Getting an AZ too early

[Pipeman]

thats not true, my buddy just started with a union cement company in kitchener, starting rate $24 an hour with buck an hour raise every year for 5 years and Ot after 8 hours a day and a pension plan and full benefits. so there is good jobs out there, i am tempted to apply over there myself, maybe next year if hes still there and says its still good i would apply.

getting my AZ was the best thing i ever done, there is no other job i would love as much.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't your buddys job be better than the one you have now? About $7.00 an hour more than you get isn't it? And all the bennies and overtime etc etc.

[mustang5.0]

all this talk reminds me of how lucky I am. at the moment i'm only making 15 an hour driving a tri-axle dump truck but I work for a logging company and in the next few weeks i'm going to be starting with the log trucks.. which pays much better (around $22/hr) and I don't have to worry about rainy days anymore because we'll work in all weather. and the part that may surprise you all... they hired me with very little experience, i've only had my AZ since february AND I just turned 21 last month. I may have a pretty solid connection with the company but be positive! anything can happen! don't be afraid to apply for decent paying local jobs... you just never know.

[bikerboy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't your buddys job be better than the one you have now? About $7.00 an hour more than you get isn't it? And all the bennies and overtime etc etc.

there is not that much difference in pay, but ya its probly better, but alot farther away in the city to drive to work everyday. so when you figure in more gas burnt to get to and from work, plus less hours worked since it';s union and low seniority guys get little work when its slow, the weekly money might be about the same or less.

[FLHT Ron]

I'm having about as much luck talking you outta it as others did when they tried to talk me outta it. I wished I had listened to them now! Do what you think is best but I think you're making a big mistake.

Good luck,

Ron

[buzzy]

Re: getting an AZ too early:

Personally I found taking the test before noon was a lot harder than taking it right after lunch. Oh sorry, that's not what ya meant.

[buzzy]

Hey Ron, I've seen you drive. You're right.... you should have listened to your instincts and found another career. LOL

[truckermanitoba]

make sure you can live on about 50 thousand a year.I been a trucker for 5 years that is what i have made. You could make more if you drove team team not for everyone. check out some of the bigger carriers they will have programs to have new drivers work for them. look for a compony that has a terminal that is close to were you live. this way be easier to get home. 8 days is probably the least be be gone from home. regardless were work the more time can give compony to get you home better your chances to get home. their is alot of distrabutions centers in area could get a job driving shunt truck .

[ripplesouth]

Ask yourself why you want to drive truck. If it's for the pay which you believe will be good then look at other careers that pay about the same. Do they make that pay on 8 or 9 hour days? Where did they work before they came to the job you are researching? Where did they get promoted to internally or externally after doing the job you are researching?

Do you have the education you need before you start trucking that you can use for upward mobility? Do you have plans to become a terminal manager? Dispatcher? Safety and compliance officer?

Also try putting in about 200 applications to trucking companies with your resume showing that you already graduated trucking school, just to see how many fish will bite. Sit down and interview with them as if you are already trained and licensed. Create a fake driver's abstract if they ask for one. Do this to gain greater certainty on your educational investment. There may be other issues with your employment history or other background information that will make trucking school an expensive mistake. Also consider that $12,000 in trucking school can buy you a great education in College and University nowaways. Your money is better invested there.

Have you heard about CSA2010? One slipup and you could face $500-20,000 fines, imprisonment, or lose your license for life.

Think about whether there are smarter choices than driving a truck.

[bikerboy]

Probably not a smart idea to pretend you have an AZ, and making up fake abstracts and wasting peoples time, unless its a carrier you never ever want to work for, since i doubt they would talk to you again if they found out you lied and wasted their time like that.

[ralph]

[QUOTE=ripplesouth;34731]
Have you heard about CSA2010? One slipup and you could face $500-20,000 fines, imprisonment, or lose your license for life.
QUOTE]

Easy there!

CSA 2010 does NOT fine drivers or suspend CDL licenses! Infact you could have ONE MILLION points on your CSA2010 abstract (or what ever you choose to call it) and still have a CDL!

CSA 2010 is similar to Ontario's CVOR system that has been around since Christ was a cowboy and we're still trucking. Yes, CSA 2010 will sort out some of the chaff from the wheat (poorly rated carriers and drivers with too many tickets may not survive). They told us in Ontario that things would get better when all this happened...they just didn't say when.