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Posted: 4/16/2023 8:47:10 AM EDT
I often hear people say they have a CDL because it would allow them to get a job if they happened to lose their current non-trucking job. Trucking is often seen as a backup career if other job opportunities aren’t available. Did you become a trucker because you wanted to, or was it a backup plan for you?
I became a trucker because I wanted to, I got my CDL at 23 years old and it’s provided a steady paycheck since then. |
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Posted: 4/16/2023 9:21:02 AM EDT
[#1]
Figured I might as well be able to drive them, if I own them.
I was 27 or 28 when I got my CDL. |
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Posted: 4/16/2023 9:22:11 AM EDT
[#2]
Did a career change at 35 yrs. old to earn a better income. Going from a 40hr per week job pulling wrenches to a 70+ hour week with daily shift changes was culture shock. It did support a family of 4 better but was hard on the marriage.
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Posted: 4/16/2023 11:30:46 AM EDT
[#3]
Back up to oil field work. After I injured my back I decided to stick with it. I could go back to oil field work, but don't want to risk another injury. I was lucky to get a well paying local job, so I think I'll stay.
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Posted: 4/16/2023 11:49:36 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Seabee_Mech]
[#4]
I worked on them for 20 years as a Navy Construction Mechanic, I figured it was more fun breaking them than fixing someone else's fuck ups.
Seriously, I was looking for an easy driving job to supplement my retirement check. I ended up up moving from Michigan to Wyoming during the oil boom in 2012 to go work for a crane company, the job market was shit in Michigan at the time. One thing led to another and I quickly moved up from transporting crane parts to Heavy Haul and then hauling Super Loads. I now operate a bunch of specialty heavy haul trailers, platform trailers and a Goldhofer remote controlled self propelled platform trailer as well as being a certified crane operator. I wasn't supposed to be working this hard after retirement but the money is insanely good. The funny thing is, in a way I hate heavy haul, it's a lot of hard work and extremely stressful but I happen to be really good at it and I'm working for a very good company that lets me do my thing and doesn't pester or micromanage me. ETA: My dream job would be mowing the right of ways along the highways 
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Posted: 4/16/2023 6:01:01 PM EDT
[Last Edit: barbcue]
[#5]
My buddy got his CDL and kept sending me pictures of the stuff he hauled over a few years and i thought it looked like it might be fun and i like to smoke and drive so why not ?
I thought man that looks like an easy way to make money sitting on your ass..  I had no idea how much work was involved (and how much you have to remember) until it was too late.  Money is pretty good though. |
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Posted: 4/16/2023 9:49:39 PM EDT
[#6]
I found myself in a "transitional period", unemployed, with a pregnant wife.
I needed a job, and I needed job security. So I got my CDL. I knew I could always find a job. |
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Posted: 4/16/2023 10:14:38 PM EDT
[#7]
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WI, USA
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Posted: 4/16/2023 10:24:35 PM EDT
[#8]
Got my CDL cause of a dump truck I bought for landscaping, 33000lbs and air brakes. Got a truck driving job the next day through tester. Day after I got to drive a semi first time ever in a blizzard by myself. Talk about on the job training.
After 20 years of auto body repair there wasn't much else for me to do. Blood pressure is to high so no more driving, what a joke. Been 17 years and still no heart attack, knock on wood. Good thing I wasn't allowed to drive. |
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Posted: 4/17/2023 1:44:51 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Seabee_Mech: I worked on them for 20 years as a Navy Construction Mechanic, I figured it was more fun breaking them than fixing someone else's fuck ups. Seriously, I was looking for an easy driving job to supplement my retirement check. I ended up up moving from Michigan to Wyoming during the oil boom in 2012 to go work for a crane company, the job market was shit in Michigan at the time. One thing led to another and I quickly moved up from transporting crane parts to Heavy Haul and then hauling Super Loads. I now operate a bunch of specialty heavy haul trailers, platform trailers and a Goldhofer remote controlled self propelled platform trailer as well as being a certified crane operator. I wasn't supposed to be working this hard after retirement but the money is insanely good. The funny thing is, in a way I hate heavy haul, it's a lot of hard work and extremely stressful but I happen to be really good at it and I'm working for a very good company that lets me do my thing and doesn't pester or micromanage me. ETA: My dream job would be mowing the right of ways along the highways You want to hit your own piss bottles to complete the circle of life?
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Posted: 4/22/2023 12:00:37 PM EDT
[#10]
Went through a divorce and was extremely unsatisfied with my career as a Realtor. At 48 I decided to get my CDL and see America for a year. Five years later and I'm still out here. It changed my life for the better in so many ways but it has some serious downsides. I don't know how married guys with families do it.
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NY, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2023 2:56:38 PM EDT
[#11]
was getting out of dairy farming at 36 yrs old, wife 2 kids, huge bills
I have a buddy of mine who went through almost the same deal, except 1 kid..............he was driving trucks, so i figured if he could do that i could too been 25/26 or so years...........made alot of money, spent alot of money lost alot of money in trucking.................but i always have a job and money right now i drive for the largest greek yogurt maker on the east coast hauling either liquid whey to feed cows or finished product in reefers to vendors |
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KY, USA
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Posted: 4/25/2023 4:58:36 PM EDT
[#12]
24 years......$$$. Became an O/O buying up ex-JB Hunt mid roofs from ripoff Freightliner Select. Got real good at fixing shit on the fly. Defibrillator=loss of medical card=no CDL.
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Posted: 4/26/2023 9:09:03 AM EDT
[Last Edit: CornfieldCong]
[#13]
I was working for AIM Transportation the shop, and one day my boss told me that since I'm working on them, I might as well know how to drive them. I got my Class A permit, and when I showed up for work the next day, he said "OK, you're with Bob today."
I spent a couple weeks with another driver learning on the job before I tested out. That was 10 years ago. Still on the fence about it.
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Posted: 4/26/2023 4:45:01 PM EDT
[#14]
I was a sales rep for Edy’s ice cream. Had a bunch of chain grocery stores on my route and drove around in my personal vehicle. All my buddies were my drivers and urged me to get my class A, which I did. Moved into a driving position shortly after. Paid more, too!
Part of it was a nightmare at first, since just having the CDL doesn’t mean you can drive worth a shit yet. I was immediately put on a route in Washington DC and Northern Virginia. Threw me right to the wolves. But I sure learned in a hurry as a result! |
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Posted: 5/7/2023 9:24:16 AM EDT
[#15]
I got laid off from the Navistar plant that made the Powerstroke engine.
Very good friend of mine owned a towing company with his father, he put me to work. I worked my way thru the towing and heavy equipment transport industry, small conventional wreckers, rollbacks, HD wreckers, HD wrecker rotators, Landoll trailers and lowboy. Passed all my CDL training the old school way. Company got bought out, I stuck around for about a year, then changed companies. I drive a HD 4 axle rollback hauler, and I am really good at what I do. That said, I am on call 24/7/365, due to some of the work we do. Accidents, broke down specialty equipment and one of our accounts is to do transport of emergency generators. 99% of the time I am home every night, usually by 5pm and I drive my work truck home, so no commute. (My personal vehicle is a 2008, it only has 62k miles on it.) lol |
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Posted: 5/14/2023 10:58:28 AM EDT
[#16]
Got interested in heavy military trucks.
Got a CDL for that. Had a non trucking job. Bunch of people found out I had a CDL. Got job offers out the ass. Worked for others as well as myself ever since. Just depends what I feel like doing. I can tell what I don't do. I don't do away from home and I rarely do weekends or nights. |
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OR, USA
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Posted: 5/14/2023 12:14:17 PM EDT
[#17]
I be had my farm endorsement for 20 years and drove quite a bit with it during harvest and moving equipment.
I bought a fertilizer/trucking company a couple years ago and had to get my cdl. It’s not bad I only do localish and get to haul some cool stuff when I’m not hauling for myself. Last year I hauled 3 log cabins, a ton of nursery trees to replant burns and logging operations around the state, enough fruit to keep arfcom fed for years, learned to run a lowboy, all sorts of exciting things. I lost my first motor a couple weeks ago, holy shit is that expensive. All in all it’s not a bad job to have. |
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NV, USA
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Posted: 5/15/2023 8:35:07 AM EDT
[#18]
Like a lot of people, I kind of fell into it.
A company I used to work for was sold and they brought in all new management. I found myself suddenly unemployed and kind of lost. I had been applying and testing with a handful of law enforcement agencies when I was let go from my former company so I thought that was going to happen sooner or later and needed something temporary to hold me over. The unemployment office suggested I get a CDL as there was a big shortage of truck drivers. Covid hit while I was in school and there were numerous setbacks. While in school, law enforcement agencies halted hiring and I was told I would have to start their process all over when covid ended. I got my CDL, decided law enforcement wasn't for me, and haven't looked back. The job isn't hard (outside of winter weather) but my schedule is very demanding. Coming from a 9-5 it was quite a shock and still causes some problems at home. I stick with it for the money and the lack of office drama. I simply can't make this type of money doing anything else without a degree. |
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Posted: 5/18/2023 11:09:57 AM EDT
[#19]
Long story short, bought a job for my son and ended up doing it too.
Turns out if you're surly and hate people, it's a career booster. After 12 years of it, I'm starting to consider an exit strategy. |
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GA, USA
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Posted: 6/14/2023 7:29:27 PM EDT
[#20]
I knew without an education I needed something to make a good living my father spent 28 years with an LTL company so at 20 I talked a company I worked for as a straight truck driver into letting me use a truck to get me cdl as a back up driver then at 21 left them and went over the road then drove dump truck locally for a few years and then at 24 landed a job with a big LTL company and drove for them for 22 years them retired at 46 because of medical reasons thank god for the 22 years with a good paying company job and good disability benefits but wish I was still running the road I miss it
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Posted: 6/14/2023 8:59:34 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Woodchuck1]
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By RedForeman: Long story short, bought a job for my son and ended up doing it too. @RedForeman I figured you’d have told him to find his own job, stop being so wimpy, and how tough you had it in Korea. Who knew that you would buy your son a truck…last I heard, you didn’t even want to give him the Vista Cruiser. |
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Posted: 6/14/2023 10:24:28 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Woodchuck1: @RedForeman I figured you’d have told him to find his own job, stop being so wimpy, and how tough you had it in Korea. Who knew that you would buy your son a truck…last I heard, you didn’t even want to give him the Vista Cruiser. If I only had two dozen feet I could kick a lot more asses. |
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WY, USA
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Posted: 6/21/2023 8:51:57 PM EDT
[#23]
For the Money.
For the Glory. And for the Fun! Mostly for the Money! |
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Posted: 6/22/2023 11:32:51 AM EDT
[#24]
It seemed like a smooth entry into a healthy lifestyle. If you can make it to retirement, and still walk, and breathe, your golden. 😆
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Posted: 6/28/2023 8:06:13 AM EDT
[#25]
I was a helper at a garbage company then then became a driver
I left there and went to a moving company with my class B Got my A there and ran the road Left that and went flat bed for a bit and crawled out of OTR and ran dump local while going to college Now I am an IT Director I still hold my class A because its a pain to get them I haven't drove in over 25 years |
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Posted: 6/28/2023 12:19:20 PM EDT
[Last Edit: AR15A2SporterII]
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Justcause: I was a helper at a garbage company then then became a driver I left there and went to a moving company with my class B Got my A there and ran the road Left that and went flat bed for a bit and crawled out of OTR and ran dump local while going to college Now I am an IT Director I still hold my class A because its a pain to get them I haven't drove in over 25 years I did other work, while retaining my CDL. What happens when you try to get your foot back in the door, is they tell you that you have no recent experience. Companies think that you had a bad driving record, and you were letting your license clean itself up. I found this out firsthand, after 9-11. I had 5 years of fuel tanker experience in the past. They thought I was a terrorist, and just wanted to run a fuel truck into something. I finally got a job with a shitty company, hauling sulfuric acid. That was long ago now. Now, I could work just about anywhere that I want to. I hope to not be doing this much longer though. It's not so much fun anymore. |
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AL, USA
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Posted: 7/21/2023 2:29:21 PM EDT
[#27]
1978 I wanted to get out of Memphis TN away from drugs failed relationship and back stabbing friends. Attended truck driving school and hired by JB Hunt then to other companies hauling just about everything from groceries to flatbed steel . Been all over the US , Quebec and Ontario don't have specific count of millions of miles driven . Now drive local Intermodal like being home everyday to my apartment and recliner.
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