ANSWERS: 2
  • If you are serious about becoming a truck driver, the first thing you must do is obtain your CDL (eighteen wheeler) license. If you are planning on driving cross-country passing state lines, you must be at least 21 years of age. However if you are only going to be trucking in your own state you can begin at 18 years of age. "Because of age discrimination among the insurance companies most carriers won't hire you on unless you are 23 years of age or in some cases 25+! " Check out more trucker facts at: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truck_driver_facts.shtml Nationwide truck driver training can be found at: http://www.mtc1training.com/?gclid=COuv08vMvIQCFRnzSAodHG91zA If you are serious about obtaining your CDL license, consider checking out these online resources. Currently these states offer online study guides for CDL license: Alabama- http://www.dps.state.al.us/dl/pubs/cdlmanual.pdf California- http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/comlhdbk/comlhdbk.pdf Colorado- http://www.mv.state.co.us/formspdf/2251.pdf Connecticut- http://www.ct.gov/dmv/lib/dmv/20/29/comdr.pdf Delaware- http://www.delaware.gov/agencies/DMV/Forms/dr_frm_cdlmanual.pdf Florida- http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/handbooks/Commercial/ Idaho- http://www2.state.id.us/itd/dmv/driverservices/ds_forms.htm Illinois- http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_cdl10.pdf Iowa- http://www.dot.state.ia.us/mvd/ods/cdl.htm Kansas- http://www.ksrevenue.org/dmvcomhandbook.htm Michigan- http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cdlmanul_16090_7.pdf Missouri- http://www.dor.state.mo.us/mvdl/drivers/forms/CDL.pdf Nebraska- http://www.dmv.state.ne.us/examining/pdf/cdlmanual.pdf Nevada- http://www.dmvnv.com/pdfforms/dlbookcomm.pdf North Carolina- http://www.dmv.dot.state.nc.us/driverlicense/DriversHandbook/Chapter1/lic_commercial.html Oklahoma- http://www.dps.state.ok.us/dls/pub/commanual.pdf Oregon- http://www.odot.state.or.us/forms/dmv/36.pdf Pennsylvania- http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/pa_forms_manuals/pub223.pdf Rhode Island- http://www.dmv.state.ri.us/pubforms.htm Texas- http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/CDLhandbook.pdf Utah- http://driverlicense.utah.gov/pdf/cdl.pdf Vermont- http://www.aot.state.vt.us/dmv/Manuals/CommercialVehicle/CommercialVehicleManualsList.htm Virginia-http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/citizen/drivers/cdlmanual/cdlmanual1.asp Washington- http://www.dol.wa.gov/ds/cdlguide2001.pdf Wyoming-http://dot.state.wy.us/web/e_docs/cdl/wyoinfo.pdf
  • First you need to learn how to drive a truck. Driving something as heavy and long as an eighteen wheeler is not the same as driving a normal car. So specialized training is required. One way to obtain the needed training is to go to a school that provides the training. There are a number of public and private schools that will train truck drivers. Do a Google search for truck driving schools and see what you get. (The one I did returned 5,890,000 results. So you may also want to narrow the search to a specific part of the country.) In addition to schools, I have seen recruiting signs on the backs of truck in which some of the trucking companies promise to provide the training for potential drivers. Once you have been trained, you will have to obtain a commercial driver’s licenses. I would expect that this process would be similar to getting a normal driver's license except that you have to prove that you possess the knowledge and skills to safely operate a truck. Once you have the license you then have to find a job. Judging from the number of recruiting signs that I see on the backs of trucks as I drive cross country, that should not be much of a challenge, especially if you are willing to do long-hall tucking. Short-hall might be a bit harder to get into as it seems to me to be the more desirable area as it allows the driver to return home each night.

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