(07-15-2019, 03:00 PM)jagibelieve Wrote:

(07-13-2019, 07:47 PM)EricC85 Wrote: Thinking about making a change. I've always considered getting my CDL as my backup plan, anyone here doing the OTR driving these days? Just looking for some realistic feedback on expectations and pros/cons.

My daughter's boyfriend is an OTR driver and he loves it.  He was in a situation similar to you.  Worked several years as a mechanic and decided to make a change.  It's really not for everyone, but you can make a pretty good living doing it.

With your business background a lease program would probably work for you.  That's what my "future son-in-law" is doing and it seems to work for him.  Some would consider the lease program a "con" and it could be for someone that doesn't manage money properly.  VERY basically you are almost like an "owner operator" in the fact that you have to make the lease payment on the truck and are responsible for the fuel and maintenance on it (tires, oil change, etc.).  When your lease is up you can either sign a new lease on a new truck, or decide to go ahead and purchase it for a pretty good price.

On the "upside" you can almost "make your own schedule" and be home pretty much whenever you want to be.  However, if the wheels aren't turning you're not making money.  He generally will go out 4-6 weeks at a time then come home for a few days (usually 4 or 5 days).

The way that it works for him is he gets paid by the load rather than by the mile.  There are times when he gets a load that brings him home even when he doesn't particularly want to be home which happens every now-and-then.  As an example he had to drop a load of frozen chicken off at the Winn-Dixie warehouse a couple of weeks ago and was able to spend a few hours at home before picking up another load locally heading somewhere else.  He can also choose to decline a load if it doesn't pay enough.

As I said, with your business background if you're disciplined enough to put money aside for the lease payment, fuel and maintenance something like that could work out for you.

Now full disclaimer.  I'm just putting out there what I have been told by him so this is not "first hand experience".  I just wanted to try to give you some information.

One last thing that you might want to consider.  Drivers are drug tested and certain medications can prevent you from getting your CDL.

Thanks man that's some good insight. I was reading about the lease program that SWIFT has it's something to look into after I complete my initial 26 months with them. I definitely want to go the owner/operator route if I do it. I'm still weighing the pros and cons I'm just becoming more frustrated at work and can see the end coming for me there. A few years ago I thought I was going to retire in the shop but I'm just getting burned out doing it and the money's not right anymore.

---