There is a lot of opportunity out there for a self-motivated, skilled and driven truck driver. The trucking industry continues to grow, and it is in constant need of new drivers to help support the American economic system.
If you want to enter the trucking industry you will of course need to take a CDL license training course. This will help prepare you with the skills you need to obtain your commercial driver’s license and pursue a career in the trucking industry. Drivers have to undergo a rigorous training regimen, learn all of the special traffic laws designed especially for truck drivers, and pass a comprehensive exam. Once the driver completes all of that successfully, a career in trucking is certainly within reach.
Of course, in between there are plenty of details to attend to. You must obtain a commercial driver’s license permit, complete the training program, gather all of your required documentation (this includes completing a medical, vision, and hearing exam), completing the CDL training program, and decide which if any endorsements you want to complete before your trucking career really can get off the ground.
Then of course you need to get your CDL, find employment, and start working. Trucking is an industry made by and for working people. There is a lot of hard work, and people are not afraid to work hard to get the job done.
While you’re in that CDL training program, be sure you don’t let anything interfere with your education. No matter what happens, keep trucking along (pardon the pun), and don’t let other issues interfere with your work. You’re entering the trucking industry; their main attitude is nothing stands in the way of completing the job safely, on time, and correctly. You must adopt that attitude as well.
A piece of advice for those entering the trucking industry: follow the rules set forth by trucking organizations. There are many safety regulations enacted by the government that are designed to protect both trucking industry employees and American motorists alike. They are in place because in the past truckers who didn’t follow these regulations were involved in costly accidents that resulted in personal injury and loss of property. Not following trucking regulations just isn’t worth it. Don’t try to take shortcuts, even at the expense of arriving on time. It’s dangerous, and the consequences for breaking the rules are severe.
To help ensure fairness in the industry, trucking unions are also a large part of the trucking industry overall. These unions are designed to weed out unfair practices set in the trucking industry by employers, who in the past have made demands of their drivers that would be virtually impossible to meet. Hours that run long to an unsafe degree, low wages, and other harsh restrictions are the kinds of workplace conditions trucking unions are trying to prevent and end.
Are you still interested in trucking? You can find trucking schools willing to help their students obtain a CDL and begin their trucking career as soon as possible. Of course, take your time; be willing to put in the necessary work to get a proper trucking education. Develop your skills carefully: the trucking industry has use for people with many different skills, but the trucking industry has plenty of use with someONE with many different skills. Become very good at several aspects of the trucking job, but know how to do as much as you can. The more trucking skills you have, the more employable you are, the harder it will be for a trucking employee to pass you by in a candidate pool, and the less likely you are to be left without a job if layoffs ever become a factor.
You can’t prepare for all aspects of the trucking industry, but you can sure come close. Your career is close by; trucking may indeed be where it’s at for you. Find your niche in the trucking industry today, then find another one. The trucking industry needs people like you to keep American commerce rolling along. Develop your trucking skills, find a job, and get started in the industry today. You have a spot in the trucking world…find your place!