Well 21.....thats the problem.
The companies you mentioned cant take anyone under 23 due to insurance.
I worked for a school and all those companies recruited at our school.
Best advice is local construction and cement mixer companies.

Best of luck!!

With a CDL he is eligible for going to lineman school.

In Florida I assume there are plenty of jobs in the power industry.

And its more of a career than a OTR truck driver.

thats not a bad idea.

or hauling construction or trade supplies to sites.

GD: "young people are lazy and don't want to work"

also GD when a young person wants to work but needs some help to find a job "he's a grown man let him figure it out"

wtf lol

FL has always been difficult and 21 is tough because this industry is ruled by insurance. On top of that, trucking is in a recession. His best bet is to get with some local FL companies, whether they are trucking companies or their company uses trucks. Someone mentioned lineman. I'd also say crane companies as well. I've almost always done open deck, so check out Cypress in Jax. FedEx ground contractors should hire him as well but it's team.
20 something years ago when I started, I moved from FL, because getting hired or getting home was too difficult.

21 and a new CDL is going to make job hunting a bit more difficult.

Apply everywhere and for everything (even if it may not be exactly what he wants). Once he gets into a paying CDL job even for 6-12 months more doors will open up.

Networking can open some hidden doors, do you know somebody or know somebody that might know somebody that may be looking for drivers? I started in the crane business because one of my my wife's sisters talked to one of their cousins that worked in the industry.

The big freight companies did him a favor in more than one way by not offering him a job. If an area is saturated with drivers all trying to get home time (or you live off the major routes) it can be difficult to find loads going in and out of that area. The companies really don't like trucks moving without a money making load if they can help it. You could be out on the road weeks longer than you want due to available loads.

Those big companies also have very high burn out rates because they pay poorly, run the crap out their drivers, to dispatch you're just another number and you'll find they have all kinds of ways to nickle and dime you out of your pay. They know most are just trying to hit their 2 year mark and then bail for a better company so they really don't GAF about you because there are several newly minted drivers waiting to take your seat.

Well, it's been said but his age and under 2 years are going to push back on some but not all opportunities.

See if the school has anyone that they can maybe refer him with. Stop in at bars and ask around. Hell, stop at a truck stop. Half the trucks in there probably have we're hiring phone numbers on the back of them.

I say to hell with OTR. It's too expensive living on the road without a real per diem in my opinion. Super important that he can piss clean and be presentable. Things like groomed face and combed hair go a long ways to help a guy starting out. Don't be scared to commute. I had to drive an hour before I got to the truck. That really played into my favor though looking back as they had a hard time hiring due to location and the population center being too small. It was a perfect combo for me really when I reflect on it.

Once you have 2 years clean skies the limit.

Find a local outfit that will hire him. Helps if it's a 24/7 outfit doing shift work. Mine, oil, ups, food grade, Ag, trash etc are probably a good place to start with less experience. I don't know what kind of car hauler experience is needed to get in.  

I did the doubles triples tankers deal when I started for a local company.  I kind of knew the guys so it really helped getting in. That was back in the day when getting a CDL wasn't a big deal. They paid for it all too.  Of course I came from many years of prior class 8 experience working and driving them just in an ag capacity and not commercial. Then they had bigger plans for me.

Either do that, or find somebody in the oil field that will hire him. Otr is a tough life, one that doesn't really make big money that often it seems. I never did 6 figures with what I was doing, but I was home every night and had awesome Beni's.

I'm with @phuzzygnu. Wished I started that job in my 20's. Two best things that ever happened to were going broke and climbing in a truck. I still keep an med card and unrestricted interstate Class A just to keep folks on notice. I'd be unemployed for about 5 minutes. Boss was surprised that I still kept my cdl one day when having lunch with a client. ( cool story, yank yank, but there is a point) he Asked why? I said in case you fire me I said jokingly. The guy we were eating with owns a fleet also. I looked at him and said jokingly you hiring? He said wanna go tonight? I looked at my boss and said see, that took about 8.7 seconds to be gainfully employed again.

Good on you OP working on behalf of your children. We should all be helping our children get off on the right foot. All these idiots giving you shit for doing the right thing are the problem.

Take a look at JB Hunt out of Ohio, they used to hire new drivers and put them in a truck with an experienced driver for  probationary period for otr positions.

R.E. Garrison?

Sure Wish I Finished Training

When I started out (I was much older than your son), Roehl Transport (it's pronounced Rail) was a good starter company. Their dispatch was geared for new drivers, were available around the clock and weekends, and had several terminals around the country.
  It's flatbed. I learned to love it. But starting out will be rough everywhere. If he can hang with them and keep his cdl clean for a couple of years, he'll be good to go.

They are from up north, that doesn't matter, I'm from Texas. All he's got to do is get in a truck.

Sorry if I'm repeating what others have said, I got tired of scrolling after the first page.

The standard route for new drivers is to go work for one of the big national companies, once you get a year on the road you have many more options for much better jobs. The problem is that if you don't live in a good location they aren't interested in talking to you unless you're willing to stay out for a long time.  They don't want to deal with somebody who's trying to get back home every 2 or 3 weeks if the routes won't take them there.

Some companies like Schneider have an option where if you stay out long enough they will fly you home for your break from wherever the truck happens to be in the country, but if he wants to be serious about it he should just plan on telling them that he doesn't care about getting back home frequently.

Age might be a challenge--I'd guess many companies would be nervous about hiring somebody that young. Remember he's always one bad decision away from costing them big insurance payouts and big lawsuits.

His best opportunities will come through personal referrals, people need a way to know what kind of person he is.

EDIT: Good luck to your son, sounds like he has a good dad.

FPNI, again.  Helicopter parent?

Ridin' down the highway
Goin' to a show
Stoppin' on the byways
Playin' rock 'n' roll

Gettin' robbed, gettin' stoned
Gettin' beat up, broken boned
Getting had, getting took
I tell you folks, it's harder than it looks

It's a long way to the top, if you want to drive a truck

It is, a crucible as I said. Two years accident and ticket free in those conditions though will make you employable at Wal Mart and others

Oh shit, now that is a great idea with a portable career.

Bonus points is in Florida he won't be up in a bucket truck bouncing around in the blowing snow.

Don’t overlook USPS. Great benefits and good top pay (takes a while to top out).

Everyone says UPS but it takes years to get a driving job.

Have him reach out to other smaller companies like superior trucking and places like that.

You dont have to live in the area to get a job in trucking.

Good on you for helping your son. I would do the same. Ignore the bitters.

That's a strange question?  

I've helped friends get jobs and inquired with others about jobs for myself and others as an adult.  I would absolutely assist my daughter with a job in a field I had knowledge about or get info from someone in the know.

Another vote for the oilfield. There is so much iron bring moved out there it isn’t even funny . Frac, coil, sand , water, pump/vac , cranes, vessels , tanks, compressors , equipment rental, heavy haul, gin trucks ,drill rigs , workover rigs , snubbing units , well head components, and the list just goes on and on and on . Good luck .

WTH... Why wouldn't he try to lend a helping hand. His kid is new to this shit and his help could keep him from making a mistake.

The kid already wants to get out there and be a Man, absolutely nothing wrong with a father helping his son figure things out.

Indian River is a tanker company out of FL. Can try there. As another member said have him look into a crane business. Stay away from the mega companies. They pay crap pay.  Give visit the trucker report website. Lots of info over there.

If he isn’t going to into food service (my personal suggestion, if he is in decent shape and wants to be home daily while making decent money - there are options up around the Gainesville area) then he needs to take this advice to heart.  

Hazmat tanks, or flatbed are the directions to go in.   Specialize.   Specialize.  Specialize.  
Don’t waste time with vans or reefers.  

He more or less has to go to a ‘training company’ as he doesn’t have experience.   Might as well make your first two years experience be not only driving experience, but either tanks or flats…the options will open up for him having more specialized experience, rather than being a ‘van’ guy.

Depends on the area. When I was in Houston and looking for just a job to do something between engineering jobs, the first company to call me back was a concrete company. They would hire anyone with a CDL, no experience needed and train on the job. Was easy money, and b/c it was hard getting people, drivers got an extra $1/hr on all hours that week if they showed up on time every day. Was amazing how many people couldn't do that.

I had co-workers who had driven school bus, beverage delivery, and who it was their first driving job. The beverage delivery guy said working for Dr. Pepper sucked, b/c they didn't care about hours of service, you had to do your entire route every day and said "those poor bastards will still be pushing carts of soda into convenience stores when we're driving home"

The world needs more fathers helping their sons.

Well said.

Your job as a parent doesn't end at 18.

Why does anyone do anything for anyone, ever?

Log off and don't come back.

All I know is that there are more ladies doing trucking these days...so the roads don't have to be as lonely for a young man as they used to be.

Hazmat/Tanker will also get you into nitrogen work.
Attached File

Sent you a PM

Unless his heart is set on going OTR I would look into utility companies for the same reason.  The openings I've heard of require at least a class B CDL.

If your son ends up pulling a 53' Refrigerated "Refer" van, tell him to be sure his employer pays the Lumper fees, because breaking down your load at 0400 in a chaotic produce warehouse, while the other drivers rest in their trucks, is not a good time.
The start times for local driving jobs can be any time after midnight.
Tell your son to put his CDL to work right away because if he hasn't driven a semi in the past six months, many trucking companies won't hire him due to insurance costs, which means a lot in the trucking business.

sure, why not?

oilfield will either kill him inside the first year or make a man out of him.

Look into Food service, good money home daily. OTR sucks.

Have him look at the local equipment dealers

Here is Ring Power, the Cat dealer in North FL, parts delivery would get him in the door and then he could work into hauling equipment.

https://careers-ringpower.icims.com/jobs/11585/parts-loop-truck-driver-%282nd-shift%29/job

https://careers-ringpower.icims.com/jobs/11595/transport-driver-level-iii/job

Here's Kelly Tractor, the Cat dealer in South FL. But I didn't see any trucking jobs.

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kellytractor.com%2Fext%2FHR%2Favailable-jobs.doc&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

I love this place.  A big thank you for good input both in the thread and IMs.  Most posters in this thread is what makes ARF great.  I really appreciate you all helping me out with pointers, names, cautions, and just flat out being real.

Some of you are making me want to quit nursing and start trucking, lol.

Sincerest thanks.

Assuming he got a Class A 5th wheel? Restricted to automatic?

Look at the municipalities for a sweeper operator. Needs a tanker endorsement but that is online and pretty simple. Same for concrete companies. We are always looking for sweeper operators and the local concrete companies are always hiring as well.
Go to all the local hauling companies. It would be a dump truck but it would be experience and he gets to sleep in his own bed at night.
If he really wants to haul a trailer around, look at Coke or Pepsi locally. They are always wanting class a drivers and would let him get some experience so he could get the job he really wants in 6 months to a year. If he got lucky, UPS and Fedex are a pretty good use of a class A.

That's why GD is pretty damn worthless for real advice.

OP, I admire you trying to help your son.

Good for you OP.

I have nothing to add except ignore the negativity.  My adult kids are all thriving and I still try to help them any way I can.

It's called NETWORKING, 23er. It's really sad that you don't know that.

Has he checked with Walmart OP?

https://careers.walmart.com/drivers-distribution-centers/drivers

I don't get the tell your son to get fucked and figure it out thing either.

I'm hard on my kids only because the world can be hard place. But man I'm at least there to help guide them. No one is born knowing all this happy shit.

Sometimes just a conversation can go a long ways. Gotta make sure they get up after they fall so I can plant a boot in their ass and say go get er done

I forgot about them. They're pretty solid pension too I think.


Networking is everything. Literally.

I first got my Class A cdl before I was 21. I'm in my mid 40s now and I've been a driver almost my entire adult life.

I currently deliver fuel in the Phoenix market and make well over $100k a year.

The biggest issue with first getting your CDL is that no real reputable companies really hire brand new drivers. You want to get at least a year or two experience driving class a anywhere before you can usually get the job at a place you want.

There are a bunch of different sub sections of CDL driving. Once most people get into an industry they usually only think of doing that specific job but at a better company.

LTL less than truckload. This will mostly be m-f day shift or night shift line haul. You sleep in your own bed every day. Never drive a sleeper truck.

Flatbed. Maybe daycab maybe sleeper.

Food delivery. Deliver items with a two wheeler. This is legit hard work. Maybe the easiest to get into as a new driver because most older drivers realize they don't need to deliver 500 cases a day over 15 stops to make good money. You might deliver frozen foods to restaurants, kegs of beer to restaurants, milk to convenience stores, etc. Little Caesar's and dominos have OTR trucks that do this as well.

Regular OTR. You live in your truck. No expenses other than cell phone bill and food. You can really save and bank a lot of money this way.

Fuel delivery. My current industry. Some of the guys have sleeper trucks they can live in but most people are day cab and slipseat (you work a 12 hour shift, another guy works a 12 hour shift, you come back to work and do it all over). Some companies are load pay and some companies are hourly. There are fuel hauling companies that hire brand new drivers sometimes. You need to have a real attention to detail for this job. There are lots of opportunities per day to make a mistake that will get you fired. Not such a big deal if you're delivering food and give someone the wrong item. Drop gas in a diesel tank and you'll probably be fired and be lucky to work in fuel hauling for the foreseeable future.

And a ton more I haven't mentioned.

Pay. Some companies don't pay overtime. This is legal. Know if you're getting paid overtime or not because it should come into your calculations on if this is a job you want. Other companies pay by the mile and offer detention pay over a certain amount of time. I would always take a job that's hourly (unless you're otr then that's almost impossible). Anything other than hourly with paid OT is a way to try and screw you. A lot of the LTL carriers pay hourly for dock work and mile pay for the driving if you're doing linehaul. For me the real money comes with the consistent OT and OT pay.

Experience. You will probably need to work somewhere you don't really want to work until you get a job at a place you really want to work. Basically get any job that's class a driving and work it until you get the next job. It's way easier to get a driving job if you currently have a driving job.

Hazmat. It takes a little while to get this. First you need to be approved to take your hazmat test. Do that here: https://www.tsa.gov/for-industry/hazmat-endorsement

Once you have that you need to take the hazmat test at the DMV. Read over the manual a few times over the course of a week. Read it again the day you go in. You'll pass the test. It gets added to your DL right at the DMV. Also get tanker.

I've always found that if you can work for a company that has trucks as part of their business the pay is better and the job is more secure than a company that only makes their money transporting other people's goods. for example a circle K driver delivering to circle Ks job is in theory more secure than a fuel hauler who only runs loads when the main companies throw them work. Not always true and not a big deal day to day but in the big picture I've always thought it was something to consider.

Exactly

Thank you