Washington Bus Driver making a trucking career change - any advice

by Rich Ross
(Tacoma,Washington)

My name is Rich. I have had my class A and all endorsements, except hazmat for the past 9 years. I gave up my hazmat because my current employment does not require it.

My experience is this, I had driven tractor/trailor for about 7 months right out of trucking school. The company I worked for then didn't pay much so I left there. I was offered a local position with a city bus driving job.

I already had my passenger endorsement so I thought I would try it out. Well I have stayed there now for the past 8 years+. It has been a good job as far as staying local and making a good income. But as of late the company is barely staying running.

Also I have kept thinking in the back of my mind that I do want to go drive truck again. So with my short experience as a trucker. I realize I most likely need to go get some refresher training.

My thought is this. Do I go find a local school for this? Do I look to get some training from a large trucking company that offers regular training for inexperienced.

The bonus is that I already have my class A anyways. What should I do? Also a few years ago I got married and we have some young children now. But my wife is very supportive on what I need to do. As long as the pay keeps coming in we'll be ok.

By the way what kind of pay is out there now and what can I look forward to on a income? Right now driving a bus I bring home at least 1500.00 every two weeks. I need to make a change soon. Please let me know what you think. My email is rsross1970@yahoo.com