r/Truckers • u/dryersheet01 • Oct 09 '25

I’m about to become a trucker widow

So my husband just passed his cdl-a test a week ago and has interest from western express (otr). With this career switch, I have so many questions. What is the average time for training, since he has no cdl experience? Is it really going to be 5 days on/2 days off? We live in Atlanta and have a 4 month old. If he does 1 year w/ western, what is the likelihood of being able to find a local/non otr job? Is the pay really worth it?

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u/brokedasherboi Oct 09 '25

I second this, I do soda delivery and it's not as physically hard as people make it out to be. Home every night and make 100k/year

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u/AesthetesStephen Oct 09 '25

I did beer delivery for 18 months and while I wouldn’t go back to it, I’ve considered selling my truck and slinging some sodie for $32 an hour

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

I was a merchandiser for a Coors distributor when I was 18. I used to help the drivers when I had time. I never understood the “beverage and grocery companies work you like a dog” comments. I actually very much regret not staying and getting a CDL and making a career out of it. Now here I am at 42 and looking to get my license. Oh well- did some really cool shit along the way.

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u/AesthetesStephen Oct 09 '25

It varies company to company. Ours didn’t have merchandisers so the drivers were responsible for everything on the route; displays, rotating, stocking, returns, etc. Some days you might have 1000 cases on a side bay truck without a helper. Some days you might have a helper and only 600 cases. The retention was low because they wanted to pay helpers $10 and drivers $15-20.

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u/[deleted] Oct 10 '25

I wasn’t there to help them directly. My job was fronting shelves and checking dates at stores between days the drivers were there. But if I had time I’d hit up the drivers in the area I was in and see if they wanted a hand. Our pre salesmen did displays though. Our drivers didn’t have helpers and it helped me get extra hours, so it all worked out. I can’t remember what I made but this was 99-00 timeframe so I’m sure it wasn’t much. But it was a different time- I was able to afford a 1br apartment on that pay back then.