Built in the Midwest

Class A vs. Class B: Which CDL Do You Actually Need?

Part 2 of our CDL Q&A picks up right where we left off, and Josh still hasn't seen a single question before RJ reads it. The first one sounds simple: if you want to be ho

Why We're Not Worried About the Future of Trucking

Diesel is breaking records, and the headlines make trucking look like the last industry anyone should walk into right now. Josh just got back from a trucking conference i

What Makes a Great Equipment Operator? 40+ Years of Insight

Emil LaFave has taught heavy equipment at North Country for 23 years. He ran his first machine at about 15, a backhoe hooked onto the back of a front-end loader on his fa

Storm Money & Tough Lessons: What I Wish Someone Told You Before Becoming a Lineman

Kyle Montgomery spent about ten years as a contract lineman. Now he's the lead line instructor at North Country Electrical Line School in Escanaba. He got into the trade

Why your first CDL job doesn't need to be your dream job

Kat's daughter took a career quiz at school, and the top answer came back as magician. Kat's first reaction was a question: where are the trades? She's usually the first

The More They Need Drivers, The Harder They Make It

Mac has taught people to drive trucks for 26 years. He kept paper logs before regulators replaced them with electronic devices, he watched the pre-trip exam turn into a t

The Standard The Standard That Doesn't Care Who You Are: Nyeannie's Lineman School JourneyThat Doesn't Care Who You Are: My Lineman School Journey

Nyeannie Reeves came to line school straight out of the Army Reserves, with zero climbing experience and a fear of falling he didn't know he had until he was about six fe

He Got His CDL at 18 Instead of a Degree

He turned 18 a few weeks before the course started, then drove three hours to a school he'd only ever seen in videos. An hour before we recorded this, he passed his final

CDL Endorsements Explained: Hazmat, Tanker, Doubles & Triples, Passenger, School Bus

Most CDL endorsements come down to a written test at the Secretary of State. Thirty questions, a small fee, and a new letter on your license. This episode breaks down how

Getting Hired As A Truck Driver With Multiple Felonies

If you have a record and you've wondered whether a CDL is worth trying for, watch this one. Matt carries a long list of felony convictions. He says so around forty minute

The Trucking Career Questions That Nobody's Asking

This is a Q&A episode about the questions people getting into trucking don't think to ask. Not what it pays or how long training takes, but the ones that actually decide

The Only Woman in Her CDL Class. Now She Teaches It.

Penny had vacation days to burn and a husband who drove truck, so she climbed into the passenger seat for a week just to see what it was like. Eleven states later she was

Taking A Huge Pay Cut To Become A Lineman

If you're trying to get into a trade right now, you've probably gotten the same advice everyone gets. Be patient. Take what you can get. Get some adjacent experience firs

Why Most Tradespeople Stay Broke Despite Earning Big

WHY THIS ONE MATTERSSomething happens when the paycheck gets bigger. A lineman finishes his apprenticeship. A driver moves up to a better lane. A operator finally hits th

First Year Trucking and the "Driver Shortage"

Thinking about a truck driving career? This is part two of our Q&A with Josh Barron, director at Midwest Truck Driving School. We cover what your first year on the road i

Your Truck Driving School May Be Setting You Up to Fail

A guy with twenty years on the road climbs into the cab for a road test, asks if he can float the gears, and proceeds to grind metal on metal the whole way down the block

Four Questions That Beat 'What Do You Want to Do When You Grow Up?'

Trent Bellinger grew up being told the same thing a lot of kids hear — that college was the only road that led anywhere good. He went and got the degree. But somewhere al

Why This Former Marine Leader Started Over as an Apprentice

You want a stable career that pays well with room to grow — but with all the noise out there, it's hard to even know where to start. Johnny Rogers didn't have a map eithe

The Most Dangerous Job in America (That No One Wants)

He got his CDL nine years ago and went straight into one of the hardest, most dangerous corners of trucking there is. Kyle has hauled logs out of swamps, flipped a pup on

The Real Reason Trucking Companies Use Cameras

Josh Rouse came up through trucking, stepped away for a stretch, and got pulled back in by a buddy with an opening in operations. Two years on the board later, he moved i