Built in the Midwest

Midwest Truck Driving School

There are careers that pay six figures, have massive demand, and take months to get into — not years. The reason most people never consider them has nothing to do with the work. It has to do with what they were never told. Built in the Midwest is where we have real conversations about careers in the skilled trades. From truck driving and electrical line work to heavy equipment and beyond. We bring in the people doing the work, the employers hiring for it, and the instructors training the next generation — because most people make career decisions with almost no real information. They pick a path based on what everyone else is doing, what sounds good on paper, or what their parents did. And then they spend the rest of their life wondering if they got it wrong. This show exists so you don't have to guess. You'll hear what the work actually looks like, what it pays, what employers want, and what nobody tells you before you get started. Hosted from Escanaba, Michigan by Midwest Truck Driving School, where we train CDL drivers, linemen, and heavy equipment operators. But the conversations here go well beyond our own programs — because the trades are bigger than any one school, and the decision you're making deserves the full picture. Whether you're an employer who wants to share your perspective, a tradesperson with a story, or someone trying to figure out their next move — pull up a chair and tune in. Got a question about a specific trade or career? Send us a message. We'll get into it on a future episode. New episodes every Friday.

  1. 6d ago

    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 family's farm, and he's been moving dirt and fixing whatever broke ever since. Before he taught, he spent 43 years in trucking. Before that, he hauled logs out of the woods with a team of horses and prayed for cold nights so the swamp roads would freeze. We got into what makes a good operator, why every exercise he runs is built off a real job, and the kind of mistakes you only have to make once. WHAT WE GET INTO The first thing he notices about a student, before they ever touch a leverWhy he sometimes lets students dig it their way, even when he knows where the dirt pile is going to end upThe blueberry farmer who was about to buy a bigger tractor, and what Emil told him to do with a backhoe insteadA tractor rattle the owner was ready to haul 50 miles to the dealer, and what was actually wrongThe hill, the power divider, and the gear a driver kept breaking, and why that driver asked to help fix itThe dragline bucket he built out of an old iron tractor wheel, and the boom he never could afford to patent ABOUT EMIL Emil grew up on a farm with nine brothers and sisters, putting in septic tanks and drain fields for the neighbors and logging with horses and sleighs. He and his wife Linda ran a trucking business for 43 years. Linda drove for 15 of them. They hauled pulpwood and saw logs to mills across the region, and they overhauled their own engines, rear ends, and transmissions because that's how you kept trucks running. He took drafting in school, and he still draws a plan before he cuts any steel. He's spent 23 years teaching at North Country Electrical and Heavy Equipment School in Escanaba, Michigan. He spends his winters in Florida, where he still ends up fixing the neighbors' tractors. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Who we're talking to 01:52 — His first machine, around age 15 02:28 — 43 years in trucking 03:37 — Horses, sleighs, and a homemade log jammer 04:56 — Praying for a cold night 06:13 — Hauling for the paper mills 09:17 — Iron mules and winter logging 11:33 — When a U.P. winter shuts everything down 16:35 — What's changed in 20 years, and what hasn't 19:50 — What makes a good operator 20:10 — Why the paperwork comes first 22:15 — Why every exercise is a real job 23:07 — Letting students do it their way 24:46 — Why one machine isn't enough 25:11 — The six-inch trench 25:36 — A blueberry farm in Florida 29:20 — The rattle that didn't need a dealer 32:37 — The hill, the power divider, and the broken gear 34:42 — "It's life, and you don't forget it" 36:24 — A squeak that wasn't about grease 37:24 — Loading trucks in third gear 38:27 — Why patience is the job 39:23 — Bringing home a cable machine on a semi 41:58 — Crosscut saws and chest-high stumps 44:21 — What he's proudest of 46:39 — Farm life and the heel of the bread 49:50 — The dragline bucket he built from a tractor wheel 52:28 — Draw the plan first 53:05 — The boom he couldn't afford to patent 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    What Makes a Great Equipment Operator? 40+ Years of Insight
  2. Sep 18

    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 almost by accident. He'd done five years in the Coast Guard, come home, and watched the paper mill he was working at close with a chain across the fence. A while later a line crew pulled into his parents' yard to change out a pole, he stood there and watched them work, and his dad mentioned afterward that his grandfather had been a lineman. We got into what the work actually pays, what it takes out of you, and why he walked away from the best money in the trade. WHAT WE GET INTO What a union journeyman makes, and what the benefits are actually worth on top of the wage What storm work pays — and the reason Kyle doesn't go anymore, which comes down to breakfast Why the guys driving beat-up trucks in the yard are the ones with money in the bank The suspension list that follows a journeyman's name around the country, and what Kyle thinks should happen to the people on it The argument he had with a safety inspector about rubber cover-up that he still isn't sorry about What he's trying to put into a new hand in twelve weeks, and what gets somebody sent home ABOUT KYLE Five years in the Coast Guard, then two mills back home — the first one closed, the second one taught him he didn't want to be there. Nine months of line school out of Sawyer, an apprenticeship, and about a decade of contract and storm work up and down the country. He's now the lead line instructor at North Country Electrical and Heavy Equipment School in Escanaba, Michigan. He keeps a master list of every student who's come through, and a group chat with every class. They call him in the middle of the night and he answers. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Who we're talking to 00:19 — The Coast Guard, the paper mill, and a chain across the gate 02:14 — A line crew pulls into his parents' yard 03:06 — Line school, and the apprenticeship he picked 04:36 — What this job used to cost the men who did it 05:58 — Union vs. nonunion, and who he'd want on a crew 08:29 — What a journeyman actually makes 09:33 — Storm work and the real money 11:26 — "There's nothing comfortable with this trade" 12:47 — The worst conditions he ever worked in 13:32 — Why he stopped going on storm 14:25 — Walk the parking lot and you'll know who's doing well 18:03 — The journeymen who make it hard, and why 21:11 — The list 22:25 — His favorite place he ever worked 23:35 — He came in asking for sponsorship money 24:31 — He keeps track of every student 26:32 — The safety argument he still isn't sorry about 29:41 — What a quality hand looks like 32:11 — Six feet off the ground 34:43 — A million ways to build a power line 36:46 — What he tells everyone before they go DISCLAIMER: Kyle's figures on pay, benefits, and storm rates come from his own time in the field and aren't published rates. He notes on the episode that he hasn't worked a contract in about two years. 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    Storm Money & Tough Lessons: What I Wish Someone Told You Before Becoming a Lineman
  3. Sep 11

    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 face students see when they walk into Midwest Truck Driving School, so she hears the questions people bring in with them, from DOT physicals to whether it's all going to be okay. WHAT WE GET INTO What Kat tells students who show up nervous and a long way from home, in a town where they don't know anybodyWho actually signs up: kids fresh out of high school, semi-retirees, moms, business owners, and people just out of prison trying to get back on their feetHow a 47-year-old and a 21-year-old end up staying late together to go over pre-tripsThe mistake Kat and Josh see new graduates make when they pick a first jobWhat an employer is thinking when they see a gap in your work history ABOUT KAT Kat works in the front office at Midwest Truck Driving School. Students bring her everything: physical questions, how to get endorsements added to a CDL, where their instructor went, and where to get food in a town they just moved to. When she doesn't know the answer, she knows who does. She's a mom of four, so being somebody's go-to person comes naturally. 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    Why your first CDL job doesn't need to be your dream job
  4. Sep 4

    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 test you can fail on the spot, and he watched schools get held to standards nobody enforced when he started. He noticed something else along the way. The more the industry says it needs drivers, the harder it makes getting licensed. Mac spends most of this episode working through why he thinks that happens, and what it means for someone deciding whether to start. WHAT WE GET INTO Why regulators killed the paper logbook, and what Mac watched drivers doing before they didHow the pre-trip exam changed three separate times, and what an automatic fail means nowWhat separates a trainer from someone who has a CDL and a passenger seatHow many times Mac grabbed the emergency valve in 26 years, and what the driver was doing both timesThe one thing Mac sees in students who end up loving this work ABOUT MAC Mac teaches CDL at Midwest Truck Driving School. He drove during the paper logbook era and started teaching around the time federal rules began reshaping how schools operate, so he has watched most of the big changes land from both seats. He says he still picks up something new in every class he teaches, which is also the advice he gives students on their way out the door. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 More demand, harder test 00:53 26 years in, and some changes still puzzle him 01:55 What everybody wants first, and why it comes last 03:10 An ELD explained by someone who kept paper logs 04:09 Why the paper logbook had to go 05:08 The standards used to be relaxed 06:05 Checklist, then pointing, then automatic fails 07:38 Not everyone is ready to be a trainer 09:43 One bad apple, and the schools shutting down over it 11:34 Two pulls of the emergency valve in 26 years 13:02 Students are harder on themselves than he is 14:05 What the ones who thrive had in common 16:05 Why he tells every class about icebergs 16:56 The morning you should get off the road 18:08 You're about to meet law enforcement a lot more 19:56 What a school up here can't teach you 21:23 The window young people don't know they're in 23:57 Where this work took him that he didn't expect 25:19 "Never think that you cannot do it" 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    The More They Need Drivers, The Harder They Make It
  5. Aug 28

    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 feet off the ground. Four months later he's running pole top rescue against a four-minute clock. Near the end of the conversation he shares something almost nobody in his class knows, and why he thinks it might matter to somebody who's still deciding whether a trade is for them. WHAT WE GET INTOThe nursing plan that turned into an Army cargo specialist job, which turned into a phlebotomy program, which somehow turned into climbing poles in the U.P.Why the alley arm is the thing that scares almost everybody, told by somebody who watched the first few guys do it and decided there was no wayThe fall on the center pole that fixed his fear instead of confirming itWhat it's like being the guy asking the eighteen-year-olds for help with the mathNyeannie is a trans man, and he wanted to talk about it for one specific reason: the stigma that blue collar work isn't a place for people who are different kept him nervous going in, and he doesn't think it should keep anybody outThe advice he'd give somebody looking at this trade, including the part most recruiters skip ABOUT NYEANNIEBorn in Clare, Michigan and living in Farwell. He did a semester at Northern Michigan University, enlisted in the Army Reserves, and spent about three years as a cargo specialist running forklifts, container handlers, and ship cranes, plus enough truck driving that his unit called them "motels." He worked as a phlebotomist for a while, decided a hospital wasn't where he wanted to spend his days, and started looking at trades with his grandmother, a college professor who told him to look up line work. He's finishing the Electrical Line Technician program and heading toward an apprenticeship. 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    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
  6. Aug 21

    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 test. But the part that stuck with us happened years earlier — back when most of his classmates hadn't worked a day in their lives. Blake sat down with us the same afternoon he earned his Class A. We talked about the four jobs he worked before graduating high school, the conversation with his school counselor that redirected his whole plan, and the moment on the skills pad when he was convinced he'd blown it. He also walks through the part of the course that surprised him most, which wasn't the part anyone expects. If you're weighing the trades against a four-year degree, or you've got a kid who is, this is a look at what that decision actually looks like from the inside — from someone who just made it. 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    He Got His CDL at 18 Instead of a Degree
  7. Aug 14

    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 that little letter actually changes what the job looks like. Josh sits down with Bill Oglesby to walk through all six endorsements — what each one lets you do, what it takes to get, and what changes about your day once you have it. The surge that hits like a two by four when you brake a half-full tanker. The background check that has to clear before you can touch a placarded load. The reason backing a set of doubles means throwing out everything you already know about backing. WHAT WE GET INTOWhy passing the test and being ready for the job are two different things, and where that gap is widestWhat rearward amplification actually does to a set of doubles, and the deer story that taught one student the hard wayWhy a tanker that's three-quarters full is more dangerous than one that's completely fullWhat a hazmat endorsement really lets you haul, and why that's the reason for the fingerprintsHow hazmat changes where you can drive, where you can park, and where you have to stopWhy the passenger and school bus endorsements are the only two that make you test in the actual vehicleThe endorsement Bill says to get regardless of where you think you're headed ABOUT BILL OGLESBYBill is the lead CDL instructor at Midwest Truck Driving School, and he spent years behind the wheel — including a good stretch in tankers — before he ever stood in front of a classroom. He's the guy students go to when the answer they found online doesn't match what they're seeing in the yard. This is his second time on the show, you can also hear from him in episode 4. LINKSThe endorsement rules themselves 49 CFR 383.93 — the federal regulation covering all six endorsements https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-383/subpart-F/section-383.93 Hazmat background check TSA Hazmat Endorsement — current fee, process, and disqualifying offenses https://www.tsa.gov/for-industry/hazmat-endorsement Finding a training provider FMCSA Training Provider Registry — the official list of approved ELDT providers. If a provider isn't on it, your state won't accept the completion. https://tpr.fmcsa.dot.gov Entry-Level Driver Training overview https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/entry-level-driver-training-eldt Our online endorsement courses Hazmat, tanker, doubles and triples, passenger and school bus — all registered with the Training Provider Registry, so completions report automatically. One option among many. Verify any provider you're considering at the link above. Join 20,000+ happy students: https://courses.midwesttruckdrivingschool.com/ A note from the episode: Josh and Bill talk through the order of the hazmat steps and have some back and forth about where the fingerprints fall. Here's what's settled — your ELDT training has to be submitted to the Training Provider Registry before your state will let you take the hazmat knowledge test. The rest of the sequence varies by state, so check with your own licensing agency. 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    CDL Endorsements Explained: Hazmat, Tanker, Doubles & Triples, Passenger, School Bus
  8. Aug 7

    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 minutes in, and he says it so you don't decide your own situation puts you out of reach. He earned the CDL. Then roughly a hundred companies turned him down. Matt spent months acing interviews and driving home without a job before he worked out what the companies were weighing when they read his application. Once he saw it, he changed how he approached them. You can start on that change now, before you set foot in a school. He also tells you who this path is wrong for. He names the guys who get hired and then burn the company that took a chance on them. He doesn't excuse them and he doesn't pretend the odds are better than they are. We can't tell you what your record means for your CDL. That depends on the offense, when it happened, and your state. Call a school and ask. Call a recruiter and ask. Matt assumed the answer was no and spent months proving himself wrong. 🔗 LINKSListen wherever your get your podcasts: https://built-in-the-midwest.captivate.fm/listen Midwest Truck Driving School: midwesttruckdrivingschool.com North Country Heavy Equipment & Electrical Line School: https://ncheschool.com/ Submit your Questions: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/6WfGT9X1zlYC6WvssJqfWxOOkvVa1AjzqgnAIIHOq70WWiNo5czEWXpBMqxVTW7UST 💬 CONNECT Email: marketing@midwesttruckdrivingschool.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDLMidwest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwesttruckdrivingschool/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@midwesttruckdrivingskool

    Getting Hired As A Truck Driver With Multiple Felonies

About

There are careers that pay six figures, have massive demand, and take months to get into — not years. The reason most people never consider them has nothing to do with the work. It has to do with what they were never told. Built in the Midwest is where we have real conversations about careers in the skilled trades. From truck driving and electrical line work to heavy equipment and beyond. We bring in the people doing the work, the employers hiring for it, and the instructors training the next generation — because most people make career decisions with almost no real information. They pick a path based on what everyone else is doing, what sounds good on paper, or what their parents did. And then they spend the rest of their life wondering if they got it wrong. This show exists so you don't have to guess. You'll hear what the work actually looks like, what it pays, what employers want, and what nobody tells you before you get started. Hosted from Escanaba, Michigan by Midwest Truck Driving School, where we train CDL drivers, linemen, and heavy equipment operators. But the conversations here go well beyond our own programs — because the trades are bigger than any one school, and the decision you're making deserves the full picture. Whether you're an employer who wants to share your perspective, a tradesperson with a story, or someone trying to figure out their next move — pull up a chair and tune in. Got a question about a specific trade or career? Send us a message. We'll get into it on a future episode. New episodes every Friday.

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