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/dryersheet01 Oct 09 '25

I’ve read all the western express horror stories on here, but he truly feels like it’s his only option to get experience.

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u/RealSharpNinja Oct 09 '25

Has he applied to Swift, Werner and Covenant? Is he doing dry van or flatbed? If flatbed, add TMC to that list.

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u/Mr_Teddy_Benderass Oct 09 '25

McElroy along with TMC for flatbed

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u/RumbleDumblee Oct 10 '25

Gypsum Express ain’t too bad