Question:
It seems to be a never-ending theme through here about how bad trucking is with the long hours, the pay issues, time away from home, etc even though many of us enjoy our job, and it works for us. So let's bring up other occupations that you could say the same things about, even though many of us enjoyed those too.
Mine would be the military service. I loved it and would be a mere six years from retirement had it not been for a medical discharge. But hey, the pay sucks, you work longer hours than the "average normal working class citizen", and you spend a lot of time away from home, family, and friends. I can hear it now...
"But I can't go on patrol right now or man that O.P./L.P because I haven't had more than a couple hours of sleep!"
"I can't stay and help ensure the aircraft are ready to go do a C.A.S. mission for the ground guys because I've already pulled a 14+ hour shift!""Pain is weakness leaving the body."
"Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat."
U.S.M.C. '89-'95 0351, '95-'99 6531 (I.Y.A.O.Y.A.S.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/cyanide971/Carlo8919.jpg

Answer:

Actually, the pay and benefits are quite decent and when you consider the 'retirement' pay earned with only 20 years of service, I think that you'll find that the military compensation plan is considerably better than that of an OTR truck driver.

Answer:
I'm well aware of it Phil. 50% of your base pay plus all the other bennies. However, I personally do not know one enlisted military retiree who has not had to find other employment after doing their twenty+ years.
Personally, even though this world of trucking is so God-awful , I believe that with proper planning and management, a good 401k plan plus separate retirement funding through IRA's, CD's etc. will work fine after 25-30 years of investing.
Back to the original idea behind this post...what other occupations are generally considered crummy though many of the workers enjoy their job?"Pain is weakness leaving the body."
"Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat."
U.S.M.C. '89-'95 0351, '95-'99 6531 (I.Y.A.O.Y.A.S.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/cyanide971/Carlo8919.jpg

Answer:
Car sales.
Did this for a few months. While the pay can be phenomenal during the busy months and good managers, it all evens out with the slow months and horrible managers,
Hours are horrible ( at least here in Canada)
Unemployed but with a place to hangout until you make a sale.
Lots of guys with addiction problems due to the hours (gambling, drinking, drugs etc.) Lots of guys going bankrupt due to the highs and lows of their take home pay.
Little or no bennies. No job security. You're only as good as your last sale.
People look at you like you're doggie doo when you first greet them.They travel up your spine, into your brain
and that is where ****ty ideas come from!!!

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Sales for Furtune 500 companies.
When I worked for EDJ I was earning about 29-35k. I was working from about 6am to 10-11 pm every day. Some times I would take off Sunday.
I slept in the office some nights and never went home.
All this and still had to have a college education.
The back stabbing and politics got pretty bad as well.
I did a few other things. The lowest paying has to be the service.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:
Back to the original idea behind this post...what other occupations are generally considered crummy though many of the workers enjoy their job?
Lot Lizards.

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wELL, FOR me, i'm still thinking about getting into porn.
But more realistically:
1) used car sales. If you can get a dealer's licence in your state, i think you can go to auctions and turn about $250-$500 bucks per car. These are running cars that really don't need work or much work. Takes some capital though.
2)Real Estate. Of course.
3)Stockbroking. I'm not sure of the trainning requirements though.
4)Travelling R/N. The money is good. Look into this.
5) Hi-rise window washer. The money is good.
Much, much more on this later.

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And...
'(edited) College' Offers Hands-On Training
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Fri May 6, 8:35 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - The 25 students in jeans and T-shirts could have been in any career that requires hustle. The classes, covering topics such as effective marketing, stress reduction and legal issues, could have been part of any professional development seminar.
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But this was "(edited) College," and any illusion it was just another corporate how-to for young go-getters abruptly ended at the sex toy display and was stripped away for good during a graphic demonstration that put a whole new twist on the concept of hands-on training.
"We are still illegal," instructor Kimberlee Cline said before her 20-minute demonstration. "If we want to be treated as business professionals, we need to act ethically within the industry."
Presented in conjunction with the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival, the class Wednesday at an erotic art gallery was billed as away for working girls and guys to polish their skills in a supportive atmosphere.
It was the first time the biennial festival, begun in 1999 to showcase films about and by sex workers, included a session devoted to how to maintain a satisfying career.
Although famously permissive San Francisco has long been a hotbed for prostitutes' rights activism, the school reflects the movement's maturation away from a focus on decriminalization toward a broader agenda that includes occupational health and safety and community-building, said organizer Carol Leigh.
Other cities, including Tucson, Ariz., Portland, Ore., Montreal and Taipei, Taiwan, have similar events, said Leigh, a veteran activist who takes credit for coining the term "sex worker" as an anti-euphemism.
By light of day, the women and men of the night swapped tips, argued over personal grooming choices and heard from others considered experts in their field. Many of the attendees said they were motivated as much by the networking opportunity and doing what they could to normalize the world's oldest profession as furthering their education. During Cline's workshop, for example, some in the audience skimmed magazines and chatted despite the carnal knowledge unfolding in front of them.
Participants who stuck it out for the whole day received diplomas certifying them as G.S.W's — graduates in sex work.
Several students went to lengths to explain that they see themselves as inheritors of a proud tradition — specialists with a choice instead of exploited victims. Sporting nary a stiletto heel among them, their expressed reasons for turning to sex work — an umbrella term that encompasses everything from exotic dancing and acting in pornographic films to turning tricks — were as varied as their hair colors and body types.
"My own personal experience has been negative and positive, as with any job," said Kymberly Cutter, 36, a mother of two from Tucson who returned to prostitution two years ago to boost her income and regards it as part of a journey in "personal self-discovery." Her children, ages 7 and 9, know what she does for a living, she said.
The more shadowy aspects of the profession were covered in the curriculum. Lawyer Erin Crane explained that accepting money for a specific sex act could land someone in jail, but she repeated several times she couldn't advise anyone on how to break the law.
Students practiced using assertive screaming for self-defense and they were told how to assess dangerous situations, and how to break free from an assailant's grasp.
Erin O'Bryn, 36, who has appeared on adult television networks, worked in massage parlors, owned an escort referral service and last year ran for Congress in Hawaii, said wearing a power suit and good heels dissuades clients from thinking they can take advantage of her.
"Sex work is work. Prostitution is work," Leigh said. "The most important thing is that we are diverse. Some are on the streets and in a very desperate situation. Others are in a working-class situation and maybe bored in their jobs. And others see sex work as their calling."

Answer:
Farmer. Low pay, high cost. Living off the bank and growing deeper in dept faster then the corn grows.
Once all is said and done you break even with newer well maintained equipment.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

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Although I don't know that I enjoyed it all that much. I worked for a company that covered all three areas. Mostly I did the electrical work which was mostly upgrades. Seems like I was always in some damp dark dirty hole. Plumber? Like to smell flux and solder, come home with green hands? HVAC? Great stuff that insulated duct board. Burner or oil tank shot? No problem dragging the old ones out of that basement!
My dream job working in electronics manufacturing went to China. Overall we used some 1,400 different chemicals and compounds, many of which would vaporize you in a split second if improperly handeled. Also lots of EMF and other forms of radiation, risk of lazer burn, etc. However the pay was excellent and the coffee was always on.

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Comparing military service to trucking is a bit over the top. Military service is just that - "service". You are serving and protecting your country when you enlist. Not too many people go into the military for the money. But trucking is a profit-driven industry where shippers/recievers/carriers are making alot of money off your efforts.
Not alot of industries where you work +100 workweeks, spend weeks away from your family and friends living in a truck, performing free labor for your employer, and breaking the law by fudging the logbook to keep them wheels rollin. All for little better than a convience store clerk makes when you break it down on an hourly basis.
Trucking reminds me of that song by the Byrds:
"So you wanna be a rock n' roll star
than listen now to what I say.
Just get an electric guitar,
take some time, learn how to play."
Yep, it's easy to get into this industry - the classifieds are chock full of ads by every dweller carrier out there offering everything under the sun. Hard to leave once you get in though, cause you can't learn another skill/trade putting all those hours on the road.
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I quite enjoyed pro harvest throughout the midwestern states and southern Saskatchewan from 90-96. 16hr days/7 days a week, time off when it rains. Leave home early May and return late Oct. Room & board & $2K/month.
It's been eight yrs since I did last, but if opportunity presented itself I'd go again in a heartbeat. Trking & combining, two greatest jobs in the world.
The only downside now is that I'm an old bugger and can't chase the college girls from town to town anymore.
I'm figuring I'll probably retire from farming at age 50 or so and head for the Tar Sands in northern Alberta (or something similar) to play with some of the large toys there for a decade or so.

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I never did the custom harvest deal. I almost did. The wife and I both. Both being truck drivers and able to run farm equipment. It sounded like alot of fun.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

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Cleaning,picking up, porta-potties!
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40 years ago when I first started at TWA, I had to run the "bucket truck" aka Lav truck. Not a fun job dumping the crap out of 707 and 727's. The worst were the early model Connie's (that a prop plane for you young folk). You had to actually carry the container down the steps and dump it in the truck. YUK