Question:
Greetings to all you experienced drivers that look in this forum to help the rookies. I'm an Army vet looking to start a second career. Spent many years in the infantry traveling the world. I'm giving some serious thought to attending a CDL school and becoming a trucker. So here's my questions:
1) Is trucking boring? Or is it somewhat exciting? I can't stand the thought of working in an office.
2) The school I'm looking at is the Diesel Institute in Grantsville, MD. Any info on whether its a decent school? 10 weeks for $4600 and NOT PTDI certified, AFAIK. Seems high but its the only one in my area.
3) Any recommendations for best outfits to work for in Maryland/PA area?
4) What is it like living in a truck? TV? Coffemaker? Any opportunities to get a workout in?
5) What are the showers like at truck stops? Are they as bad as I imagine?
6) What are the best and worst parts of the job?
I'll be reading through the other threads to glean what I can, but any answers would be appreciated. Thanks a lot and maybe see you on the road in a few months.

Answer:
I will try to answer some of your questions.
1) Is trucking boring? Or is it somewhat exciting
To Me know it was not.
10 weeks for $4600 and NOT PTDI certified
Not good and not good
4) What is it like living in a truck? TV? Coffemaker? Any opportunities to get a workout in?
I had a TV/VCR and Nitendo..Coffeemaker..And I always managed to get some type of exercise even if it was just walking.
5) What are the showers like at truck stops? Are they as bad as I imagine?
Showers are somewhat dirty. I always carried a can of Lysol and wore Flip Flops in shower
Check out this sight as far as schools go..I just heard from another driver that they are helping him with the cost of the school because of his Military.. school

Answer:
1) Is trucking boring? Or is it somewhat exciting? I can't stand the thought of working in an office.
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nope 200 million morons in cars,keep it interesting
2) The school I'm looking at is the Diesel Institute in Grantsville, MD. Any info on whether its a decent school? 10 weeks for $4600 and NOT PTDI certified, AFAIK. Seems high but its the only one in my area.
======================
PTDI is what most companies want
3) Any recommendations for best outfits to work for in Maryland/PA area?
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I pass on naming names
4) What is it like living in a truck? TV? Coffemaker? Any opportunities to get a workout in?
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like living in a van,try it for a week
job comes with exercise room(unloading)
5) What are the showers like at truck stops? Are they as bad as I imagine?
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nope,most like a motel shower,some like you imagine
6) What are the best and worst parts of the job?
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open roads,no boss/waiting,pay per hour
Zigzag a certified failure at OTR trucking.
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Answer:
Not sure if these answers are in right order but will give you some info anyway .....
1) I think is very exciting, always have to be your sharpest though.
2) Did you check into TDDS in Lake Milton,OH ..is where i went to school, and pretty sure has all the certifications and they bring you into PA for CDL test. Its only about 75 miles from burgh near youngstown,oh. I believe its cheaper than what you stated too.
3) You can have tv/vcr, dvd, coffee, microwave, video game, fridge ...pretty much anything in truck as long as it fits and you can afford it!
4) My favorite part is the open road and getting to see the country for free ....ive been to 49 states and canada and had no problems spending money out there to have fun.
5) worst part....its not all fun, is work involved too and long hours but you will get used to it and good outweighs bad i think.
6) in western pa is some good flatbed companies if you want that...otherwise unsure am looking for job down here in Va myself right now.
well.....hope this helps some.
god bless,
greg
* Driving My Life Away !!!!!
* Trucking for God & Family !!
* All Roads Lead Me HOME !!!!!

Answer:
Originally posted by gsh999:
1) Is trucking boring? Or is it somewhat exciting? I can't stand the thought of working in an office.
It is more boring than not. At first, it is exciting, especially for those who haven't had teh chance to travel.
After many years, it becomes more like the description given by pilots about their jobs-hour after hour of intense boredom interspersed by fleeting moments of sheer terror. Every interstate looks the same, all the truckstops look the same, hauling the same stuff to the same warehouses. The terror comes in those occasions you have to stand on the brakes to avoid hitting the moron in the SUV who just cut into your lane and jammed their brakes to make a right turn in front of you!
2) The school I'm looking at is the Diesel Institute in Grantsville, MD. Any info on whether its a decent school? 10 weeks for $4600 and NOT PTDI certified, AFAIK. Seems high but its the only one in my area.
No idea, except that for that price, I'd want a certified school at the least.
3) Any recommendations for best outfits to work for in Maryland/PA area?
I cannot recommend any outfit, but you shouldn't have any trouble finding some. Just remember that when talking to a recruiter, you need to make sure your BS detector is in top working order, because it will likely get a workout!
4) What is it like living in a truck? TV? Coffemaker? Any opportunities to get a workout in?
I had a TV, rarely watched it.I had a coffee maker. That was nice. I had a fridge, hot plate, VCR, Video game system, the whole shiddin works. The thing is, if you have time to use those things, you aren't making money. If you are making good money, you don't have time to use those things. You will be driving, and when not driving, you will be sleeping. When you only have 4-5 hours a night to sleep, you will find that most other things become less important.
5) What are the showers like at truck stops? Are they as bad as I imagine?
Some are really nice, but those are infrequent. Most are OK, many are getting better, and some are worse than you can imagine!
6) What are the best and worst parts of the job?
Best parts? Travel, no set schedule to adhere to, no co workers to irritate you.
Worst parts? Long hours, 7 day workweek, never at home, expensive to live on the road, morons in cars, morons in trucks, morons for dispatchers, not getting paid for your work, getting hassled and singled out by law enforcement, ad nauseum.
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Answer:
Highwayman,I don't think I've ever seen anyone
sum up the "lifestyle"as well as you have in
one post. I hope it causes some of the readers to reevaluate the decisions they're makeing.
Mike
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Mike

Answer:
I agree. Highwayman you are right on the nose with your post.
The only thing I would add is that this is definitely a love it or leave it career. If you do not like what you find, find something else. If you love it, you will whine, complain, moan, criticize, and belittle it; but you will just say "That's trucking" and get behind the wheel.

Answer:
AMEN brother you hit it dead on!!!!
aman
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Amann

Answer:
This is a great thread, lots of thought went into some of these posts, and I agree with every word (for a change
Trucking is a very isolated lifestyle. The only 'face time' you spend with customers, clerks, etc, is pretty low-quality stuff, usually with folks who just want to take your money or tell you where to put your truck...
This isolation magnifies stress and personal problems. You can spend all day just steamed about some little slight (usually from dispatch) that in another job or situation you'd brush-off or get distracted from quickly. The 'lifestyle' works best for the loners and self-motivated types who just want to be left alone -- cause if you do your job properly, you WILL be left alone and ignored most of the time.
Very lonely out here. And so-called advances in technology just make it worse. Some driers go for weeks without ever talking to their dispathers - just following instructions on the QualComm...

Answer:
This is actually one of the better threads I have read in answer to initial inquries from a wannabe. Most of you guys have a different perspective, (and therefore more accurate than my own,) to what it is like as a company driver. I have stated in the past that I have never been a standard company driver and have an impossible time comparing my own history to most others.
I have always been in a position where I could run things my way. I have a severe independant streak that puts me at odds with the ideals of the average company. The trucks I have had, other than my own, were never governed and I have never had Qualcom or any other device to track my movements other than a cell phone.
As far as being boring, like any other job, it has it's good days and bad. I enjoy driving down the road, especially the open highways, listening to talk radio, books on tape or whatever music strikes me at the time. I also enjoy a good conversation and on the rare times I find someone intellegent to talk to on the CB, I switch to another channel and talk away.
While I would not go back to the old days of split speed limits, I used to love it when someone put together a convoy to run across Texas! A dozen or more trucks running together, all haveing a good time joking back and forth while putting down the miles was fun and exciting to me. With a 70 mph speed limit, I would just as soon set the cruise and keep on keeping on. Many times, even the cops would get in on the game knowing we were not harming anyone and just getting the job done, as long as we all stayed in line and did not screw around.
Yes, there are lots of drawbacks to the job, but what job is perfect? No, this is not for everyone, but then again, some people like sitting behind a desk.
Only one real way to tell for sure if you can take on the lifestyle...give it a shot!
«"When somebody tells you nothing is impossible, ask him to dribble a football." »

Answer:
Originally posted by Ramman:
Only one real way to tell for sure if you can take on the lifestyle...give it a shot!
This is what I did. I have a college education, and I got into trucking because I was curious, and because I was one of those four wheelers griping about trucks until my uncle (a former trucker) told me to go try it for myself before bitchin' about something I have no knowledge of. Well, to me that was a dare, so I did it.
I don't regret most of it. Yes, I blame trucking in part for killing my 1st marriage, but really it just hastened the inevitable.
I blame trucking in part for causing me to lose my first 2 homes (due to not getting paid and not having money for mortgage), but my own financial irresponsibility was also to blame (again, just hastened the inevitable).
I had fun my first several years in the business. I guess the novelty has worn off, and the BS has gone up, while the caliber of driver has gone down, both for trucks and cars. Plus, I have a family now, and I am more valuable to them at home than I am in a truck 2000 miles away.I have hobbies that I never had time for when I was OTR, and friends and neighbors I never got to see because I was gone all the time.For these reasons, I no longer drive OTR, and I won't be driving locally for much longer either.
To the newbies, and potential newbies, I won't go so far as to say absolutly do not get into this business, but to make sure you know as much as you can about what you might be getting into. I did not when I got in this biz, and did many things wrong, and it cost me dearly.
This biz is not like any other around, and it bears no resemblance to the concrete cowboy image that comes out of Hollywood. It is hard work,sometimes 20+ hours a day, much of it for little or no pay. Some of the most ruthless cheats outside of the mob make their living preying on truckers (they are most commonly known as brokers, but are also called highway pirates, lumpers, grocery warehouses, and in some instances, Truck Enforcement officers), and the dangers one is exposed to rivals or surpasses those that many inner city police officers face every day.
Give the biz a try, but don't let it swallow you. In this biz just like in driving, always leave yourself an out. Have other skills or education to fall back on. Otherwise, you will become one of the many grouchy old goats who are trapped in this biz and hate every minute of it because they don't know how to do anything else and refuse to try.
"I consider myself a good judge of character, and that's why I don't like nobody."
-Roseanne
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