Forget college. Get your CDL Class A. Do a 5-6 year stint and save your pennies. You can also study a trade on your off hours. (Computers etc..) or move up in the industry. Compare and contrast your net wealth VS your college grad 5 years later with a 100K debtload. Trucking industry is still hiring and wages are good. I saw this link on a truck with a big "HIRING DRIVERS" actually I see links like this on lots of trucks. http://www.crengland.com/ If I was right out of HS right now that is what I would do. Go to that website above or other trucking company and get trained and start earning cash.
Well if you think about it. Live real cheaply, and save up 6 years of capital and study via web education/books. You could have a pretty decent sized nest egg. look at tuition. (2995 bucks) and 1000 bucks is reimbursed if you work for them for 3 years. Compare that to the BS Degrees that cost 100 Grand and you end up flipping burgers for minimum wage And you cannot outsource truckdrivers. Company Driver Training Program: Tuition is $2,995 with available financing. Lodging is included in the cost of tuition, if required. Pay in Full (Great Deal): When you pay your tuition in full with cash, check or credit card at the beginning of the course, you will receive a $1,000 discount. That comes out to a full tuition of $1,995. A $1,000 reimbursement is given to company drivers who have completed three years of driving service. Financing (Base Plan): When you sign a note with Eagle Atlantic Financial Services, your $2,995 tuition will be paid at 18% interest. Through this option, $55 per week will be deducted from your paycheck, beginning four weeks from the loan date for a period of 18 weeks. At that point, a payment of $75 per week will be collected until the full note plus interest has been collected. A $1,000 reimbursement is given to company drivers who have completed three years of driving service. After successful completion of the C.R. England truck driving training course, you will be hired, receive your CDL, and be assigned to a certified Over-the-Road Driver Trainer. With your trainer, you will be given opportunities to gain a personal understanding of your new career and have the valuable information you learned in class reinforced through first-hand driving experience. How many of colleges guarantee a job after school? Earn $44,000 to $100,000 per year.
Plus truck stops are the only places on earth where you can get crystal meth, chicken fried steak, and a bj all under the same roof in under 30 minutes.
In all seriousness, I drive cross country often, I love driving at night when its just me and the truckers on the road. Probably not a bad job at all. Only drawback I can think of is passing through some city and getting stuck in their rush hour traffic in an 18 wheeler.
Don't even get me started on the textbook scam. 100-150 bucks per class textbook is the norm. What a great edumaction system we gots .
great idea.... except you drive truck all day, are away from your family and have very limited social interaction..... doesnt sound like a great quality of life. EDIT: i do agree college can be kind of a waste though... generals are useless waste of everyones time and money.
You can buy a Fedex route no CDL needed (box truck) Routes are different price but aprox 75k. You'll be making 60 - 80k 1st year. You can buy more than one and hire a driver.
Actually like 99% of trucking companies only hire you if you are 22 with a few that will hire you if you are 21. I dont remember ever seeing any companies hiring 18 year olds (for OTR) Also, most trucking companies want drivers who were at their last job for at least 2 years (doesnt matter what job as long as it was a continuous 2 years) I had my CDL and after 3 weeks OTR, I didnt want to do it anymore. You are only supposed to drive 10 hours per day(600 miles), but usually you avg 12 hours or more to get to that 600 mile mark. Might also have had to do with the mexican guy they paired me up with that barely spoke english who would also tell me to turn down the radio and listen to the CB to "watch out for smokies". I swear, that was like his catch phrase..."watch out for smokies" You have no intellectual stimulation in a job like that, its just mindless driving and eatting. (ever wonder why truck drivers are so fat? Thats why...no exercise) If you dont mind that type of work though, after a year you can usually buy your own truck and get more money per mile. No idea what the pay is, but 15 years ago it was $1 per mile for owner/operator so you could make 180k per year minus expenses which were high as trucks only get 6 mpg. If you finance a truck, back then it cost about $120k...not sure how much it cost now though. To me though...OTR sucked...it becomes your life. True you can save a shitload of money, but you cant really do anything else. No friends, no relationships, nothing. Driving a truck OTR is a last resort in my opinion.