Have you thought about getting your foot in the door in the trucking industry?

Elizabeth Malkin — Mon, 11 May 2015 11:54:35 -0400

If you're transitioning, in the Reserve, Guard or a veteran then you should think about the trucking industry! As a CDL driver you choose your own schedule, have flexibility over your routes and the hours that you work and many RP members will already have the skills and training that are needed to immediately transition into a civilian role. Check out some of our partners' openings to see if a job where you can schedule your work around drill, family and other commitments sounds like a good fit for you.

C.R. England is a long-time partner of RallyPoint's and has jobs all across the country, check out their job openings here: https://www.rallypoint.com/organizations/cr-england-salt-lake-city-ut. We also have one of C.R. England's top military recruiters and a top RP member CSM Michael Lynch and you can reach out to him directly.

A new partner of RallyPoint's is Schneider who have a slew of benefits for their military and veteran employees. Click on the green "1-Click Introduction" button to have your RallyPoint profile sent directly to their military recruiting managers, it couldn't get any easier! Check out their page (on desktop only) at: https://www.rallypoint.com/organizations/schneider-national-green-bay-wi

Note: for best access to these company pages login to the RallyPoint desktop site.

Schneider National | RallyPoint

Discover veteran friendly jobs at Schneider National and connect with military members and veterans working there now.

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made May 11 at 2015 11:58 AM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Mon, 11 May 2015 11:58:25 -0400

Great info --- thanks Elizabeth Malkin!!!

Response by PO1 John Miller made May 11 at 2015 12:51 PM

PO1 John Miller — Mon, 11 May 2015 12:51:46 -0400

Thanks for the info Elizabeth Malkin. I've never considered being a truck driver but my younger brother is and he loves it.

Response by Cpl Shawn Hueter made May 11 at 2015 4:50 PM

Cpl Shawn Hueter — Mon, 11 May 2015 16:50:20 -0400

I currently have my CDL Class A. I drive for a metal company in Streetsboro, Ohio. I obtained my CDL while I was in the Marine Corps. I recommend it to anybody, it is a great tool to have in your back pocket. You can always find a job in the industry.

Response by SGT Kevin Gardner made May 11 at 2015 5:51 PM

SGT Kevin Gardner — Mon, 11 May 2015 17:51:25 -0400

There are a lot of things to consider before you decide to become an over the road truck driver, work for a company as a company driver, or go independent and lease on with company's.

Both options have their upsides and downsides. Working as a company driver your just an employee and don't have to worry about fuel costs insurance or parts for your tractor. However make sure you research any prospective company you are looking at hiring on with, a lot of the smaller company's have real problems doing the right thing by their operators, you can do a search of company's and their over all rating by people who have worked for them.

Going the independent route can work well for someone as long as they don't mind waiting to get paid, this can be mitigated by signing on with company's like Admiral, however your on the hook for any and all repairs for your truck, and sometimes your fuel depending on the company. Independent operators are slowly being pushed out of the industry thanks to Government over regulation so do your best to figure out what you want.

Also as an independent operator you have the potential to gross 100,000 dollars however once you deduct your operation costs for the truck, you might find your net take from the truck will drop down to about 60,000 bucks, now keep in mind it will take exactly half that just to live in the truck.

Response by A1C Markus Frank made May 12 at 2015 8:47 AM

A1C Markus Frank — Tue, 12 May 2015 08:47:02 -0400

Thank you so much Elizabeth.

Response by A1C Markus Frank made May 12 at 2015 8:51 AM

A1C Markus Frank — Tue, 12 May 2015 08:51:46 -0400

My advice.. If you go independent . Do not lease/finance the truck with the same company you will b working with for loads.

Response by SPC Ken Sawyer made May 13 at 2015 9:21 PM

SPC Ken Sawyer — Wed, 13 May 2015 21:21:06 -0400

CR England is about the worst company that you can go to work for. I have been out here for just about 30 years and they get sued by drivers so often that i think their lawyers came out at the court house. I was a 64c10 which is todays 88m And it you are coming out and want to drive it's a great job don't get me wrong. But never go right into a company that wants you to lease a truck. Unless you have family to help you out when starting out do not buy a truck. Get into a company truck for a min of 5 years learn the trends in shipping. If you are going to do automotive freight they your going to slow down for 2 to 3 weeks every July. Things like that you need to learn and you need to learn while someone else is paying the bills. Before you lease or buy a truck and even then don't do it unless you have at least 10k sitting in the bank for repairs. They are expensive i just replaced my transmissions computer 4K ecm 2.4K 8 drive tires 4K.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Jun 13 at 2015 2:41 AM

SSG Trevor S. — Sat, 13 Jun 2015 02:41:15 -0400

I am actively pursuing a change into this industry. I applied for the GI Bill to support Class A CDL training, and hope to begin either this month or the next class available.