Hello All,

Let me start with by saying that this website has great information on just about everything. Most of my questions have been answered after reading only for about a day.

I lost my job flying airliners this last September. I have been in aviation for 7-8 years and trough those years I have averaged probably around $25-30k. Believe it or not. Finally I got the experience to land in a good paying career job but with oil at $147 in April they furloughed around 25% of the force in September. Meanwhile they have recalled many and I am just about to get my position back. However the pay won't be what it was because we generally do not work overtime while other pilots are on the street. So I will only make around $35k base once again until everyone is back, or until I will transition to 2nd year pay which is arund $50k base. Not much money for flying the exact same plane Captain Skully landed in the Hudson a few months ago. So I am toying with the idea to bypass my callback as long as I can and don't even go back at all (I am truly sick of it) or go back when I can make what I used to.

The big problem I ran into while I was searching for jobs after I lost mine was that I did not have another skill to fall back onto. I have a business degree and many years of management experience but I could not even get a car sales job at Carmax because they knew I would leave them eventually. So right now I am a security guard making $10/h. A very good friend of mine has been an o/o for 5 years. He is in the moving business. He has been making about the same what I could expect to make once I will be a Captain with max longevity and thus max pay (that takes 14 years by the way). Granted his job is much harder than mine, but he has been averaging the same amount of days off as I have and making waaaay more money. He has been telling me to switch over for years now but I just could not walk away from the time and money I have invested into my career. But now I am ready...

So the idea is to get my CDL A in a few weeks (time permitting), and get a job with one of the usual companies to gain experience.

What I would achieve with this is:

1. I would get initial driving experience so in case I ever lose my job again I can fall back on something that pays decent. I see jobs looking for CDL A all the time but they all want experience.

2. I could get an ok paying job within only a few weeks after training instead of being a security guard for $10/h.

3. If I still have to be driving after 6 months my friend would be able to protegee me in where he is at. Although his business is slower than it was last year, he is still doing very well. That company wants a minimum of 6 months experience.

So that is that.

My questions:

1. I live in SE Florida just South of West Palm Beach. I figure most of the jobs are not here. Are there any operators in this area who take people with no experience? If not can I apply elsewhere? If so how do I get home on my days off?

2. Assuming I find something and I get my feet wet. Then I get my own truck and I get my flying job back... is there any way to make money part time (I still have around 12-18 days of on a single month while flying a full schedule and I have been looking to do something on the side all the time) with a truck. My body told me something about containers between ports like Miami and Tampa etc... is that an option? Or does that make no sense at all unless you do it full time.

I got to run now for my 10 bucks job. Sorry for the long post... I will have a ton more questions later.

Thanks for your help!

 

A career change is what I did as well. The only thing I would really like for you to understand, and I have no way of accurately explaining it, the world of OTR isn't something everyone adapts too. It's a whole new ball game.

 

I would suggest, try living in the woods for a week. small generator with a few gallons of gas to run anything electric. You get 2-3 showers, but only after working for 15 hours. Live on delivery pizza, burger king and anything else 'greasy', and then make up your mind. That is bascily what you'd face being OTR. Granted not every driver eats fast food, and pizza, and you can eat healthy if you try.

But you will end up living out of a box for 10 days and get a day off, if you're lucky. If you can handle 4-5 days off a month, by all means go for it. or find a local gig where you're home everyday.

best of luck

 

Living in West Palm Beach, your choice of trucking companies is limited. There are a number of companies in and around the Miami area, but they are all smaller operations. Larger companies like Swift might operate down to that area, but the majority of them want you to live up in the area of Jacksonville. Since I'm not familiar with HouseHoldGoods operations, I can only suspect that it's a segment of the industry that would operate down in that area.

As far as containers, yes, they do operate between there and Tampa, and Jacksonville. Crowley does a lot, and there are numerous others in all three areas. I'd suggest you "feel" them out before you leap.

 

Kev,

I fully understand that I will not like this job. My friend hates it too but it is a well paying job and it enables you to save up for something else in a few years. I was not going to be an airline pilot for the rest of my life either. In particular because I was very much used to 16h duty days. Sometimes as many as 7 legs per day. Between legs sitting up to 5 hours at terminals sometimes more then once a day. Eating airport food until I started to carry my own because I gained 15lbs in three months. Sitting hours long in a 100F hot airplane or in a plane that has the air conditioning pack deferred. I did get 11 days off but I lost as many as 4-6 on commuting from PBI to STL, CVG, or SDF. And all this for $20,000 as a junior First Officer at a regional carrier on first year pay. Plus a $15,000 training contract for 2 years. So I am not spoiled. Granted my last job was a huge improvement in every aspect but since I don't have it right now, it does no good to me.

I am a freaking security guard at the moment, and if I want to be reasonable, I must assume that I will not get my job back for a long time or may be never. I have been sitting around for months, not making any progress financially. Basically I am just wasting my time.

Windwalker,

Thanks for the reply. So I can pretty much forget about trying to gain that initial driving experience with those usual names since they do not operate out of here.

Is there any other way to gain initial driving experience? I bet I would not even be able to get insurance on my own, and I figure nobody would thrust me with cargo anyhow. If I am looking at local adds, it seems everyone (regular or big trucks) wants 1-2 years or even more.

 

A much better analogy would be, 2 weeks to 1 month living in a small closet. Eating sleeping doing paper work. Getting dressed undressed and anything else that may involve daily living. And if you are just going to hate the job why even bother. You are not going to make any more money than you are now. And probably even less your first year. If you have not heard the trucking industry is not doing good right now. And even if you can find a carrier that would hire you living where you do. Why would they hire a raw recruit when they can have there choice of drivers with millions of safe driving miles under there belt.

 

I think I stated it clearly what I am trying to get out of this. So I don't really get the point of your post. Someone else has already stated the obvious before. As far as hating the job... I am not in the position to pick and chose right now. While we are above the water, financial stagnation does not make me happy. I don't have to like what I do anymore. I am not after a "dream job". Those are for ages 25 and under. I have passed that milestone a long long time ago.

In case you have missed it I am doing $10/h right now. So yeah I think I will do much better than that. And yes I have heard about the trucking industry. Thanks for the info. In case you haven't heard there is not a single industry, except may be the repo guys, that is doing well at the moment. So that isn't going to deter me from trying.

So if you have any good info that can help I would appreciate it and I would be more than happy to listen. Thanks!

 

$10 per hour... just how much do you think a driver makes? I'm not even thinking about the ALL the hours your out just the ones your really working or sitting around waiting for a load. I bet there's drivers on this board that would like to have a steady 40 hrs aweek even at 10 bucks an hour!
I won't even try to change your mind cuz it sounds like you already decided SO, DO NOT sign up for compeny paid training or you will at best find yourself a low paid slave for 12-18 months! At the worst you will complete the training and then they will not hire you for some reseon and you will owe them about $4000. or more the training! Find a school and pay for it yourself, check with local collages and vocational schools.

Be forwarned just cause you get a cdl dosn't mean you will find a job, I believe getting you home would be a BIG problem for a lot of company's toss in a lack of exp. and that make's it more difficult. I wish you the best in what ever you do but I'd be giving this alot more thought.
I have a friend that's a pilot for UPS and he make's well over $100,000. ( just got his rotery wing lic. and bought a helicopter to play with!!) Could it be you had the wrong airline?

 

Pete,

That is some good info. I kind of figured to not sign up for company training. It seems some companies hire if you are a graduate of a "driving school". That too sounds like a bit too much for getting a license.

My friend went and got a CDL A from a basic school I think around 2004. He paid some $700 for it. I am sure it is well above 1k now. This was a course designed to pass you. No more. He did not even know how to drive manual. He told me to make sure I learn that. Then he drove about three months with yet another friend who has been a mover for ever. He was his reference and after three months he was able to contract for the same company. He bought a used Freightliner for 30k and is still driving it for the same company. He is busy even right now although slower than last year. Of course he is a very decent person, a hard worker, and I bet he is busy because he has always been doing a good job. All I can say is that he has been doing much better than me or your UPS friend for the last few years.

I am not going to spend a lot of time on flying stuff because there are websites for that too. But if any of you are curious what pilots make go here:

www.airlinepilotcentral.com

You can see each company and their pay rate. Play with the pay calculator. Make sure you do not go over 83h per month because that is the FAA max, which is 1000h spread out for a year. You can actually make more than 83h but it gives you a good idea for base pay. My first job paid $20/h for flying a passenger jet in Delta color (but not for Delta Airlines). My take home was $1200 a month. In my last job my best take home month was $4200, but I just started with them. The potential was around $12k+ in 14 years. That is nice considering that it is a nice company to work for and I was home almost every night, with 12-18 days off. I would have not traded that for UPS although they pay much more. But when my company goes under (and you never know if it does or does not) I will have to start all over again for $20/h making under 20k a year. That is the problem. What if that happens?

Like I have said. I will most likely end up going back flying. May be as early as June. If so I will still probably at least try and get that CDL A because they may let me go once again in September when traffic is low.

Even if I get back to flying, and even if I end up making $10/h on my first driving job, the very least I will achieve is to get some experience in driving. So next time I end up in this position I will have a shot at getting a job or buying my truck and contracting for the same company my friend is doing it for. I will be able to fall back on it later, or even may be do some part time driving on my days off when jobs become a bit more open again. If I stay in security I am stuck. It is a dead end. It makes sense for students, and retired people. Btw I am not even getting 40 hours a week there.

So anyone has any recommendations for schools around West Palm Beach or Ft. Lauderdale? What should I expect to pay for them?

Thanks!

 

Keep in mind that insurence companys insist that drivers have recent exp. and not just a cdl. What that means is that after you get you cdl and get hired you will go out with a trainer for 2-6 weeks then you get your own truck. If for some reason you do not drive OTR for at least 6 mo in the past year or are out of the truck for 3 mo or more most companys won't even look at you or they send you back out with a trainer. Getting your cdl and then useing it to fall back on sometime down the line may not work out in your situation