If you’re looking for a job, it can be easy to get discouraged by all the gloom and doom you hear in media coverage about the economy. With so many industries cutting jobs left and right, it can be hard to know where to turn if you’re considering a new field to find employment. But there’s one industry that offers reliable job prospects and the potential for great salary growth: trucking. If you want a job in a field that’s expanding, rather than shrinking, now may be the perfect time to head to truck driving school.
Consider this: even with the economy in the dumps, 31,000 truck driving jobs were added in 2011. That’s an increase of 3.5{76488d7beee9342520d1e29c32b364734fa095d7f8789716ce59b51776a6898b} over 2010. And even beyond your job prospects today, trends in the trucking business show your job security and pay are only going to get better. That’s because by the year 2014, there is a predicted driver shortfall of 111,000. As a result, qualified truck drivers with a CDL A license can anticipate wages increasing by up to 30{76488d7beee9342520d1e29c32b364734fa095d7f8789716ce59b51776a6898b} by 2014 as a consequence of continuing demand for drivers and a limited supply of trained professionals.
That means now is the perfect time to get into the truck driving business. Careers in truck driving are both a short-term and long-term solution to employment you can count on to put food on the table.
So where do you start? For most people, the first step is to get a CDL A license, the licensing required to drive semitrucks. And the easiest way to do that is to enroll in truck school. These programs work to prepare prospective truck drivers with the knowledge and skill required to safely handle eighteen-wheelers and other large commercial vehicles. These schools offer a great deal more than just classroom instruction, though. Many provide rental trucks for students to use during the in-truck portion of their CDL certification exam, and most have relationships with local and national haulers to place graduated students in truck driving jobs.
Long-term prospects are an important factor when choosing a job, and especially if you’re considering a career shift caused by today’s less-than-stellar economy, you want to know that you’re selecting a business that has a future. Truck driving offers just that, with positions available now and predicted growth you can capitalize on down the road. If you’re ready to get started on careers in truck driving, it’s time to begin by looking into driver training courses in your area. With available programs as short as four weeks, you can earn your CDL A license and be on the road before you know it!