Gaining a commercial drivers license (CDL) means more than just a piece of paper. It also involves more than just having a job. That CDL is a license to freedom, a license to explore, see new places and meet new people.

Being qualified to drive trucks can lead to interesting jobs driving trucks and trailers thousands of mile every week. You could have a run that takes you from home through to Mexico (or Canada), or from one coast to another. There is a lot of freight that arrives on the west coast that needs shipping to the east coast. Some businesses rely on rail – others rely on trucks. I am sure you have seen them on the highways – I am also sure you have probably asked yourself – where have they come from and/or where are they going?

Truck driving is more than a skill. In a tradition that probably goes back to the stagecoach days, drivers meet at certain places along the route. You know they say you can tell a good roadhouse by the number of trucks parked outside. Inside, there is real camaraderie amongst the drivers.

A commercial drivers license is not that difficult to obtain. Good quality truck driver training from a highly reputable training provider is the first step. Having belief and working hard during that training is also important. Finding employment to put your new found skills to work is the final step – we can even help in that area too.

Undertaking training and gaining a commercial drivers license doesn’t always have to lead to employment. There are thousands of individuals who have their CDL yet they rarely actually drive a truck. You may wonder why then they go to the bother of getting that license.

There are thousands of jobs around where a commercial drivers license is not a requirement, but it can be a ‘handy to have’ skill. Consider the type of work involved in a warehouse. Your day-to-day task would involve moving stock around, loading and unloading trucks, and keeping records of all the stock movements. If there is an urgent call for some stock, or a driver has called in sick, then the person with the truck license may well be the one called upon to fill in.

Heavy equipment operators can also find themselves in a similar situation. Their machine is required at a particular site, but there is no truck driver available to transport it. If you have your commercial drivers license then you are in a position to transport your own machine.

As I mentioned, there are thousands of jobs ranging from the farm to the docks and everywhere in between. If apply for a vacancy in a position where trucking could be useful, and you have your commercial drivers license, you may find that your application is considered more favorably than some else’s who doesn’t have that license.

If you are looking to expand your skills or to make yourself more employable, consider adding the commercial drivers license to your list of qualifications. It may just give you the edge over others applying for the same position. Commercial drivers license training doesn’t have to be undertaken because you want a career as a trick driver. People do the training often just to increase their skills base and to open up their employment options.

Earn a Class A Commercial Drivers License (CDL) and the highways are virtually yours – you just need the wheels to get you moving. Spring is on the way and as the nation starts to pick up from the recent economic slump, career opportunities in heavy earthmoving equipment, crane operations and truck driving are going to blossom.

Truck driving will be one area where you may see a considerable jump in demand. The demand for domestic consumables will increase and they will mean more trucks on the roads – if they can get the drivers. The problem is, we are spending billions on projects that will also place a high demand on truck drivers.

Building materials is one area where demand will skyrocket. However, more road and bridge construction means more heavy equipment on the road – and that requires the services of truck drivers – lots of them too. The answer in the short term is to ensure that heavy equipment operators have also got their Class A CDL – they can then transport their own equipment.

Having said that, heavy equipment flatbed trailers are not cheap and many businesses don’t have the resources to have a trailer sitting on the side of a project waiting for the job to be finished. In a lot of cases, the truck and trailer is forced to offload the equipment and then go back for the next load.

The long term answer is to train new truck drivers who are fit and ready to take on the demanding yet exciting job of a truck driver. If you have ever considered a career as a truck driver and the idea appealed to you – check out what truck driver training options are available for you. When industry calls for more truck drivers with their Class A commercial drivers license, will you be ready?

A tractor is something that is used on a farm so why do they call a truck a tractor? There is a lot of terminology surrounding trucking that many finding either confusing or which simply draw blank stares. Here are some of the terms used around trucks (and tractors) that you have heard but not understood.

Tractor – the tractor is also known as a road tractor, prime mover (UK, Australia and New Zealand), or traction unit gets its name from the job it does. The tractor is the power house that does the pulling. One or more trailers (or semi trailers) can be attached to the tractor. They can also be referred to as articulated trucks. This simply refers to the fact that the tractor moves and the trailer follows – the same principle applies to a car towing a boat trailer – the boat follows the car.

Rigid Truck – the rigid unit is, as the name suggests, rigid. In other words, the tractor and the trailer are one solid unit – there is no articulation between the tractor and the trailer.

6×4, 6×2, 4×2 – these numbers refer to the wheel configuration of the tractor. The first number indicates the number of wheels (divide by two for axles) whilst the second number refers to the number of wheels powered. The most common tractors are the 6×4. The have three axles two of which are powered. This is commonly seen with the tractor having two wheels (one axle) forward of the drivers cab (used for steering) and four wheels (two axles) behind the drivers cab. The articulation point is located above the rear wheels.

Triple, Turnpike double, Rocky Mountain double or Road Train – this is a reference to a tractor with more than one trailer attached. For example, the triple will have three trailers attached.

There are many more terms in used trucking, far too many to include in a post. However, commence a career as long distance tractor driver and you will very quickly pick up the language used amongst drivers. Naturally, getting the right truck driver training from the beginning is all you need for a successful career as a long distance tractor driver.

Truck driving is one of those jobs that often draws mixed emotions. For some, these big rigs are the bane of their existence. They fear these monsters as they tear along our highways, often in the middle of the night. There are just as many who find them fascinating, perhaps even dream about driving one.

I admit there are certain highways that seem to have an endless stream of big trucks booming up and down the highway. However, they have a job to do. We consume what they transport from A to B. If we didn’t need the goods they transported, the trucks wouldn’t be on those highways. Come to think of it, without trucks using those highways, half of them wouldn’t exist anyway.

If you’re considering a career in truck driving then these may well be issues that your friends and family throw at you. You have to grin and bear it. After all, unless they have driven a truck, they won’t understand what you are feeling.

This is one of those jobs where even the worker feels all those feelings. Yes, there is a touch of fear. You’re roaring down that highway at 60mph, part of a long line of trucks. If one goes pear-shaped, how many more will follow. At the same time, there is that feeling of power, and a job to be done.

They say that children can be good judges of character. When it comes to those big trucks, children display a healthy respect. They keep their distance – at least, to within a safe distance. Yet they love them. If you ever watch little children around big trucks, there are the mixed squeals of fear and joy, but the big smiles on their faces really give the game away. They love them. It also helps when the driver obliges with a resounding hoot on their air horns.

You can be a part of that emotional mix. If you have ever craved a truck driving career then your next step has to be to inquire on a truck driver training program. Learn to drive a big rig and the highways could be yours – so too the grins of those excited kids as you go zooming by.

If you have trained and worked as a heavy equipment operator then it may be time to consider adding a commercial drivers license (CDL) to your list of skills and qualifications. You would be surprised at how many employers jump at the chance to employ heavy equipment operators that can truck their equipment to the work site.

We live in a period where employers are looking to be competitive when tendering for projects. One of the biggest costs to any business is the cost of labor. For every worker they employ, the actual cost to the business can be as much as double their pay packet. If you are on $40,000 per year, chances are it is actually costing the business $60-80,000 each year by the time you look at training and insurance and the multitude of little costs associated with employment.

If a business can employ someone with more than one skill, particularly where those skills are complementary such as a truck license together with experience as a heavy equipment operator, then that is one less pay packet. If a business can complete a project with ten less employees, that is the equivalent of over half a million bucks. The business can submit a tender for a lower price which will improve it’s chances of winning that tender. The more tenders the business wins, the more employment for you – think about it.

This situation is not restricted to heavy equipment operators. You may already be employed as a truck driver, or at least hold an A class CDL. If that is the case, you can undertake training to become a heavy equipment operator. Once again you have multiple skills that complement each other – a sure fire road to a long and successful career.

There is a lot more to driving a dump truck than often meets the eye. One thing is for sure – a dump truck driver is not your average truck driver. Granted, a dump truck driver does need to know how to drive a truck. They do need to know the road rules and meet all the requirements of a general truck driver. It just doesn’t stop there.

If you consider the role of a dump truck driver, they are required to drive from point A to point B with a load, and dump it. Okay you say, a dump truck driver also needs to know how to operate the dump mechanism that tips the tray to dump the load. Whilst this is true, many dump truck drivers need added skills.

One of the most important skills that a dump truck driver requires is the ability to spread a load over a distance. This could be gravel that is evenly spread over a 100 yard stretch of newly formed road. You may have seen these drivers. They start the tilt on the dumper whilst driving at an even speed. The load is spread as the truck moves forward. The skill is knowing how fast to drive and how far to tip the tray.

These skills are developed during your training but it is on the job experience that hones those skills. In the hands of an expert dumper, that load of gravel can spread to the point it looks like a grader has gone over it to smooth it out.

Whilst dump truck driving is a specialist area of truck driving, undertaking truck driver training provides you with the skills and licensing that can open the doors to a wide variety of trucking jobs. These may be long distance haulage or local deliveries; hauling heavy equipment or driving that dumper. Either way, you will have a skill for life and a qualification that can provide employment nationwide.

Truck driving is one field of employment that is constantly in demand. Although air, rail and sea often transport products, almost everything still requires transporting by truck – even if it is only a short distance from the air, rail or sea port to its final destination.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has forecast a growth of 8% in job numbers over the next six years. This is an increase of over 250,000 additional drivers bringing the total number to over 3.6 million. Add to this the number of drivers retiring or moving on to alternative careers, thought to be around 5% each year, and you can see why truck drivers, particularly those with their commercial drivers licenses (CDL), are in high demand.

Long distance haulage can be demanding with drivers having to spend not just hours away from home, often it is days or even weeks. Some drivers have their rigs set up with beds, TVs and even microwaves and mini-refrigerators – talk about the comforts of home. However, driving for 10 hours straight, often overnight, can be wearing on the body. Fortunately, today’s trucks have the comfort of air conditioning, padded seats, power steering and GPS to help with navigation.

One of the benefits of obtaining and maintaining your Class A CDL license is that you can move in and out of the truck driving workforce. When employment in your regular field is tight, you can often rely on truck driving as a viable fill in. Heavy equipment operators can also benefit from obtaining their CDL as they are in a position then to transport their equipment to and from work sites. This saves a potential employer the problem of rostering two people to do a job – one to transport and one to operate.

The outlook is good for truck driving and now is a great time to take advantage of truck driver training. Once completed you will be in a position to take up many of the opportunities that will arise over the next 12 months.

There are a lot of trucking companies that are now starting to feel the pinch from the economic downturn, however, it’s not quite what you think. Rather than having to tighten their belts and perhaps put off drivers, they are starting to feel the strain of not having enough truck drivers to keep up with demand. These companies are now looking towards truck driver training schools in a bid to recruit the best from each training group before they hit the labor market.

The economic stimulus package is behind this problem as literally thousands of package driven projects start to get under way, all at the same time. The logistics can be a nightmare for many companies, particularly the smaller owner operator companies. We are reaching a point where trucks are being used 24/7 to deliver building materials, road construction materials like road base, and heavy equipment.

If you are looking for a career change and truck driving appeals to you, now is the time to act. Whilst truck drivers in the construction area are kept busy, there is more good news for drivers just around the corner. Construction is labor intensive. This means more people working, more people with pay checks, and more people spending. Where do they spend? The majority of people spend their money on housing, food, utilities and in the retail sector.

The retail sector is where the next jump in demand for truck drivers will occur. Retailers have tended to run their stock down over the last 12 months but as people start to spend, they are going to need more stock – quickly. This will only add to the demand for more truck drivers. The question is, will you be ready to take advantage of this increase in demand?

Associated Training Schools has over 45 years of experience training individuals to become successful truck drivers. Their truck driver training program takes individuals through a training program that includes in-class instruction, vehicle maneuvering and on road driving and prepares them for the Commercial Drivers License (CDL) test required to obtain a truck drivers license. If you’re looking for a career in truck driving – now is the time to act.

As bad as things get with the economy and the threat of jobs leaving the United States for other lands, there’s one thing that can still be counted on and that’s a great career when you get the right truck driver training. And there’s one place that’s miles ahead of the competition when it comes to getting you the kind of certification that will land you a job.
Associated Training Services
There’s really only one place that can get you the kind of top notch truck driver that you need and that’s right here at Associated Training Services. First of all you want to know that the place that you finally choose will have all the necessary connections to help you get a job as well. And that’s where ATS shines.
With a database of over 10,000 trucking companies they are sure to be able to find the one that’s right for you.
Hands On
And they’ve got all the angles covered. When your done with the course they provide you’ll be ready to get behind the wheel with confidence. Why? Because they have both the classroom instruction and the hands on training that you need. And the people at ATS are sensitive to the tough economic times as well.
That’s why they’ve got the financing that you might need to get started as an equipment operator. All in all, this is the place that has the complete package that you’ll need to get started in that new career as a truck driver or any other of the heavy equipment operators categories that are offered here.