Built from the cab.

I've been a Class A commercial driver for fifteen years, and when I had to study for the permit test and practice test, I could not find a good one to use that was free and that actually functioned without having ads all over the place and was easy to use. Part of the reason I built this site.

I also wanted to help direct people through all the mixed information you get when you're searching online trying to figure out how to get a CDL and how to get a good job, and what you can actually make.

I have an agricultural background. My dad drove semi truck and I used to ride with him in the semi hauling livestock when I was eight years old. And then when I was fifteen, my first real job was power washing livestock semi trailers and goosenecks, and I used to drive the semis, pull them out and back them into the bays and buildings.

Back then, if it was agricultural use, you didn't have to have a CDL if it was for your own farm and within a hundred and fifty mile air radius. So I was hauling tractors and equipment on, and round bales of wheat straw on drop deck trailers and goosenecks, and running tractors. And hauling livestock.

When I actually got my CDL, that's when I started hauling livestock and then doing flatbed. I found a Craigslist post and got a flatbed job. Maybe three months of experience, but he only owned a few trucks and he was willing to take a chance on me.

And then since then, I've done every type of driving there is with semi trucks except for hazmat and oversize. I've done local, regional out and back, brief stints of OTR. I've hauled coils, ingots, bars, plates, crushed cars, lumber, shingles, tubing, and anything else you can put on flatbeds or conestogas. I've done livestock — hogs and cattle. I've pulled vans, tankers, reefers.

I drove Peterbilts, Kenworths, Freightliners, International, Volvo, Western Star. I've drove ten speeds, super tens, nine speeds, straight sevens, thirteen speeds, eighteen speeds, and automatic. And fifteen speeds — they're kind of rare. In all types of weather and all types of terrain.

I'm currently running reefer regionally, and I make more now at this job than ever before. I'm hoping to go to part time soon, and local, because of my family's needs.

A lot of rules have changed now, but I was driving back when there was only paper logs, and before DEF. Things are constantly changing in trucking. But what you know, and what you don't know, can make the difference on how much money you can make, or if you're getting fines.

I've enjoyed it, for the most part, and much more than working in a factory. It can be quite enjoyable and it has a lot of freedom. It can offer a better lifestyle for sure.

Not all types of driving are right for everyone. It depends on your home life situation. But I can definitely recommend, for a single person starting out, male or female, getting a little bit of experience and then getting in at a good company that pays you well — you can easily have enough money for a big down payment on a house in a short period of time. And then if you do have kids or obligations, there's local jobs that can pay good too, especially with hazmat.

I recommend if you're gonna get your CDL, you might as well get your Class A and get all the endorsements you can, so if a good job comes about later, you don't have to go back and do that stuff again.

I've done a little bit of everything in between and besides trucking. We had a car dealership. I used to buy and sell cars, online reselling, real estate, investing, stocks, crypto. And more recently, decided I wanted to learn about coding and technology and web design and creating websites and apps.

Even with all the technology that's coming out, AI and driverless trucks, we're still gonna need truck drivers for quite a while. It's definitely the lifeblood of America, and it will be so for quite some time. There's still a lot of money to be made in the trucking industry.