Question:
Hi yall,
New to the forum. I read the topics but new as a member. Let me introduce myself I'm Aaron (Petercar) i'm 19 year of age. Love trucks since I can remember. I'm apprentice reidential electrician. I waiting for a job at penske to be a truck fueler. I plan to stay at penske till' 21 enroll in trucking school and go from there. This forum has open my eyes about alot of things and shown me what to look for. I really enjoy some of you guys trip update it's entertainment for me (not much goes on around here). So keep up the good work! I hope that any question I have you guys could answer for me thanks. I'm the first generation of truckers in my family, (some hope i'll fail) so i can use all the help i can get.
Thanks yall'
**Keep all 18's rollin', be safe, God Bless**

Answer:
Go on and get your electrician's license and become a 'Master Electrician'. Then maybe take a year or 5 off and become a truck driver if you still wish to. At least you'll have another option for making income if you decide that trucking isn't for you.
Or, see if you can find a weekend trucking gig and still do electrical work during the week.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Answer:
I started driving at 18 I am at the ripe ol age of 21 now trucking is not what you may think it is, it's not a blast or fun or a trip etc. you don't make lots of money the knights of the road are gone the scenery is usually asphalt and docks and when you see several cities you've seen them all, O/O's will tell you its great company drivers will tell you its not, depends on who you litsen to, I would agree with Hoss, become a master electrician and see where that takes you and maybe try trucking out sometime or get your permit at least and maybe find somebody to ride with so you can take over the helm for a while and see how you like it, local trucking isn't too bad its like an actual job OTR isn't so much fun I did regional and OTR and local I like local the best but you need exp. to become local well good luck and keep your head up high.

Answer:

Ditto what Hoss said. Do this now while you are young. It is so much harder to return to school and/or apprentice for a career like that once you older, married and have kids.
Answer:
Thanks all for you thoughts, I'm just a few weeks from being a electrical mechanic so i will have that to fall back on.
StagnantVirus: I know trucking isnt all fun and play and I'm not a money hungry person. I do have a friend of the family who drove otr and i heard of all the trials and hardships that comes with it, but thats like with any job for instance i work on 200amp house services so i'm playing with my life every day. Now i'm not trying to be cocky, just wanted to say that i have research and talk to many different drivers. And once again thanks for the input.
P.s. This is alittle off topic but what is a trucker's pad. I was lookin at a house and it said it comes with a trucker's pad?
**Keep all 18's rollin'**

Answer:

Most likely, it's a concrete or gravel 'pad' that's been 'beefed up' (thick), enough to support the weight of a tractor parked there, or possibly a 'pad' for the trailer dolly legs (for when you drop a trailer so it doesn't sink into the dirt).

Answer:
I would suggest sticking a finger in a 110 socket ,maybe it
will have you come to your senses. Finish your Apprenticeship.
Electrician,truck fueler,Driver? That seems to be the wrong direction to success. BOL to you anyway. Too bad you wasted an
Apprenticeship for someone else.
Answer:
I'm 19 too and i have been driving local for a year now. It's about the same as any other job. Just instead of working in one place i travel around all day, then go home every day. I had been planning on do that long haul thing once i turn 21, but every says it sucks (edited), so maybe i will stay with local/ regional,
I'm really interested in pulling 4 or 5 axle end dump trailers, or super B trains and being gone maybe 1 or 2 nights, trash hauling from Toronto to michigan might even be ok., get lots of border experience that way. Crossing at sarnia/port huron twice a day.
If it's a as easy as it is in ontario to get a bus licence, i would get that too when your getting your AZ licence. I now have a ACZ licence , which means i can drive any vehicle,except school buses and motor cycles.
So if i get tired of trucking i get get into driving tour or city buses. All i had to do to get the C licence was pay 10 dollars and write a 20 question test on buses, then since i already had a class A, i didn't need to do a road test. Pretty kool considering i never even drove a bus before.
The most important thing is getting no tickets or accidents on your record. It's hard tho cuz all my friends have normal jobs, and they speed, and do lots of crazy (edited), cuz they really don't care about there licence. But too me, it's my job, so i have to be careful about that stuff.
You will hear lots of guys tell you not to be a trucker. Thats what everyone told me, but i like it, and there are alot worse jobs than trucking out there.You just have to find the job that suits you.
Just be as safe as you can and don't get any tickets.

Answer:
Thanks for the info Bikerboy. Its funny you say that because I do take my license very seriously. My friends joke about it, you can relate, i know guys who got into 2 or more accidents or recieved many tickets.
Thanks Hoss for the info on the truckers pad.
Oh, RABELAM i did get shock by 110 i thought i seen Jesus, lol

Answer:

Alot of drivers say this, and I have to wonder what it is about trucks that doesn't disappear with the other childhood fantasies.

You'll make more money and have a life outside of work if you stay on this path and become a a Master Electrcian than if you go into trucking.
Just remember the easy description of trucking: Work 100+ hours, log 70 hours, get paid for 40 hours.
Let's see, trucking caused my first wife to leave me and take my kid with her.
I lost count a long time ago how many of my kids birthdayparties, ball games, school functions, and summer activities I have missed thanks to trucking.
Thanks to trucking I have hemmorhoids and a bad back, and I cant sleep more than 4-5 hours a night anymore.
According to my dad, I wasn't so much of an a**hole until I was in trucking a couple of years.
And thanks to trucking I sound like a grumpy 50 year old man, when I am only 32.
So get off my lawn! (if only I were home enough to say that to the neighborhood kids...)
Answer:
Not all truckers work 100 hours and log 70 and get paid 40.
I work about 35 hours a week, log 35 and get paid for 40. If everyone hates OTR so much, why don't you all drive local? It's almost the same as any regular 9-5 job.

Answer:
Or if they hate otr and dont want to drive local, go back to you original trade if it is outside of driving, otr along with any other trade, its what you make of it, theres pro's and cons in every job, not trying to be a jerk but its true, and some people like myself had to try it or if I had not I would be kicking myself in the rear and still wondering about it, as a kid I always said I wanted to drive the big trucks and unlike some, I knew no one that did it for s livingI read what little positive things were said and I read all the neg. things that was said and went with my heart, i'm happly married,(15 yrs) 5 kids, 1 grandaughter and started in 2000 and still doing it today and have no regrets, because I took what I read with a grain of salt and followed my heart, I simply stepped out of my comfort zone and went full force ,not , maybe it will work, or i might do this, I just did it, I never was a follower and never intend to be one, so for all you wanna - be truckers follower tour dreams....I did ,but, thats just me