Were I you, I’d avoid the OTR jobs like the plague: you won’t make good money for several years and you won’t ever see your family.
If you’d really like to get into trucking, see if you can’t get your CDL through your local community college and try to get on with a local freight hauler. Those jobs usually pay by the hour and you’re home every night.
Other options would include some tanker work. Companies like Air Products (hauling nitrogen and the like) typically don’t have over night runs.
“Were I you, I’d avoid the OTR jobs like the plague: you won’t make good money for several years and you won’t ever see your family.”
My unemployment adviser didn’t recommend it either. I used to drive for a steel company many years ago when I was in college and it was ok but I really don’t want to be away from my wife that long.