A Midwest Truck Driving School Podcast

YOU WANT A STABLE CAREER THAT PAYS WELL.
BUT YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START.

Built in the Midwest sits down with the people behind the trades — truck drivers, linemen, heavy equipment operators, and the employers who hire them. Real conversations about what the work is actually like.

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE
Now Playing
LATEST EPISODE
All Episodes
PULL UP A CHAIR

Every conversation, every story — from the people who build, move, and power the Midwest.

http://Eemum%20|%20First%20Year%20Trucking%20and%20the%20“Driver%20Shortage”

E{emum} | 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 is like, how to choose a CDL school, and whether the driver shortage is real. RJ asks the questions. Josh answers. We cover three...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20Your%20Truck%20Driving%20School%20May%20Be%20Setting%20You%20Up%20to%20Fail

E{emum} | 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. That moment is the whole point of this episode. Experience isn’t the same as doing it right, and a...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20Four%20Questions%20That%20Beat%20‘What%20Do%20You%20Want%20to%20Do%20When%20You%20Grow%20Up?’

E{emum} | 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 along the way he figured out that the thing setting him apart wasn’t the diploma, it was the 4,000 hours he’d already...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20Why%20This%20Former%20Marine%20Leader%20Started%20Over%20as%20an%20Apprentice

E{emum} | 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 either. He left the Marine Corps at 28 and started over in the trades at the bottom. In this one we...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20The%20Most%20Dangerous%20Job%20in%20America%20(That%20No%20One%20Wants)

E{emum} | 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 its side, and trimmed loads with a chainsaw over his head — and he’s still one of the youngest people left doing...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20The%20Real%20Reason%20Trucking%20Companies%20Use%20Cameras

E{emum} | 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 into human resources and safety — and now handles the hiring, the safety tech, and the IT that ties it all together. A.M....
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20Opportunity%20Doesn’t%20Wait%20for%20the%20Perfect%20Time

E{emum} | Opportunity Doesn’t Wait for the Perfect Time

This episode is for the kid being told he has one option. It’s for the apprentice trying to figure out if going local is worth the pay cut. It’s for the lineman wondering if the side hustle is real. Mike’s career didn’t follow a plan. It followed a series of decisions — and the ones...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20The%20Invisible%20Barrier%20Every%20Trade%20Student%20Faces%20|%20BTS%20episode

E{emum} | The Invisible Barrier Every Trade Student Faces | BTS episode

Quick heads up before you press play: we recorded this one inside a moving training truck during an active class day, so the audio gets scratchy in spots. We cleaned up what we could — some of it just is what it is when you record on the road. Bear with us. The conversation makes...
Listen to this episode
http://Eemum%20|%20Trade%20School%20Is%20The%20Door,%20Not%20The%20Destination

E{emum} | Trade School Is The Door, Not The Destination

A high school CTE director drives a busload of students two hours each way to spend a day at a CDL school. Why? Because somewhere along the way, he figured out something most people building career pathways for young people miss — and it changes how you should think about every trade school you’ve ever...
Listen to this episode
About the Show
WHAT DO THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY DO THE WORK WISH THEY KNEW BEFORE THEY STARTED?

Built in the Midwest is where we have real conversations about careers in the skilled trades — with the people who do the work and the people who hire for it.

We talk about how people got started. What the work is actually like. What employers are looking for. The hard days, the turning points, and the things nobody told them before they got started.

Hosted from Escanaba, Michigan by Midwest Truck Driving School.

WATCH THE TRAILER
New Episodes Every Friday
Know Someone Who Should Be On the Show?
GOT A STORY? KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES?

We're always looking for the next conversation. If you've got a perspective the trades need to hear — or know someone who does — reach out.

TELL US ABOUT IT