Question:
I've read more negative entries about coming into the trucking industry than I
care to admit. Not just this site, either, there are dozens and dozens of them (probably alot more than that), they all have their naysayers.
I don't hear a lot of positive reinforcement about coming into trucking as a potential life-long career, so I am going to give my 2 cents.
I started driving in 1985, did otr for about 8 years, and then quit trucking altogether. I loved otr at first, I came to hate it after being out on the road so long and hardly ever getting to come home.
I took an 11 year haitus from trucking. I did "other" things, but didn't like it. I am not an indoors person, so working in an office environment simply doesn't work for me.
At the beginning of last year, I decided to get my CDL and start all over again. Basically, I was a newbie starting from the ground up. I didn't even know if I would remember HOW to drive a truck: ie: shifting gears and ranges and splitter and all that stuff.
A friend got me into a construction job driving a 1994 Peterbilt conventional with a 10 speed tranny. The truck had been modified - it was the longest tractor I had EVER driven. Even with a 60 inch sleeper, the empty frame space
between the sleeper and the front of the trailer was huge. This is what I used to start driving again and get my CDL. No schooling, but driving came back to me much like the fabled "you'll never forget how to ride a bike" theorom.
The hardest part of driving THAT particular truck was backing up. It was quite unforgiving, over or under steer even a LITTLE and you found yourself doing pullups and backups to attempt to straighten it out.
Anyway, I got my CDL in very short order. I started pulling a belly-dump and a lowboy (hauling heavy equipment) for this company. Yes, I used that company, but the owner KNEW I was using him and his equipment, he was doing me a favor because of his friend. After 6 months, I found another material hauling company that would hire me with the little amount of experience I had. The owner of the company, however, went with me on my driving test to make sure I actually knew how to drive a truck.
I worked for that company for 6 months. I had decided that if I was going to do this again, there were a few things that would have to remain as constants for me. First, I would NEVER do otr again. I wanted local jobs, and that was the end of it. Second, I would continue to look for better paying jobs and would switch over in a moment's notice to get better pay if I found one and was offered a job.
So, one day, a recruiter calls me and says he has a dedicated account with one of the largest trucking companies in the world. It was 5 days a week, 10 hour days, no weekend work, home every night. Pay would start at 45k and max out at 56k. It was a new account for this company, so there would be some glitches, but I decided to risk it. I started grossing $1,000 per week for only 50 hours of work and home every night.
But senior management came along and decided we were making too much money, so they started "playing" with our paychecks.
But I had already found an even BETTER paying job, and went to work for a very large construction company hauling double, full length belly dumps off road. About 175,000 pounds loaded. At 57 hours per week, I began TAKING HOME over $1,000 per week.
Long this post is. But for a purpose. I don't really care what long time drivers have to say. Many people have been screwed by trucking companies, so they come on these forums and say how bad the entire industry is. I have been screwed several times. So what and oh well.
There is no such thing as the perfect job. I am now going to work for yet another large construction company, much larger than even the large one I was working for. I will be taking home around $1,100 per week. I am only switching because this one has much better benefits than the one I am/was working for. I am grossing $1,500 weekly, home every night, working 9 to 10 hours shifts, and I LOVE it. My life is impeded by being out on the road all the time, I have a social life and life is, truly, grand.'
Oh, how do I make that much money? It's called the Davis-Bacon Act. Federal highway projects, or highway projects that use any federal money are required to pay according to a federal pay schedule. I am making $22.47 per hour plus overtime. I don't have a dispatcher, I am not being "followed" by GPS based trackin systems, I just show up to work and haul whatever is being hauled that day, usually dirt or asphalt.
I only found out about these kinds of ridiculous wages being paid this year when saw this little ad in the paper claiming that $22.47 per hour being paid. I thought surely there were strings attached. The only string is a boss that is anal about taking care of the equipment to the point of being a bit over-obsessessive about it. For that kind of money, I can put up with a whole lot. A WHOLE lot.
Okay, newbies are probably going to have to put up with otr. But you won't have to do it for years and years. 12 months and many companies hiring local drivers will hire YOU. You do have to keep a good driving record, of course. If you look hard enough, you will find local jobs that pay as much or even more than otr company drivers. You will enjoy the quality of life you want, ie: coming home every day. Some local companies want you to drive out of state occasionally. Okay, so what. You go on the road for a couple of days and then you're home.
I'm still happy to be driving. I am grossing around $75k per year.
bb

Answer:
Driven, I admit that your post is a good one. Many on this forum are OTR's, ex-OTR's, company drivers express their hatred for this occupation. I have bounced 3 trucking jobs in the last year. Each job, I increased my hourly wage. Yes, I was in the office enviroment (network support) for 15 years. Got bored. Needed a change. Many on this forum are afraid of change, their comfort zone. Don't get me wrong, that their choice, but change is good.
Since you live in PHX, growth is good there. Here in CA, it might go bankrupt and be run be illegal immigrants. Not cool. I will look into local constructions here in Sacramento and see are they hiring any truck drivers with a 1 yr of experince.
Anyway, I agree from where you are coming from. But realistically, the trucking industry SUCK. Big time. And only, and I do mean,ONLY the "powers that be" will make the changes. Or you can make some personal changes.
My 2 cents worth.Ivey EnviroTech Services
Start Up date: 3/1/06

Answer:
Okay, I will agree there are aspects to the trucking industry that truly sucks. I just got away from most of it. Construction companies aren't trucking companies, they're in an industry where they have their own fleets of trucks to serve the purposes that they need them. If you are really going to look into it, try to find the companies that are doing highway construction projects, whether building new highways or widening existing ones, or repaving.
Belly dump jobs are the easiest, and even if you don't have any experience at it, a lot of companies will hire you if you have ANY tt experience. About the worst thing that can happen to you pulling a belly dump is that you get stuck. Happens all the time, even 15 year vets get stuck occasionally, it's not a big deal.
I just say the highway projects because probably all of them have some federal funding, which means they HAVE to pay Davis/Bacon wages, which are probably the highest you can find in the industry.
I imagine you could call CDOT and ask them where there are construction projects going on and what construction companies won the bids. Heck, you
could probably find that information online.
Good luck.
bb

Answer:

This is the key.
Driving a truck for a non-trucking company has little to compare to being a truckdriver for a trucking company - they are 2 different worlds.
Most (if not all) of the naysaying is about trucking companies.
Driving a truck as a matter of course for a non-trucking company is not trucking.
BTW, good post. People need to hear the "naysaying" about trucking companies, because frankly, most of those jobs suck. Likewise, people need to hear about experiences like yours so they know that being a stupid truckdriver isn't the only thing a CDL can get them.