maybe you will attend trucking school, maybe you will this that or the other in the next 6 months or so.
There are hundreds of people who think about entering the trucking industry as a driver every day, and hundreds more who change their minds at the last minute let alone over the course of months. It takes time and money for companies to run back ground checks etc to decide if you are hirable or not and also a lot can change in 6 months time.
If you have the money to pay for schooliing now thats great. Save it so you will have it in 6 months or so when you are truly ready. The trucking industry has been here for a long time and it isnt going anywhere anytime soon.
Answer:
First off, get the hell out of alaska. How the hell do your survive there with no women?
A) What type of driving are you interested in?
1) if OTR aim, narrow down, and contact potential companies you want and get a rough geographical area in which to settle.
a) Perhaps the chicago/ quad state area would be a good area to settle because of the more numerous driving opportunities (as compared to any other area). I will need the locals and anyone else with knowledge to chime in on this one.
The criminal record, is, not a good one but, rest assured there are many, many desperate-a$$ companies who need you. If you can get a licence, I know 2 companies who will hire you on the spot (one employs a driver who failed a drug test) and several owner operators who don't care if you shot the president.
Will continue later as other thoughts come to mind; Mind is too jumbled right now.

Answer:

Most of the companies I have talked to so far said that since it was 7 years ago, a misdemeanor, and I have had a clean record since that it shouldn't be a problem. Going through Canada shouldn't be a problem either since I have done that the last two summers on vacation.

I think this is my best route and more likely what I will end up doing.

The money will still be here in 6 months. Was just hoping that if I offered to pay for tuition 4-6 months in advance it would help narrow my search and give me more of a direction to aim for. But most of them I guess don't want to go through the hassle of having to do some kind of refund later on if I change my mind (which will never happen but they don't know that).

Answer:

It's not a question of it being a problem as a practical matter but, rather, of your company perceiving it as being a potential problem.
The smartest thing that you can do at this point is to contact the nearest Canadian Embassy and explain the situation to them. They will then inform you if you require a "Ministers Permit" to enter Canada legally.

Answer:
C-1 truck driving school in Indianapolis, has a program in which you sign an agreement with Pam Transport, USA Trucking, Schieder. C-1 is listed in the Indianapolis Directory, I do not have their web site.
They will pay for your school and hotel expense while your taking the course, in return you will have to sign an agreement to work for them at least a year. this may be a option for you, by killing two brids with one stone, finding your company and school with housing all in one may interest you????
I would suggest Pam or USA. once your out of school and complete your company training, then you can choose your home terminal that you would like to work out of, I beleive USA is national, so you could choose a terminal that is close to the city in CA, that you have mentioned, but you may have to drive a few miles to the terminal ocassionally. Schieder is a bottom of the barrel company.
As for your criminal record, it should be no problem since you do not have a felony convition. Felony's are problems except for bottom of the barrel companies.
Since your MVR is good that is a plus for you, the only question I have is can you pass a DOT physical, Do you have High Blood Presure, Diabeties and is your vision at least 20/40 with glasses. If your in decent health or currently being treated, by your doctor for HBP or Diabeties then your ok there.
I hope I have been some help for you!
Oh! one more item, do not got to school till u can graduate and go into trucking right a way, if your out of school more then 4 to 6 weeks and are not employed by then, no company will hire you unless you spend more money and take a refresher course.
Catch you on the flip!

Answer:

Yes it is. They are currently redoing there website so not much info for me there but I called and they are sending me information in the mail.

This shouldn't be a problem for me either. I just passed a physical here in Alaska for my class B CDL so think it should be about the same where ever I go.

A huge help thank you very much. Everyone on this web site has been so helpful glad I found it and can ask questions to the pros.and forget to START again?